An angler pulls in his line with bait just before "FB 106" swims by.          Over the past few years, the dolphins of Sarasota Bay and elsewhere in the southeastern United States have been increasingly engaged in depredation, the act of stealing or damaging a prey item already captured by some other process such as fishing.  Dolphins are stealing bait or catch off fishing lines from piers or boats, stalking fishing boats in order to eat the catch thrown back by anglers, and even begging from boats.  The consequences of such behaviors became evident in 2006 when 2% of the Sarasota Bay resident dolphin community died due to ingestion of monofilament line or lures and hooks.  Modeling showed that such losses to this population were unsustainable.  The purpose of my project is to investigate the relative contributions of a number of factors to the increase in dolphin interactions with anglers.
       I am collecting data that will allow me to evaluate factors such as fishing effort, dolphin age, sex, maternal relationships, time spent foraging, habitat use, hearing capabilities, and social patterns.  I am looking for significant differences that may exist between animals that interact with anglers and depredate versus those that do not.  I am expecting to find depredating animals more often in the presence of fishing boats or piers as well as associating with other dolphins which interact with anglers.  I am also exploring whether dolphins that depredate have reduced hearing abilities, making it more difficult for them to feed on their own.  Angler trying to lure "FB 106" closer.Data collection began in May 2007 and will continue through the summer of 2008.  I am monitoring fishing piers, both acoustically and visually, in the Sarasota Bay area for dolphin-angler interactions.  I am also conducting focal animal behavioral follows, collecting information on fishing line and boat presence, dolphin group compositions, and activities for seven angler-interaction and seven non-interaction animals.
                Furthermore, in an effort to raise public awareness and support on this issue, a pamphlet is being created on “Dolphin-Friendly Fishing Tips.”  The overall goal of this study is to increase the sustainability of the Sarasota Bay dolphin community by reducing the number of dolphin deaths resulting directly or indirectly from entanglement or ingestion of fishing gear.  "FB 246" swims by two anglers.Furthermore, since dolphin depredation and fisheries interactions have been shown to be a problem worldwide, I hope to develop methods that can serve as a template for evaluating and mitigating similar issues in other areas.
                This project was made possible by funding provided by the USF College of Marine Science Graduate Assistantship and the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund.