On July 29, 2019, members of the public alerted emergency responders about the stranding of five short-finned pilot whales on Redington Beach, Florida. Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s rescue team led the response, heading to the site along with wildlife agencies and local authorities, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Florida’s
On March 1, 2016, we received a report of a dolphin that was entangled in a crab trap line off Nokomis Beach. We went to the dolphin’s last reported location from the night before, and found 10-year-old resident dolphin “Bill” with just his blowhole above the water. His tail was wrapped in the float
One of our Sarasota residents, Lizzie, had an eventful 2013. She was given a temporary satellite-linked tag during our health assessments in May, and she and her 3-year-old calf were regularly followed to compare their behavior with and without the tag. During one of these follows, SDRP staff noticed that Lizzie had become entangled with
In December 2008, Ginger, a recently independent juvenile female dolphin, stranded on Siesta Key Beach. SDRP staff was among the first responders, stabilizing her before she was taken to Mote Marine Laboratory and treated for complications from the stranding. Ginger was a dolphin already known by SDRP, and at the time of her stranding
In February 2010, SDRP staff members spotted a young dolphin “wearing” plastic. We hoped that she would shed the material but it soon became apparent that would not happen. After receiving permission from the National Marine Fisheries Service, which oversees the protection of wild marine mammals, our team attempted to capture the animal to
Scrappy, born in 1998, is the calf of Scooby-Doo (who was given her nickname before we knew she was a she). He has been sighted hundreds of times since birth, but we remember him most for one of our 2006 sightings when we found him entangled in marine debris — a piece of fabric
Dolphin FB54 Stats Name: FB54 Sex: Female Age: Born 1971 A Dolphin's Life FB54 was born in 1971, and is currently the oldest-known Sarasota resident dolphin. She has been observed more than 1,500 times since we first met her in August 1975 — the
When we began thinking about ways to celebrate our milestone 50th year, our initial plans called for an in-person symposium focused on our dolphin research and the achievements that we, along with our research partners and colleagues, have made over the past five decades. Though we still hope to make that happen in 2021, when
X-ray images (radiographs) of human hands have been used for decades as a method of confirming age by examining the predictable chronological changes occurring to the growth plates of each bone. We wanted to know if using X-rays of dolphin flippers could provide the same information. The goal is to establish a non-invasive method of determining
We're working to create a Bottlenose Epigenetic Aging Tool (BEAT) that will allow us to use small skin samples to determine the age of dolphins. First, what is epigenetics? These are various modifications and molecules that occur on or interact with DNA to influence gene activity and phenotype without changing the DNA sequence. Epigenetic changes
The mission of the Chicago Zoological Society is “to inspire conservation leadership by engaging people and communities with wildlife and nature.”
