Nicks 'n' Notches Online
July-August 2017

Welcome to Nicks 'n' Notches Online, the enewsletter of the 
Sarasota Dolphin Research Program.
RESEARCH, CONSERVATION AND EDUCATION SINCE 1970.
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.
 
Notes from the Field and Lab...
   Randy Wells, Ph.D., Director
It certainly has been a busy year so far for the staff, students, and collaborating researchers of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program. Our ongoing photographic identification population monitoring surveys continued, with 18 new calves documented so far in 2017 -- a banner year!

We've continued our long-term, seasonal dolphin prey fish surveys and we completed a health assessment of the Sarasota Bay dolphins, which allows us the opportunity to gain a better understanding of and monitor the overall health of the community, as well as answer some important scientific questions about wild bottlenose dolphins.

Primary funding for this project was provided by Dolphin Quest, which allowed us to field a team of 147 researchers, veterinarians, handlers and Florida state law enforcement agents. We had about 95 people on the water each day using 12 boats to gather data from 15 dolphins for 43 research projects.

In addition to our ongoing population health monitoring and life history research, we contributed to studies of:
  • Dolphin kidney disease, funded by the National Marine Mammal Foundation;
  • Dolphin lung function and respiratory sounds, funded by the Office of Naval Research;
  • Dolphin communication and social behavior, including expanding our recorded catalogue of dolphin whistles and deploying archival acoustic tags on dolphins to better understand sound production by free-ranging animals.
Not only do these assessments allow us to gather new and important data about the Sarasota Bay dolphin community, they also allow us to provide training opportunities for law enforcement agencies and improve our coordination with other Florida stranding response groups so we can all better respond to dolphin strandings. Newly minted veterinarians also have the opportunity to learn from highly experienced vets (20 vets participated this year) so they can better care for dolphin patients.

We also had the opportunity to field test new tools and techniques for sampling and data collection; we used drones in a new project conducted by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to observe how free-swimming dolphins responded when they heard recordings of dolphin whistles.

It was a successful week of field research and I look forward to seeing the work come to fruition and shared via new publications and presentations to the public, wildlife managers and other scientists.

If you're interested in learning more about results from these and other dolphin studies conducted by SDRP staff and collaborators, visit our website, where we archive our annual Nicks 'n' Notches print publication.
 
Until next time, I wish you fair winds and following seas!
 
Randy Wells
Fin of the Month 
Name: F211, aka Ginger
Age: 12
Sex: Female
A Dolphin's Life: Ginger has been observed more than 404 times since her birth in 2005. She is the first calf of F127 (Edamommy), who had only one other calf, F264, aka Wasabi. (See what we did there?!)

Ginger's grandmother was FB13, who was first observed by SDRP in 1975, but died in 2009 at age 50.

We actually know Ginger a little bit better than most other Sarasota Bay dolphins -- that's because in December 2008, she was found stranded on Siesta Key Beach, shortly after separating from her mother following the birth of Wasabi.

SDRP and staff from Mote Marine Laboratory rescued Ginger and she was treated at Mote's Dolphin & Whale Hospital for pneumonia and gastrointestinal problems.

During her rehabilitation, we didn't want her to get used to eating dead fish provided by humans, because we had every hope that she would return the wild, and we didn't want her to be attracted to humans. By the time Ginger was released, she had eaten nearly 4,000 live pinfish -- that's 35 pinfish fed five times a day at about $1 per fish. Most of the fish came from Hart's Landing in Sarasota, which went to Herculean efforts to help supply Ginger with all the live food she needed.

In February 2009, Ginger was deemed healthy and ready for release and the SDRP has been monitoring her progress ever since.

By all appearances, Ginger is a true rescue and rehabilitation success story: She is frequently observed feeding along the seawalls of Siesta Key and gave birth to her second calf this summer.

You can read more about Ginger's life history in "The True-Life Adventures of Ginger the Dolphin," published in Sarasota Magazine in 2015, and in a wonderful children's book "No Dead Fish for Ginger! The Story of a Sarasota Bay Dolphin," written by Cathy Marine, a long-time volunteer with SDRP and Mote. Proceeds from the sale of the book, which is available on Amazon.com and other booksellers, support our dolphin research.
 
 Ginger feeds along a seawall. 
  Ginger socializing with another dolphin. 
 
Sarasota Dolphin Research Program
708 Tropical Circle
Sarasota, FL  34242
941.349.3259
info@sarasotadolphin.org 


Dedicated to dolphin research, conservation  and education since 1970.

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.