In the past two decades, we have observed that harmful algal blooms, or red tides, of the toxic algal species Karenia brevis appear to have varying effects on bottlenose dolphin populations. Red tides have been associated with several large-scale mortality events of dolphins in the Florida Panhandle, whereas dolphin populations in central-west Florida, including Sarasota [...]

In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) was performed on the St. Joseph Bay bottlenose dolphin community. The overall goals of the NRDA process, which is part of NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP), are to: 1) Identify the extent of resources that were damaged 2) [...]

By Brian Balmer, MS, PhD Student, Chicago Zoological Society and University of North Carolina Wilmington In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we were contracted to perform a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) on the St. Joseph Bay bottlenose dolphin community. The overall goals of the NRDA process, which is part of NOAA’s Damage [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

In July 2006, NOAA’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program conducted the second year of our dolphin health assessment research project in St. Joseph Bay, Florida with support from partners including the Chicago Zoological Society’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, Mote Marine Laboratory, NOAA’s Ocean Service, Ocean Embassy, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Florida [...]

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 [...]

During 1999 and 2004, bottlenose dolphins along the Florida panhandle experienced two unusual mortality events resulting in the deaths of more than 227 dolphins. The majority of these strandings were located near St. Joseph Bay, but it is not known which stock(s) were impacted. This project represents the first effort to identify dolphin ranging patterns [...]