Mote high school intern Stephanie Altenbernd photographs "FB 199" near the Siesta Bridge.

        In the latest SDRP collaboration with Mote’s Education Program, we worked with local area high school students on some innovative ways to communicate conservation messages to the public. “Communicating Solutions” gave 16 high school students in Mote’s High School Intern Program the opportunity to work side by side with SDRP staff member Kim Bassos-Hull and Mote VP of Education Jim Wharton to collect, analyze, and present real research data. The research project involved monitoring dolphin behavior in high boat traffic areas of Sarasota Bay in response to increasing concerns about dolphin interactions with anglers and boats. Research questions included: 1) how often are dolphins observed within 100 m of recreational boats, 2) how do dolphin dive patterns change in the presence of boat traffic, 3) are there identifiable “hot spots” of human-dolphin interaction? Students rotated and spent two weekend days a month on the water collecting data from October 2007 through March 2008. After learning how to analyze data back in the lab, students then prepared their findings for public presentation. Some of the findings included: 1) dolphins are exposed to more boat traffic in the afternoon compared to morning and more boat traffic in channels compared to open bay, 2) dolphins dove longer when the number of boats within 100 meters increased, and 3) dolphin activity budgets varied amongst individuals but more data is needed to make statistical comparisons.
       

Mote VP of Education Him Wharton calls out boat data as high school intern Jillian Mayer records the data.

        The second part of the project involved the students communicating their findings through conservation messages to the public. Students were divided into four “Krewes” to develop CAPs (community awareness plans) to different target audiences. The four CAPs included: 1) a coloring book for elementary aged children, 2) a tent card for local area hotels and restaurants, 3) a tide chart with information on the back informing boat rental customers to not feed wild dolphins, and 4) a student presentation to local youth groups such as 4-H. The students also had the opportunity to present their findings at the Florida Marine Science Educators Association conference in May 2008. Our pilot year one program was both fun and rewarding while accomplishing some of the SDRP goals of research, conservation, and education. So with a generous donation from the Emily and Roland Abraham Marine Science Education Fund we will be continuing this program for another year and the students will get the experience of creating short video public service announcements to show to different target audiences. The first year program was enabled by a grant provided by The Association of Zoo’s and Aquariums (AZA) through their Conservation Endowment Fund, and the Chicago Zoological Society.

Example of one of the Community Awareness Projects (CAPs) created by the high school interns: a coloring book for elementary school children.