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Eckerd College Dolphin Project update
By Shannon Gowans, PhD
The Eckerd College Dolphin Project (ECDP) began in 1993 under Dr. John Reynolds. From its start it has served two purposes: one to train undergraduate students in field and lab techniques to study wild dolphins and two to collect and analyze biological data relating to the dolphins in the Boca Ciega Bay area (see Figure 1) just to the north of Sarasota Bay. ECDP has been very successful in both of its objectives. Over 100 undergraduate students, including CZS-SDRP staff members Jason Allen and Aaron Barleycorn, have participated in the project, many of whom have continued to do dolphin research after leaving Eckerd. Additionally we have identified over 700 different dolphins during the 17 years of the project. Some of these dolphins are clearly resident, having been photographed over 100 times, however many dolphins have been photographed only once or twice.
To assist in the process of matching the thousands of photographs taken each year, faculty and students at Eckerd College have developed a computer assisted matching program (DARWIN). This software has been very helpful in matching our photographs, especially as almost all the work on this project is conducted by undergraduate students. The ECDP catalog is routinely compared with CZS Sarasota Dolphin Research Program’s catalog, and 45% of the dolphins identified by ECDP have also been identified by CZS Sarasota Dolphin Research Program.
 Figure 2: FB68 (“Manatee Man”) sighted by the ECDP just before his death from fishing gear interactions.
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Figure 1: Boca Ciega Bay Map.