January 2008

Dear Friends and Colleagues of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program,

      The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP) has completed another successful year as the “world’s longest-running wild dolphin research program.”  Our research is in its 38th year since we asked the simple question:  “Do the same bottlenose dolphins live in Sarasota Bay year-round?”  In 1970 I was a high school student, assisting Blair Irvine on dolphin and shark research at Mote Marine Laboratory, including a dolphin tagging project.  It was my first “real job,” even though I was a volunteer.
      We’ve come a long way since then.  The answer to our original question from the tagging research — the first documentation of long-term, multi- generational residency by dolphins — set the stage for all that we have done over the decades since.   Initial basic biological research has been expanded to investigate increasingly refined questions, and we have added a strong commitment to conservation action, education and training.  Over the past 37 years, we have created a unique situation for learning about the needs of coastal dolphins in the wild, through understanding them as individuals and following them throughout their lives.  As we learn what it takes for coastal dolphins to be able to survive and thrive, we improve our ability to evaluate how expanding human activities in coastal ecosystems may impact their lives, and what approaches may be most effective for keeping them and their populations healthy, while at the same time allowing humans to use and enjoy coastal waters.
     In this newsletter you will find numerous accounts by staff, students, and colleagues about progress on their individual research, education, or conservation action projects during 2007.  One of the strengths of our program is that it provides opportunities to integrate across a number of individual projects, to understand the complexities of the lives of animals with long life-spans.   For example, through many disparate research and conservation projects we are beginning to develop a unique and important appreciation of the potential pervasive role of red tide (harmful algal blooms, or HABs) in the lives of the Sarasota dolphins.
      SDRP and Mote Marine Laboratory research efforts examining red tide toxin levels in dolphins demonstrated that local dolphins did not die directly from the toxin during the 2005 severe red tide.  However, dramatic and unsustainable increases in dolphin deaths from attempts at stealing bait and catch from recreational anglers coincided with 1) a precipitous decline in dolphin prey fish in Sarasota Bay (determined from long-term dolphin stomach content analyses and ongoing purse-seining operations), 2) significant declines in dolphin body condition (determined through health assessments), and 3) unprecedented changes in group size and where the dolphins spent their time during the red tide (documented by surveys and behavioral observations).  Although dolphin deaths from fishing gear have declined as fish stocks recover in the absence of red tide, supporting our hypothesis about the role of red tide as a driver of this issue at least in the Sarasota area, a new study indicates that some dolphins continue to show interest in bait and catch.  This interest appears likely to have been reinforced by angler behavior, such as feeding and releasing catch near dolphins.  SDRP is engaged in activities to educate anglers about how to deal with dolphins nearby, how to reduce the amount of discarded fishing gear in the water, and about the problems associated with feeding wild dolphins.
      Harmful Algal Blooms, such as red tides, were identified in a December 2007 plenary talk at the Society for Marine Mammalogy’s Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals by Vice Admiral Lautenbacher, head of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (responsible for protecting most of the nation’s marine mammals), as one of the six greatest threats to marine mammals.  Only three presentations of more than 800 given at this biennial international conference dealt with HABs, and all three were by the SDRP.  This is just one example of how the long-term, integrated efforts of SDRP researchers are addressing emerging and pressing conservation issues.
      Elsewhere on the website the Current Research articles summarize the efforts of our research team during 2007 in a variety of topic areas.  Our 12 full- or part-time staff and 14 graduate students, working with colleagues from around the world, have been involved in publishing 7 peer-reviewed scientific articles, with another 20 in press, in revision, or submitted and in review.   We have made, or been co-authors on, more than 25 scientific presentations and 14 university or public lectures.  In addition to the research efforts, we have grown our international training program, with colleagues and students joining us from around the world to learn our approaches and techniques for application to their own dolphin conservation issues at home.  We have been able to accomplish this research, conservation, and education work through the assistance of a number of organizations, including NOAA’s Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Batchelor Foundation, Dolphin Quest, Disney, Earthwatch Institute and donations from generous contributors.
      We expect another busy year in 2008, continuing many of our ongoing research efforts.  In addition, with colleagues, we have submitted proposals to federal programs for new research on the effects of red tide and for using photographic identification surveys with documentation of dolphin skin lesions as an early warning system for emerging health issues in coastal dolphin populations.  It will be a year of new challenges, as the federal support that has sustained our program since 2001 comes to an end.   We will need to greatly increase private support of our program, in addition to seeking competitive grants, in order to be able to sustain our current highly-productive level of activity.  By 2010, when we expect to produce a book summarizing our first 40 years, my hope is that we will have reached a level of self-sufficiency in terms of supporting the ongoing efforts of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program.  With your continued help and support, I am sure that we can achieve this important goal.
      For now, my sincere thanks for helping to get us to this point.  Please let me know if your travels bring you near Sarasota, so you can visit our lab and perhaps even the dolphins.

OUR  APPROACH  TOWARD  HELPING  DOLPHINS

      Our desire with each research or conservation project in Florida or elsewhere is to contribute to a better understanding of the structure and dynamics of populations of small cetaceans (dolphins, whales, and porpoises), as well as the natural and anthropogenic factors (factors of human origin) that impact them.  We use an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach in conducting studies of bottlenose dolphins within a unique long-term natural laboratory.  The primary goals of our program include:
(1) collecting biological, behavioral, ecological,
and health data of importance to the conservation
of small cetaceans, especially bottlenose dolphins,
(2) providing requisite information for bottlenose dolphin conservation to wildlife management agencies,
(3) disseminating the information generated by our program to scientific and general audiences in order to aid dolphin conservation efforts,
(4) using our model program to develop and refine hypotheses regarding bottlenose dolphins in other parts of the species’ range as well as other species of small cetaceans,
(5) using the established natural laboratory to develop and test new research tools and methodologies of potential benefit to conservation efforts,
(6) training cetacean conservation workers and students from around the world in the use of these techniques,
(7) applying our unique program expertise to dolphin rescue operations and post-release follow-up monitoring, and
(8) applying the information we gather from free-ranging dolphins to improve the quality of care for dolphins in zoological park settings.
      The work toward achieving these goals is conducted under the umbrella of the “Sarasota Dolphin Research Program” (SDRP).  This name links the efforts of several organizations that work together to ensure the continuity of the long-term dolphin research in Sarasota Bay.  The Conservation, Education, and Training Group of the Chicago Zoological Society (CZS) has provided core staff salaries and administrative and operational support for the program since 1989.  Dolphin Biology Research Institute, a Sarasota-based 501{c}3 non-profit corporation established in 1982, provides logistical support with its fleet of six small research vessels, two towing vehicles, computers, cameras, field equipment, etc. Since 1992, Mote Marine Laboratory has provided a convenient base on City Island in Sarasota Bay, with office, storage, and dock space, and easy access to good boat launching ramps.  The SDRP maintains academic connections including graduate student sponsorships primarily through the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and the University of South Florida. All bottlenose dolphin research reported in this newsletter was performed under the authority of NMFS Scientific Research Permit No. 522-1785.