Welcome to Nicks 'n' Notches Online, the enewsletter of the
Sarasota Dolphin Research Program.
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RESEARCH, CONSERVATION
AND EDUCATION SINCE 1970.
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The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP) is a collaboration dedicated to dolphin research, conservation and education.
It began in 1970 at Mote Marine Laboratory when Blair Irvine and high school student Randy Wells started a pilot tagging study to find out whether dolphins on Florida's central west coast remained in the area or traveled more widely. In 1974, with a contract from the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, they were joined by Michael Scott and expanded the study with radio-telemetry.
Their subsequent discovery of long-term residency set the stage for today's efforts by demonstrating opportunities to study individually identifiable dolphins throughout their lives in a natural laboratory setting.
Our work is conducted under the name "Sarasota Dolphin Research Program." This name ties together several organizations dedicated to ensuring the continuity of our long-term research, conservation and education efforts in Sarasota Bay and elsewhere.
The SDRP has been operated by the Chicago Zoological Society (CZS) since 1989.
"Dolphin Biology Research Institute," is a Sarasota-based 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation established in 1982. It provides logistical support with research vessels, towing vehicles, computers, cameras, field equipment, etc.
Since 1992, the program has been based at Mote Marine Laboratory on City Island in Sarasota Bay, with office, lab, storage and dock space and easy access to boat launching ramps within the home range of the Sarasota Bay resident dolphins.
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Notes from the Field and Lab...
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Randall Wells, Ph.D., Director
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Greetings!
I hope you're all enjoying a wonderful
 holiday season with family and friends and looking forward to a great new year.
We've been busy closing out the books on a productive year of dolphin conservation and research efforts here in Sarasota and throughout the world and making plans for next year's projects and studies.
Some of our highlights this year included:
- Tracking bottlenose dolphins off Bermuda. During this study, we documented the deepest dives ever for bottlenose dolphins -- the deepest we recorded was to more than 1,000 meters (more than half a mile). We also followed along, virtually, as one of the dolphins we tagged circumnavigated Bermuda through the Sargasso Sea.
- Working with an international team of researchers and conservationists to help save one of the world's most endangered cetaceans -- the Vaquita porpoise, which lives in the upper Gulf of California. These small porpoises are about the same size as the endangered giant sea bass, the totoaba, which are illegally fished to supply swim bladders to China. The Vaquita become entangled and drown in the gill nets set for the fish and there are believed to be fewer than 60 porpoises remaining.
- A successful Giving Challenge that helped us raise $15,365 -- a record for our participation in this annual fundraising event sponsored by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, the Patterson Foundation and others. The funds will help us revolutionize the way we recognize and track dolphins from their fin markings, allowing us to develop automated fin-matching software. The funding also helped us replace aging computers and an outboard engine.
- In addition to developing the automated fin recognition program, the SDRP also curates GoMDIS, the Gulf of Mexico Dolphin Identification System, which is combining and standardizing dolphin ID catalogues from groups throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Over the past four years, GoMDIS has grown from 13 participating groups combining 23 catalogues to 33 groups potentially combining 48 catalogues from around the Gulf, including from Mexico and Cuba. We are also working to assist research teams focused on the threats to the Chinese white dolphins living in the Pearl River Estuary in the coastal waters off southern mainland China and adjacent waters around Hong Kong develop a similar catalogue there. These dolphins face numerous threats from high-speed ferry operations and other vessel traffic, habitat alteration, construction noise and fishing, as well as pollutants from farming and industry. Developing a catalogue system will lead to improved population estimates and better understanding of the dolphins' ranging patterns.
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While this space is too limited to provide summaries of all our work,
 we'll certainly continue sharing information we learned during 2016 in future enewsletters as well as providing updates to new projects in 2017.
Here's wishing you all a hopeful and prosperous New Year. As always, I thank you for your interest in our work, for caring about dolphins and for helping us make it all possible!
Best regards,
Randy Wells
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As you're making your end-of-year contributions to your favorite charities and nonprofit organizations, please consider making a donation to help us learn about and protect wild dolphin populations in Sarasota and elsewhere. Donations to the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
- Contributions can be made online at our website.
- Donations can be sent by mail to Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, 708 Tropical Circle, Sarasota, FL 34242
Eligible IRA owners age 70-1/2 or older can also make qualified charitable distributions of up to $100,000 (or $200,000 for married couples) from traditional IRAs without having to pay federal income taxes on distributions. Your financial and tax advisors can help you evaluate this idea to determine whether this is a good year-end strategy for you. To make this kind of contribution,
please contact Randy Wells.
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Dolphin Conservation:
Training and Outreach in 2016 by the Numbers
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- 7: Number of doctoral students hosted or supported by the SDRP
- 8: Number of successful theses and dissertations completed by students working in conjunction with the SDRP
- 8: Number of peer-reviewed articles or book chapters accepted for publication or in press in scientific journals and texts
- 12: Number of peer-reviewed articles or book chapters published in scientific journals and texts
- 16: Number of interns and post-graduate trainees hosted by the SDRP -- they provided 8,200 hours of assistance to the program
- 35: Number of local and returning volunteers
- 50: Number of presentations by SDRP staff and collaborators at professional, peer-to-peer meetings
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Rescue of the Year... Bill the Dolphin
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On March 1, staff from SDRP rescued a 10-year-old male
bottlenose dolphin, nicknamed Bill, who was found entangled in a crab trap float line in the Gulf near Venice, Florida. The dolphin, which was barely able to keep his head above water to breathe, had the line wrapped around his peduncle. He had superficial lacerations and had free range of motion in his fluke so was released as soon as he was freed of the line.
Since then, he's been spotted a dozen times and appears to be doing just fine. During our last few sightings, he's been observed with another male dolphin, nicknamed JoBob, and there are signs the two are forming a male pair bond -- if so, it could be a partnership that lasts for the rest of their lives.
Incidentally, Bill's rescue took place on the 6th anniversary of the rescue of his younger sister, Nellie. At less than a year old, we found her with plastic tightly encircling her body, just behind her head. We were able to remove the line and we continue to see her frequently, doing well.
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Dolphin Biology Research Institute (DBA Sarasota Dolphin Research Program)
is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to research and conservation of dolphins and their habitat. Employer Identification No. 59-2288387; Florida Charitable Contributions Solicitations Registration No. CH1172. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL FLORIDA REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE OR AT WWW.FRESHFROMFLORIDA.COM. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. THIS ORGANIZATION RETAINS 100% OF ALL CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED.
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STAY CONNECTED
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