On May 17-18, 2023, we tagged and collected biological samples from two bottlenose and two Atlantic spotted dolphins 25-38 miles offshore of Sarasota during the third of four planned offshore health assessment and tagging sessions supported by a grant from the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program.

All four dolphins received suction-cup-mounted digital archival tags (DTAGs), which are designed to record information and then detach from the animals. We were able to recover the tags when they released and found that they had successfully recorded sounds and behavior. The dolphins will continue to be tracked over the next few months using satellite-linked transmitters. We also photo-documented a sighting of Ken, an offshore bottlenose dolphin that we initially tagged eight miles away last September (now without his tag).

We’ve sampled and tagged nine dolphins of three species since June 2022 for this project, which we’re conducting to provide needed data to address critical information gaps for the little-known dolphin species that regularly inhabit west Florida’s continental shelf waters.

This map shows the initial tracks of the dolphins we tagged offshore during May. 213788 is a bottlenose dolphin nicknamed John; 240130 is an Atlantic spotted dolphin nicknamed Teri; 240131 is a bottlenose dolphin nicknamed Per; and 240132 is an Atlantic spotted dolphin nicknamed Michael.

While we were tagging offshore dolphins, we also photo-documented a sighting of Ken, an offshore bottlenose dolphin that we initially tagged eight miles away in September 2022 (now without his tag).

August 2023 Update

On May 17-18, 2023, we tagged two bottlenose and two Atlantic spotted dolphins 25-38 miles offshore of Sarasota during the third of four planned offshore health assessment and tagging sessions supported by a grant from the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program. Then, on Aug. 15, we used the TADpole to attach a tag to a third Atlantic spotted dolphin.

The map below shows their locations over the past two weeks. The largest red dot at one end of each animal’s line is the most recent location, with each animal’s Tag ID.

  • Tag ID 213788: Bottlenose dolphin “John”
  • Tag ID 240130: Atlantic spotted dolphin “Teri”
  • Tag ID 240131: Bottlenose dolphin “Per”
  • Tag ID 240132: Atlantic spotted dolphin “Michael”
  • Tag ID 194978: Atlantic spotted dolphin “Hannah”

Hannah the dolphin was tagged 45 miles offshore of Sarasota using a new device called TADpole. Learn more.