NOAA Fisheries Studying Dolphins for Contaminants
By Trevor Spradlin
NOAA Fisheries/Office of Protected Resources

Because of growing concern about marine mammals washing ashore in U.S. waters, NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Protected Resources’ Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program was created in the late 1980s. It has since collaborated with scientists worldwide to investigate, monitor, assess and respond to marine mammal health issues.

Under the provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the office develops, implements, and administers programs for the protection, conservation and recovery of whales, dolphins and porpoises and most seals and sea lions. It helps collect and disseminate health data, assesses health trends in marine mammals, correlates health with available data on physical, chemical, environmental and biological parameters, and coordinates effective responses to unusual mortality events.
In recent years, high concentrations of potentially toxic substances and an increase in new diseases have been documented, causing scientists to begin exploring a possible link between these substances and marine mammal mortality events. Their studies are contributing to a growing, worldwide effort of marine mammal biomonitoring, not only to help assess health and contaminant loads, but also to assist in determining the impact of human activity on marine mammals, marine food chains and marine ecosystem health.

In collaborating with scientists around the world, Dr. Teri Rowles, DVM, Ph.D. and Dr. Janet Whaley, DVM, coordinate efforts for NOAA. A key partner is the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, based at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. The program was founded by Drs. Randall Wells, Michael Scott and Blair Irvine, who have been conducting research on the resident population of bottlenose dolphins from the west coast of Florida for over 30 years. It represents the combined efforts of the Dolphin Biology Research Institute, the Conservation Biology Department of the Chicago Zoological Society, Earthwatch and Mote Marine Laboratory.

The unique research links researchers from several academic institutions and government agencies, including NOAA Fisheries scientists - and is the longest ongoing field study of dolphins in the world.
Individual dolphins have been studied throughout the course of their lives. To date, over 2500 different individual dolphins have been identified from the west coast of Florida based on the unique markings on, and shapes of, their dorsal fins. Over 100 of the dolphins have been studied for contaminants. A cornerstone of the International Whaling Commission’s Pollution 2000 effort, the program was launched to foster cooperative efforts by Europe and the U.S. to better understand the impacts of contaminants on marine mammals.

One or two weeks are devoted each summer, fall or winter to a temporary capture and release program in order to conduct health assessment examinations of the dolphins and research their physiology, bio-acoustics and genetics. The dolphins are safely encircled by a net and carefully placed on a medical boat for 30 to 45 minutes to allow the research team to examine the animals closely. Once examinations are completed, the dolphins are safely released. Health assessments include physical exams, blood sampling, body condition, ultrasound, cultures, fecal analysis and urinalysis.

For the June 2002 field season, the NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Protected Resources invited Scott Gudes, the Deputy Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, to learn about this unique and valuable research program which has significantly contributed to NOAA’s marine mammal conservation efforts. Scott was able to see first-hand how NOAA scientists, such as Dr. Rowles, are working in successful partnership with outside academic researchers and institutions to meet common goals.

Scott met Dr. Rowles, Dr. Wells and the rest of the research team on June 4, 2002 and was able to actively participate in the research, including capturing, holding, assessing and releasing the dolphins. Scott was accompanied to Florida by Mara Brown from his office and Trevor Spradlin from the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources. Jeff Brown from the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office and Dr. John Reynolds from the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission were also on site participating in the research.

Dr. Wells and his colleagues have also been extremely supportive of the NOAA Fisheries “Protect Dolphins” campaign which was established to educate the public that feeding and harassing wild dolphins is harmful to the animals, dangerous to people, and illegal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Dr. Wells and his colleagues have conducted research on the effects of people feeding or harassing wild dolphins, provided the scientific information and photographic images used in the “Protect Dolphins” materials, and have conducted a community-oriented outreach program to promote safe and responsible viewing of wild dolphins in partnership with NOAA Fisheries.