Program Operations

Long-term Datasets

       Research since 1970 has been based on compiling longitudinal records of individually-distinctive bottlenose dolphins from the central west coast of Florida.  Identification efforts have occurred from Tampa Bay through Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound and associated Gulf of Mexico waters.  The most intensive efforts have focused on the long-term resident community of dolphins in Sarasota Bay, spanning at least five generations.  During 1970-1976, individual identifications were made primarily through tagging and resighting or tracking.  Since the mid-1970s, photographic identification has been the primary tool for compiling individual records.  Dolphins are identified from photos showing natural markings, tag scars, and from freeze-brands applied during capture-release activities for health assessment.  Freeze-brands, applied to the dorsal fin and to the body below the dorsal fin, facilitate unambiguous identifications of dolphins through time, even if the identifying features on their dorsal fins change.  Over 250 dolphins have been freeze-branded since the inception of the program in 1970.

        More than 350,000 dolphin photographs from 1970 to the present are currently archived by the DRCI.  They have been collected during more than 37,755 dolphin group sightings.   Our digital photographic identification catalog currently includes 6,044 images, including 3,502 distinctive individual dolphins (alive and dead) plus some of their calves (young animals are often not individually distinctive).  The sighting database results from photographic records yielding more than 107,700 sightings of these identifiable individuals, over periods of more than 39 years.  Some individuals have been identified more than 1,339 times.

       This year, we have continued our initiative to archive all behavioral data collected on the dolphins of Sarasota Bay over the years.  We have now compiled data from 6 of the 16 past research projects that conducted focal animal behavioral observations (also known as ‘follows’) on Sarasota dolphins.  While each project has had its own specific aim, many behavioral parameters have been collected consistently across researchers, and once complete, this archive will provide a unique opportunity to follow the behavior of some individuals over time, answer new research questions with existing data, and supply important baseline and background information for future projects.   So far, the archive contains over 600 focal follows conducted on 110 different individuals from 1992 to 2008.  We currently have data on adult males, adult females both with and without calves, and juveniles of both sexes collected in all seasons of the year. We even have some individual dolphins that have been followed over 30 times by different researchers! ‘Whitestripe’ (FB36) still has the lead, with 35 follows conducted by three different research teams. Also, four females have each been followed by three different studies over the years, both with and without calves by their side.  As more projects contribute data, this archive will provide a unique resource to current and future studies on the dolphins of Sarasota Bay and elsewhere.