Welcome to Nicks 'n' Notches Online, the enewsletter of the
Sarasota Dolphin Research Program.
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RESEARCH, CONSERVATION
AND EDUCATION SINCE 1970.
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The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP) is a collaboration dedicated to dolphin research, conservation and education.
It began in 1970 at Mote Marine Laboratory when Blair Irvine and high school student Randy Wells started a pilot tagging study to find out whether dolphins on Florida's central west coast remained in the area or traveled more widely. In 1974, with a contract from the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, they were joined by Michael Scott and expanded the study with radio-telemetry.
Their subsequent discovery of long-term residency set the stage for today's efforts by demonstrating opportunities to study individually identifiable dolphins throughout their lives in a natural laboratory setting.
Our work is conducted under the name "Sarasota Dolphin Research Program." This name ties together several organizations dedicated to ensuring the continuity of our long-term research, conservation and education efforts in Sarasota Bay and elsewhere.
The SDRP has been operated by the Chicago Zoological Society (CZS) since 1989.
"Dolphin Biology Research Institute," is a Sarasota-based 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation established in 1982. It provides logistical support with research vessels, towing vehicles, computers, cameras, field equipment, etc.
Since 1992, the program has been based at Mote Marine Laboratory on City Island in Sarasota Bay, with office, lab, storage and dock space and easy access to boat launching ramps within the home range of the Sarasota Bay resident dolphins.
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In 1972, Congress enacted the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), which was a bi-partisan
response to growing concerns among scientists and the public that certain species and populations of marine mammals were in danger of extinction or depletion because of human activities.
The MMPA also established the Marine Mammal Commission, an independent government agency tasked with providing science-based oversight of
marine mammal conservation policies and programs being carried out by federal regulatory agencies.
The Commission includes three Commissioners nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, a nine-member Committee of Scientific Advisors and staff members. Dr. Randy Wells, SDRP director, was appointed to the Committee of Scientific Advisors in 2015.
The Commission recently released a new video about the organization and its oversight responsibilities.
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Notes from the Field and Lab...
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Randall Wells, Ph.D., Director
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Greetings!
We've continued with our regular monthly dolphin photo ID population surveys and have accounted for most of the calves born during 2016.
We're also happy to report that in March we sighted Nicklo, the oldest known bottlenose dolphin in the world. Nicklo was born in 1950 and we have recorded sightings of her more than 820 times since 1982. We also observed the first calf of 2017, 1416.
We've completed the winter session of our seasonal fish surveys. Overall, it appears that the recent red tide affecting our coast has not severely impacted the numbers of dolphin prey fish in our area.
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One component of our program is providing training opportunities for scientists and students outside of the U.S. that allow them to participate in field and lab research activities here to learn how our methods and techniques might be applied to their own research programs.
We recently hosted Joan Gonzalvo of Italy's Tethys Research Institute. He's Director of the Ionian Dolphin Project (IDP). This project began in the Inner Ionian Sea Archipelago in Greece in 1991 and was extended in 2001 to the nearby semi-enclosed and eutrophic Gulf of Ambracia. Here's more about his experience, in his own words:
"The IDP has two study areas, which are remarkably diverse in terms of environmental features and threats caused by human activities: The Inner Ionian Sea Archipelago and the Gulf of Ambracia. The latter, where the bottlenose dolphin is the only cetacean present, is an increasingly  degraded coastal ecosystem hosting one of the highest observed densities in the Mediterranean Sea for this species. By visiting my colleagues at SDRP I strongly believe that there are not many areas that can be considered a 'natural laboratory,' but Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Ambracia, where I am privileged to work, are certainly two of them. Despite having almost twenty years of experience studying bottlenose dolphins in the Mediterranean, during these two weeks I have observed many dolphin behaviors that I had never seen before. This has been an eye-opening experience on how the same species in a relatively similar scenario (i.e., high dolphin density in semi-enclosed waters suffering from several different anthropogenic pressures) can develop very different strategies in order to survive (or try to!). I aim at establishing a collaboration between both our projects in the early future, not only with the goal of setting up comparative studies to improve our knowledge on this species, but also to provide opportunities for researchers willing to develop their own research, which may help to define the most urgent dolphin conservation needs."
Your support helps to make international collaborations like this possible and I thank you for your continued support!
Here's wishing you fair winds & following seas,
Randy Wells
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Name:
F159, also known as Aya
Age:
21
Sex: Female
A Dolphin's Life:
Aya is a fourth generation Sarasota Bay dolphin. Her lineage is one of two five-generation maternal lineages that we know from our population studies here.  Granny (FB19) is the oldest dolphin in the lineage. She gave birth to Genie (FB59, who was named after famous shark scientist Dr. Eugenie Clark), who birthed Claire (F131). Claire gave birth to Aya, who then gave birth to four calves of her own, including her still-dependent calf 1594 born in 2015 and F233, who was born in 2010.
F233 is the only known living fifth generation female of this lineage and, at age 7, is nearing her own calf-bearing years. If she does have a calf of her own, we'll be witness to the sixth generation of dolphins in Sarasota Bay.
This family lineage is a wonderful example showing dolphins' long-term residency in Sarasota Bay and offers us another reminder that we're sharing these coastal waters with animals that call these places home. Please watch out for wildlife!
Aya and FB11.
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Aya and 1594.
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Dolphin Biology Research Institute (DBA Sarasota Dolphin Research Program)
is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to research and conservation of dolphins and their habitat. Employer Identification No. 59-2288387; Florida Charitable Contributions Solicitations Registration No. CH1172. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL FLORIDA REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE OR AT WWW.FRESHFROMFLORIDA.COM. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. THIS ORGANIZATION RETAINS 100% OF ALL CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED.
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STAY CONNECTED
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