All dolphin photography taken under MMPA Permit #21938-03.
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By Mira Johnson, Field Assistant You may recollect that the 2024 summer field season began with Lab Manager Jolinde’s blog post introducing us to her research investigating turn-taking behavior in bonobos in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Noticing parallels between great apes and dolphins as a field assistant for the CKDP in 2018, she returned this summer for her PhD to examine communication in bottlenose dolphins. Unlike bonobos, studying dolphins comes with the added challenge of studying animals that live in the water, making observation of gesture-based communicative behaviors difficult. Despite this challenge, we have been able to gather a substantial amount of data using a variety of data collection methods (e.g., hydrophones, drone and Insta360 cameras, photo identification) to help us piece together how not only vocalizations, but also non-vocal communication, are used in dolphin communication. As the field season is nearing its end, I thought I would share with you some of the things we know about dolphin communication, and what we hope to discover with the data we have collected thus far. How do dolphins communicate? Dolphins produce a variety of sounds, including clicks, whistles, buzzes, squawks, squeals, and barks (Jones et al., 2020). Of these sounds, whistles are primarily used in social contexts and are used by dolphins to communicate with conspecifics regarding their identity, location, or to engage in cooperation. A signature whistle is a type of whistle that is unique to each individual and has been shown to serve as a contact call. Studies that examine dolphin communication between mother and calves have observed signature whistles to aid in the reunion of separated mother and calves, with the frequency of signature whistles increasing with distance (Kuczaj et al., 2015; Smolker et al., 1993). This suggests that vocalizations are used to reunite mothers with calves, but are vocalizations the only mode of communication at play? Non-vocal communication, like the use of pectoral fin contact with one another for social bonding has been observed in bottlenose dolphins as a way to maintain relationships (Dudzinski and Ribic, 2017). This provides evidence of other modes of communication and reinforces why it is important that we explore not only vocal but non-vocal modes of communication between mothers and calves as well. As we are interested in the turn-taking behavior in dolphins under different contexts, including mother-calf interactions, we have conducted several focal follows on mother-calf pairs this summer. We hope to review the acoustic data soon along with drone footage to see how mothers and calves interact with one another (vocally and non-vocally). Below are some images of some potential signature whistles of the Cedar Keys population, where we can see how unique each whistle is. The frequency modulation pattern of each individual is distinct, functioning similarly to a name in humans.  Looking forward
We hope that by using other data collection methods in addition to acoustics, we can get a better idea of how dolphins communicate with one another. By having photo and video recordings, we can see whether dolphins are using other modes of communication besides vocalizations, as well as identify specific individuals to see if and how their whistles change over time or under different contexts. If you found this blog post about dolphin communication interesting, feel free to read the publications that were referenced in this blog below. References: Dudzinski, K. M., and Ribic, C. A. (2017). Pectoral fin contact as a mechanism for social bonding among dolphins. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 4(1), 30-48. Jones, B., Zapetis, M., Samuelson, M. M., and Ridgway, S. (2020). Sounds produced by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops): A review of the defining characteristics and acoustic criteria of the dolphin vocal repertoire. Bioacoustics, 29(4), 399-440. Kuczaj, S., Eskelinen, H., Jones, B., and Borger-Turner, J. (2015). Gotta go, mom’s calling: Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Mothers Use Individually Distinctive Acoustic Signals To Call Their Calves. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 2(1):88-95, DOI: 10.12966/abc.02.07.2015 Smolker, R. A., Mann, J., and Smuts, B. B. (1993). Use of signature whistles during separations and reunions by wild bottlenose dolphin mothers and infants. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 33, 393–402.
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 Dam (DMWE) in the freshwater Withlacoochee River. By Carrie Cramer, Field Assistant We have reached the halfway point of the 2024 field season, so we have lots of updates to share! Unfortunately, Hurricane Debby made landfall on August 5th in Florida’s Big Bend region, near Cedar Key and our other field sites, which range from Crystal River to the Suwannee River. We will resume our surveys as soon as it is safe to get back on the water. Over the next few weeks, we will be researching whether there are any observable effects of the storm on the dolphin population. Before the hurricane, we were able to complete 23 days of research on the water. We have spent the other days hard at work in the lab processing photo-ID, acoustic, and drone and Insta360 video data. So far, we have conducted 83 “sightings,” which are behavioral and photo-ID surveys completed every time we encounter one or more dolphins. We have also completed 19 focal-follow surveys, during which we follow a specific dolphin to collect more in-depth data on interesting behaviors, such as mom-calf communication or driver-barrier foraging. We have identified 169 unique dolphins in these sightings, with many yet to be identified! Similarly to last year, we have encountered quite a few large groups of socializing dolphins. The largest group we have seen this year was observed right off the Cedar Key boat launch, an area where dolphins often congregate to socialize for unknown reasons. This sighting contained at least 53 dolphins! Our first field day was spent on the unusual task of assisting University of Florida Marine Animal Rescue (UF-MAR) with monitoring a dolphin that was sighted repeatedly this summer in the Withlacoochee River and Cross Florida Barge Canal. It was often seen near the Lake Rousseau Dam, which is approximately 12 km from the ocean! Although bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) can tolerate exposure to fresh water for brief periods of time, prolonged exposure can lead to skin lesions and life-threatening physiological health issues (Ewing et al. 2017). Visually monitoring this dolphin for lesions can help determine when it begins facing serious health risks due to the freshwater exposure. While surveying this dolphin, we observed it traveling in the river and foraging at the Lake Rousseau Dam, perhaps taking advantage of the barrier to catch fish. After analyzing the survey photos, we determined that it was not a known individual in our catalog and named it Dam (DMWE). We were pleased to see Dam again on July 27th in saltwater, indicating that it is able to find its way out of the river. We have had lots of exciting calf sightings throughout this field season! We identified and named four young-of-the-year (YOYs), which are calves born this year. At least nine additional YOYs have been sighted, but they have not been named yet. To ensure that we correctly identify their mothers, we wait to name calves until we have seen them on at least three separate days. We have also re-sighted seven of the eleven calves added to the catalog in 2023 and eleven of the twenty-seven calves added in 2022. It is always exciting to see that a calf has survived its first few years of life, as they are particularly vulnerable during this time. We were especially thrilled to see one-year-old D’it (DTNL), calf of Nail (NLCT), who became entangled in aquaculture netting last year. In August 2023, CKDP participated in the successful disentanglement of D’it in collaboration with UF-MAR and the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program. Check out this blog post for more information about this process. We’re happy to report that D’it’s scars caused by the netting appear to have healed remarkably well! Stay tuned for more information on calves in the upcoming weeks.  D’it’s (DTNL) scars two weeks after disentanglement from aquaculture netting in August 2023.  D’it (DTNL) in July 2024, with small scars visible behind the blowhole.  Fling (FGWB), a frequent participant in driver-barrier foraging, leaping while socializing with other dolphins. Despite the challenges brought by Hurricane Debby, we are pleased with the amount of data we have collected so far during this field season. Our field manager, Jolinde, is looking forward to analyzing the concurrent acoustic and drone video data that we have collected for her PhD research on turn-taking. Check out this blog post for more info on her project. We have also been lucky to observe driver-barrier foraging many times this year, and have identified several new dolphins who participate in this type of cooperative foraging! We have captured acoustic and drone video data of this, which will allow us to better understand how dolphins communicate and coordinate their actions during driver-barrier foraging events. See this blog post to learn more. We are very excited to see what the rest of the field season will bring!
References Ewing, R. Y., Mase-Guthrie, B., McFee, W., Townsend, F., Manire, C. A., Walsh, M., Borkowski, R., Bossart, G. D., & Schaefer, A. M. (2017). Evaluation of serum for pathophysiological effects of prolonged low salinity water exposure in displaced bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 4, 80. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2017.00080  Figure from Hamilton et al. 2022. By Mira Johnson, Field Assistant Like many coasts along Florida, the Nature Coast is home to many resident bottlenose dolphins. But what makes this area an exceptionally remarkable field site for the Cedar Key Dolphin Project is the unique behavior called Driver-Barrier foraging, which is known to only take place there. Driver-Barrier foraging behavior is a role-specialized foraging tactic performed by bottlenose dolphins to catch mullet. The behavior fittingly received the name, Driver-Barrier, for its involvement of one individual serving the role of Driver and one or more as Barrier(s) to forage. The interaction begins with a Driver rapidly circling a school of mullet in a clockwise direction. As the driver herds the mullet, Barrier dolphins position themselves by the outlet of the closing circle to meet the Driver. Once trapped in the circle, in an attempt to flee, the mullet leap out of the water where the dolphins await the fish with their heads above the surface (see diagram on the right). What a crazy way to catch fish! But just how do these dolphins coordinate such a complex interaction? This is one of the many questions we are hoping to answer by studying Driver-Barrier using techniques such as video, photography, acoustics, and GPS. Video recordings (i.e., hand held camera, drone, and Insta 360) and photographs help us identify individual dolphins as drivers or barriers and determine how many fish they catch. To investigate the use of vocalizations during Driver-Barrier events, we also submerge hydrophones (underwater microphones) in the water. This device allows us to record whistles that we otherwise cannot hear from the surface! The GPS lets us pinpoint where the Driver-Barrier behavior happens, while the drone allows us to obtain an aerial view of the behavior. Observing from this unique perspective has been very helpful in understanding how the Driver and Barrier work together to herd fish. To see Driver-Barrier in action, watch our video at YouTube! From our research, we have learned a lot about this fascinating role-specialized behavior. One of the things we have learned from using acoustics is that echolocation is likely the cue used to coordinate Driver-Barrier behavior. During a Driver-Barrier event, there is a notable lack of whistles which suggests that dolphins must be relying on some other cue than vocalizations to coordinate movement. It is unlikely that the primary cue is visual, as the low water clarity in which Driver-Barrier takes place makes for poor visibility. Therefore, it is thought that dolphins are listening to and reacting to each other's clicks.
Interesting! So echolocation does seem to help coordinate this behavior. But then the question becomes, who is responding to who? Research suggests that Barriers are likely listening to the Driver’s echolocation to coordinate movement and timing. However, whether the Barriers are using the driver’s echolocation directly or indirectly (i.e., eavesdropping) is still unclear. As you can see, although there is a lot that we have learned from studying Driver-Barrier, there is still much to be uncovered. As we look forward to this field season, we hope to continue to gather data on Driver-Barrier that will hopefully help us answer some of our next questions, like 1) does every Driver and Barrier work a foraging event in the same way or are there differences in technique? 2) How do dolphins learn this behavior? Is it from their cohorts or from their mothers? All good research leads to more and more questions to be answered! To learn more about Driver-Barrier, please feel free to read some of the publications by Dr. Gazda and colleagues referenced below. You can find PDFs in our publications section on our website. Hamilton, R. A., S. K. Gazda, S. L. King, and R. C. Connor. 2022. Bottlenose dolphin communication during a role-specialized group foraging task. Behavioural Processes. 104691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104691 Gazda, S.K. 2016. Driver-barrier feeding behavior in Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): new insights from a longitudinal study. Marine Mammal Science. doi: 10.1111/mms.12314 (PDF) Gazda, S.K., R.C. Connor, R.K. Edgar, and F. Cox. 2005. A division of labour with role specialization in group-hunting bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) off Cedar Key, Florida. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences. 272: 135–140.  By Jolinde Vlaeyen, Lab Manager
Have you ever wondered if dolphins have conversations like we do? This is exactly what we are aiming to answer with this year’s field season! We will dive into the environment of the Cedar Keys’ bottlenose dolphin population to investigate how these intelligent mammals take turns during their underwater "conversations”. Why dolphins? I am currently a PhD student with the Comparative BioCognition lab in Osnabrück, Germany, where we all investigate turn-taking abilities in different species, with the goal to show that humans are not so unique in this aspect of communication. Specifically, I am doing this, while comparing wild bonobos, who I followed for 10 months in the middle of the jungle in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and wild dolphins, here around the Cedar Keys. Most of my research has been on primates in the past, but when I came to the CKDP as a field assistant for the first time in 2018, I saw so many similarities between dolphins and primates! Except for the different environment they live in, and a 95 million-year evolutionary gap, dolphins exhibit remarkable similarities in behavior and cognitive abilities. For example, both dolphins and bonobos live in fission-fusion societies, meaning they meet different individuals on a daily basis. The Human-Dolphin Connection Turn-taking is a cornerstone of human communication. When we talk, we follow structured rules about who speaks when, ensuring our conversations flow smoothly. This seamless exchange happens in a blink of an eye, showcasing our cognitive skills. But is this ability unique to humans? Recent studies suggest otherwise, pointing to similar behaviors in birds and social mammals. Now, for the first time, we will be investigating what turn-taking looks like in bottlenose dolphins, a species known for its complex vocalizations and social behaviors. Dolphins use distinct whistles, unique to each individual, to communicate, and often respond to each other within a second—much like humans. They also adjust their vocalizations based on their social context, suggesting advanced communication skills. What do we want to learn? We want to answer the question of whether bottlenose dolphins exhibit elements of human conversational turn-taking during their social interactions. For example, how quickly do dolphins respond, and will this be similar when using different methods(e.g. vocal vs gestures)? Will dolphins respond to a specific signal with the exact same response all the time, and if they do not receive an appropriate response the first time, will they elaborate and/or repeat a signal? Do dolphins use cues to make the recipient understand that it's their turn to respond? Therefore, we will look at dolphin communication in different contexts, such as mother-calf interactions, or group foraging and traveling. Specifically, we will look into four elements of turn-taking that are based on what we see in humans: 1. WHO takes the next turn; 2. HOW turns are organized; 3. WHEN responses occur; and 4. WHAT the next turn should be. How will we do this? To explore dolphin turn-taking, we will use a variety of tools:
Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok to see updates about the dolphins’ signature whistles. We hope to share examples there soon! By Mira Johnson, 2024 Field Assistant
Hello! My name is Mira Johnson, and I am excited to be one of the CKDP field assistants this summer! I recently graduated from Lawrence University where I majored in Biology with a special interest in marine mammal behavior. My interest in marine animals began at a young age over many trips to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and tidepools of California while visiting my grandparents during winter break. In my second year of college, I participated in my university’s small Marine Program where I had the opportunity to conduct a study on the cleaning behavior of reef fish. This experience confirmed my interest in marine biology as the field I wanted to pursue further while awakening in me a newfound interest in animal behavior. Living in the Midwest, most of my research experience in animal behavior has been on terrestrial wildlife and freshwater organisms. The summer of my sophomore year I had the opportunity to work with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Snapshot program to conduct research using camera traps to study wildlife populations. This study was where I was first introduced to cameras as a useful tool in the study of animal behavior. The following summer, I worked as a Lawrence Summer Research Fellow at the Center for Limnology Trout Lake Station. There I conducted a study that experimented with infrared videography to study the migration patterns of freshwater zooplankton in northern WI lakes. I am very excited to be drawing upon the methods I practiced in these previous experiences (i.e., photo identification, data entry, fieldwork, etc.) and applying them to my interest in marine mammal behavior. Spending a summer working with the CKDP team seems like the perfect introduction to what it is like to study marine mammal behavior before committing to a graduate program in the next few years. As I am interested in cameras as a tool for studying animal behavior, what I am most excited about this summer is learning about how audio recordings and drone footage can be used to quantify behavior. I am curious to learn about how these various techniques can be used to study how dolphins communicate and engage in coordinated or synchronized behaviors. Working with the CKDP this summer is a fantastic opportunity to grow my understanding of communication and cooperative foraging tactics in bottlenose dolphins through hands-on field and lab work. I can’t wait to be part of the team and hope to get the chance to observe driver-barrier foraging in action! By Carrie Cramer, returning Field Assistant I’m so excited to return to CKDP for my second summer as a field assistant! There is a lot to look forward to this season. I’m most excited to get back on the water and observe lots of fascinating dolphin behaviors! I’m also really excited that CKDP was able to acquire a new boat, which will hopefully allow for plenty of field days to collect all of the data needed for the ongoing research projects.
I can’t wait to see what drone footage we are able to capture this year. This provides a unique visual perspective on dolphin behaviors, such as communication through physical interactions and cooperation during “driver-barrier” foraging. While observing these events from the boat is very exciting, the drone footage can give us a much clearer view of the scene, which allows us to more effectively document and study the behaviors. I’m also looking forward to collecting more acoustic data. Some of my favorite moments from last year were listening to vocalizations picked up by the hydrophones in real time during dolphin sightings. Sometimes, we’re lucky enough to see a dolphin produce a stream of bubbles, which indicates that they are vocalizing. We can then potentially use this observation to identify the individual’s unique “signature whistle” vocalization pattern in the concurrent acoustic recording. Several new “young of the year” have already been spotted on pre-season field trips this spring. I’m looking forward to figuring out who their mothers are and monitoring them throughout their vulnerable first year of life. I hope that we will also come across many of the calves born last year. I’m interested to see how much they’ve grown and changed. They have likely gained new nicks, notches, and scars on their dorsal fins, which we use to identify them. Some of the most valuable learning experiences I had last field season came from working with the CKDP team to tackle all of the unexpected challenges that arise during fieldwork. I feel very fortunate to be able to continue learning from this team while contributing to CKDP’s incredible research! By Jolinde Vlaeyen, Lab Manager After a rather challenging field season last year, the CKDP is gearing up to resume data collection on the unique dolphin population residing around the Cedar Keys. Working with wild animals always requires adaptability, but encountering unusually large dolphin groups made data collection particularly tricky last year. Additionally, technical issues with our equipment, including drone malfunctions and boat engine troubles, added to the setbacks, leading to frustrating delays in data collection. Despite these obstacles, with the community's help, we were able to overcome the challenges and gather valuable insights, including exciting observations of new behaviors and vocalizations.
This year, we are hopeful, as it started with quite some positive news. So far, we secured three (!) grants, which is making this summer’s field season possible. We sold our previous boat (which will be highly missed) and acquired a new one, upgraded some of the equipment, meaning that we are hopeful that this year’s field season, our primary concerns will now be limited to the unpredictable elements and the behavior of the dolphins—both factors beyond our control, but familiar challenges nonetheless. We are also thrilled to welcome back a familiar face to the team: Carrie, a returning field assistant who contributed invaluable efforts last year, particularly in photo-identification tasks that continue year-round. Additionally, we welcome Mira, our second field assistant to this summer’s team! The CKDP has managed to go out on the water a few times before the start of the field season, which have yielded sightings of many dolphin calves, marking a promising start to the season! Now, we eagerly embark on the task which we call “calf mysteries”, which is basically associating calves with their mothers, which is not always the easiest thing to do! Calves are supposed to be with their mothers at all times, but other dolphins enjoy being around the calves as well, so it is always easier to see the calved and their mothers multiple times for us to be sure who the mother is. Altogether, this deepens our understanding of dolphin life histories through long term ongoing observation. As with last year, our focus remains on deciphering the communication patterns among dolphins. While much is known about their vocalizations, regarded for their cognitive complexity, there's still a gap in our understanding of non-vocal forms of communication—a parallel to human conversations that involve gestures and body language. Specifically, we're intrigued by the extent to which dolphin interactions mirror our own, encompassing vocalizations, body signals, and gestures. Our daily routine on the water involves actively seeking out dolphin groups, capturing vital data such as group size, location, and the presence of calves. We deploy underwater microphones (hydrophones) to record vocalizations, including the distinctive "signature whistle" unique to each dolphin, facilitating individual identification. Simultaneously, drone technology affords us a bird's-eye view, capturing intricate body movements and gestures that elude observation from the boat. Identifying dolphins by their dorsal fins, we meticulously photograph each individual—a task requiring skill and patience, especially when confronted with groups numbering 40 or more. This year, we will also focus on expanding our aerial footage to document the various foraging techniques employed by the dolphins, including the unique "driver-barrier" method, wherein dolphins collaborate to catch mullet above the water's surface. This will allow us to compare such foraging techniques with other dolphin populations along the Florida coast. As we look forward to the upcoming season, we remain optimistic that we will achieve even greater success in our research endeavors! Continuing on the them of the last blog post, we asked the field assistants to answer a fun "exit interview" about their experiences this summer! Here are Nemo's answers!
What surprised you about this work? I was pleasantly surprised by how interested people were in the work we’re doing. What surprised you about the dolphins? With the dolphins I was surprised at how much their travel patterns vary. Some individuals stay in pretty much the same spot and some will bounce back and forth between locations, travelling astounding distances in the span of a couple of days. Favorite dolphin experience? My favourite dolphin experience was seeing a newborn baby dolphin a couple of days before the field season wrapped up. Favorite place to boat to (dolphins or no)? In terms of location, my favourite place would be Wacassassa Bay because I loved trying to spot gators chilling by the river. Favorite dolphin of season? My favourite dolphin is Twistie Tie, closely followed by Lulu (LUMM) who I affectionately referred to as Beluga Whale Fin. Most memorable day or moment on the boat I think the most memorable day on the boat was definitely the rescue operation where we tried to get cover netting off of a baby dolphin we had been keeping tabs on all season. The rescue was pulled off pretty successfully with minimal inconvenience to all parties involved, including the dolphins. What would your advice be for future assistants? My advice to future assistants would be to stock up on sunscreen and be prepared to work. It is physically demanding but incredibly rewarding and a fantastic opportunity to observe these intelligent animals in their natural habitat. Key food item for the field A key food item for the field is chocolate. Or anything sweet. Favorite/memorable phrase or saying? A memorable phrase that I won’t ever be able to get out of my mind is ‘up at your 3 o’clock’. (EDITOR'S NOTE: we use a clock system to describe the relative position of the dolphins to the boat) What do you wish you had brought with you this season? I wish I had brought a bigger water bottle with a lid that was easier to open. Most valuable item for the boat? Most valuable item for the boat is a hat. A wide brim hat with protective neck covering because that will protect you from the sun better than anything else. As the weather turns towards fall and we are entering our regular population surveys, it is fun to look back at the summer field season! We asked the field assistants to answer a fun "exit interview" about their experiences! First up is Carrie! Read what she wrote below. Check in later for Nemo's answers!
What surprised you about this work? I was surprised by how challenging it is to research dolphins in Cedar Key and the surrounding areas! The water is extremely shallow and murky, making it difficult to navigate the boat around obstacles. Some of the places where we frequently spot dolphins are only accessible to us (and the dolphins) at high tide. The murkiness of the water also often makes it impossible to see dolphins underwater, so quick reaction times are necessary to get good pictures of dolphins when they surface. On top of these challenges, the summer heat and humidity is no joke! This experience made me really appreciate how much time and effort goes into field work, and how amazing it is that CKDP is able to collect great data on these animals! What surprised you about the dolphins? I was surprised by how much time these dolphins spend socializing! Observing them in the wild made it clear how incredibly important social behavior is in their lives. I knew that lots of research had been done on how dolphins communicate vocally, but I was surprised to observe how important physical touch is in their communication as well. I was also surprised by how many different specialized techniques these dolphins use to forage. It made me so curious about what environmental and social factors influence how they forage and how these behaviors are learned. Favorite dolphin experience? My favorite experience was following two mom-calf pairs through narrow, mangrove-lined canals in the backwaters of Waccasassa. I always love watching moms and their calves interact with each other, but this experience was extra special because the area was so naturally beautiful and felt very remote from the outside world. When we emerged from the canals into Waccasassa Bay, they joined up with a huge group of socializing dolphins, which was so fun to watch! Favorite place to boat to (dolphins or no)? Waccasassa Bay was my favorite place to boat! It’s within a beautiful nature preserve that gives you a glimpse into what Florida’s Gulf Coast used to look like before development. We saw lots of large social groups of dolphins in this area, which were difficult to collect data on but really interesting to observe! Favorite dolphin of season? On my first field day, I somehow managed to take a picture of Crayfish (CHWE) leaping fully out of the water, right alongside our boat! He or she quickly became my favorite for giving me that fantastic photo op. We saw Crayfish many more times throughout the field season. His or her dorsal fin is easy to identify in the field, with its large triangle-shaped notch and vertical rake marks. Most memorable day or moment on the boat The most memorable day on the boat was definitely the last day of our field season, when CKDP partnered with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program and UF Marine Animal Rescue to disentangle a calf who had plastic netting wrapped around its body and pectoral fins. We had been monitoring this entangled calf for weeks, so it was really gratifying to finally see it be released from the netting. The situation gave us a unique opportunity to collect data on the mom-calf pair’s behavior and communication before, during, and after the disentanglement, so I’m excited to see what we learn from this. What would your advice be for future assistants? The hardest part of the role for me was dealing with the heat on the boat. Make sure to drink tons of water, reapply sunscreen every two hours, and get comfortable with being drenched in sweat! Any skills related to boating and action photography would be super useful for field assistants, but don’t worry if you don’t have them - I certainly didn’t. Most importantly, stay curious about what you observe and how much more there is to learn about these animals. This is a great learning opportunity, so ask tons of questions and be open to feedback about how you can improve your skills. Key food item for the field Watermelon tastes incredible on the boat! Favorite/memorable phrase or saying? Everyone on the boat yelled “KNUCKLES!” every time the dolphin named Knuckles came up for a breath. I’m not sure why it was so funny, but it got me every time. “Hydrate or diedrate” was also a good one. What do you wish you had brought with you this season? I wish I had brought some long-sleeve fishing shirts or UV protection shirts to help keep me cooler and reduce the need to constantly slather my arms with sunscreen. Most valuable item for the boat? A good pair of polarized sunglasses is absolutely essential for protecting your eyes from the sun and spotting dolphins! They also help you see things underwater, like dolphins, other cool animals, or oyster bars that you are about to run into.  NLCT (Nail) and DTNL (Dit). Nail and Dit (get it)? By Stefanie Gazda, President of CKDP One of the many roles that the Cedar Key Dolphin Project plays is to assist in any way possible if an animal is in crisis. Fortunately there are not that many of those calls in our part of the world (likely due to fewer people along the coast and less pollution/trash in the waters). In the middle of July that change and added an extra dimension to our field season. We received a call from UF Marine Animal Rescue (UF-MAR) in mid-July that there was a report of a possibly entangled calf off of the City Beach in Cedar Key. UF-MAR was able to find the dolphin right away, and we joined them shortly afterwards to take photos of the mom and calf to see if we could identify them later on land. We were actually able to ID them right away because we had seen them so much this summer: the mom was NLCT (Nail) and the calf was DTNL (Dit), a young of the year (YOY) believed to have been born in March of this year. It's not as simple as it might seem to grab an entangled dolphin and take the line off. First, dolphins are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and any harassment of a dolphin at that level needs permission from NOAA, even from trained responders. Second, this is a calf under six months old: they are very vulnerable to stress, and there is a risk of causing more harm to the infant by trying to disentangle it without being very strategic about it. Last, we didn't know exactly how entangled the calf was: it was acting like a normal calf, frolicking around its mom and swimming normally. More research was needed, and this is where we came in. While UF-MAR worked on coordinating a response with NOAA, we continued over the next several weeks to monitor the calf and mom. We were able to provide a sighting history of the mom and calf to UF-MAR and the responders: NLCT is known for going in the backwaters along Channel Three and behind Scale Key. For all the years that we've collected data on her (since 2018), she's always around Dog Island, the City Beach, and behind Cedar Key. This was good and bad news. Good news: that she's a resident and doesn't go very far so we'd likely be able to find her again. Bad news: if you've ever gone through Channel Three, you know there is a lot of stuff for a boat to get hung up on. That makes an attempt to disentangle a calf even more difficult if you are dodging oyster bars. While we waited for the schedules of trained personnel, weather, tides, and wind to match up, UF-MAR determined that the material surrounding the calf was cover netting, which is one of the biggest marine debris problems in Cedar Key. CKDP was able to capture drone footage (allowed under our research permit, without which we would have to fly our drone at an altitude of at least 400 feet) and found that the netting was also wrapped around the calf's pectoral fin. We also relied on information from Captain Phil at Tidewater Tours, who told us where and when he saw the calf, whenever he saw them. This gave us more information about their habits and more data for the team. We took behavioral data at every sighting and luckily DTNL appeared to be healthy and vigorous, which was great news. Still, DTNL is a rapidly growing baby and that netting had to come off as soon as possible. Finally, the weather and people all lined up and the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP) at Mote Marine Labs sent two trained personnel to disentangle the calf remotely (you can read their account here). Instead of using a net to corral the calf, they would try to grab the line with a long pole. Using a net is difficult even in beautiful waters, but given the combination of the silt in the water in Cedar Key, the oyster bars, and the calf's young age, a pole was the safer choice. On August 9th, CKDP and UF-MAR launched their boats and we searched all along the waterfront. After three hours, the CKDP boat found NLCT and DTNL traveling around Dog Island. While we waited for the UF-MAR boat to approach, we took more behavioral data and photos. Once the UF-MAR boat was on site, the SDRP personnel got to work, carefully approaching mom and calf in a slow and steady manner with the boat while one of them held a long pole with a grapple on the end of it. Within 20 minutes they made their first attempt to grab the line as DTNL approached the boat. DTNL tail-slapped and dove down, but the action of drawing the grapple across the dolphin caused the netting to snap! It's unclear if the grapple made significant contact with the calf, but most likely it was a combination of DTNL flinching, the netting starting to degrade, and contact with the grapple that freed DTNL. After the disentanglement, the CKDP moved in to collect behavioral data to make sure that DTNL was not too stressed out by being touched by the metal grapple pole. Calf and mom continued to surface normally and closely together, which is great. There seems to be some scarring that DTNL has from the netting, which they will likely carry forever, but think of the story they have to tell now!
We will continue to monitor this calf and mom to make sure that both animals are doing well. Many thanks to UF-MAR, SDRP, Tidewater Tours, and those that offered to help us out when our boat was down for maintenance. We are so grateful for your support! We continue to collect data for specific research questions, as well as baseline monitoring of the population, which are invaluable in making operations like this rescue possible. We will be looking for a new (used) boat within the next year, and we are asking for any financial help you can lend us. Your donations are tax-deductible and will go a long way in helping us achieve our long-term research goals by staying on the water. Remote disentanglement was conducted at the request of NOAA, the federal agency responsible for overseeing the stewardship of marine mammals in U.S. waters, under Permit No. 24359 issued to NOAA’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program. Dolphin photography taken under MMPA permit 21938-03. May not be used or reproduced. |
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