Dolphins accumulate pollutants in their blubber. Bottlenose dolphins are thus a sensitive indicator for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in coastal ecosystems. Brian C. Balmer, a long time member of the SDRP team, just completed his doctoral work. His research examined the effect of pollution from a Superfund site in Georgia on bottlenose dolphins. Congratulations to [...]

Intensive photo-identification and radio tracking studies during 2004-2007 have provided insight into the potential effects of multiple Unusual Mortality Events in and around St. Joseph Bay. However, the recovery rate of bottlenose dolphin populations along the Florida Panhandle cannot be determined without long-term photo-identification surveys in this region. In collaboration with the Florida Department of [...]

We have been able to continue our year-round monthly monitoring of the Sarasota dolphin community thanks to support from NOAA Fisheries Service. The Sarasota bottlenose dolphin community is the most thoroughly-studied, free-ranging dolphin population in the world. We continue to address increasingly refined questions about the lives of these animals with the benefit of information [...]

The waters stretching from St. Vincent Sound to Alligator Harbor in the Big Bend of Florida represent one of the least understood areas of the state in regards to bottlenose dolphins. Recent large scale mortality events, together with an increasing potential for human impacts in this area, led to studies of abundance and stock structure [...]

During three Unusual Mortality Events (UMEs), (1999-2000, 2004, and 2005-2006), more than 300 bottlenose dolphins died along the Florida Panhandle. St. Joseph Bay was the geographic focus of the 2004 mortality event. The most recent (1994) NOAA’s Fisheries Service abundance estimate for bottlenose dolphins in St. Joseph Bay is zero, but dolphins are currently observed [...]

We have been able to continue our year-round monthly monitoring of the Sarasota dolphin community thanks to support from 15 Earthwatch Institute volunteers and NOAA’s Fisheries Service (NMFS). The Sarasota bottlenose dolphin community is one of the most thoroughly studied free-ranging dolphin populations in the world. We continue to address increasingly refined questions about the [...]

Do major ecological disturbances impact resident dolphin populations? The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program was in a unique position to evaluate this question as both Hurricane Charley in August 2004 and a severe red tide in 2005 impacted Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. These combined events may have affected habitat health, including prey fish availability, [...]

Bottlenose dolphins along the Florida panhandle experienced three unusual mortality events in 1999, 2004, and 2006, in which over 320 dolphins died. A large number of these strandings were located near St. Joseph Bay, FL. However, it is not known which stock(s) were impacted. This project represents the first effort to identify dolphin ranging patterns [...]

We have been able to continue our year-round monthly monitoring of the Sarasota dolphin community thanks to support from Earthwatch Institute volunteers and NOAA Fisheries. The Sarasota bottlenose dolphin community is the most thoroughly studied free-ranging dolphin population in the world. We continue to address increasingly refined questions about the lives of these animals with [...]