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.

 By Jolinde Vlaeyen (PhD Candidate and Lab Manager)
​Dolphin research is not all about fun and spending time collecting data on amazing dolphins, it also comes full of challenges, whether it is the behavior of the dolphins, the weather, or all the technicalities of planning a smooth sailing field season. This season especially has been intense with all of these things.

One of the challenges that we deal with every season, is working with wild animals, who definitely have a mind of their own. As such, we usually need to adapt following what they do, which is what science is. However, this year the dolphins have been behaving quite different compared to otheryears; we see them very often in the same places, in very big groups (±30), and rarely in small groups.

For this year’s data collection, this is rather frustrating, because to answer my research questions, small groups of dolphins are preferred. This way, we can more easily identify who vocalizes, who responds, and see on the camera and drone what is happening underwater. When the dolphins are in big groups, it is rather difficult to follow each individual. Why they are behaving differently this year is still something we’re trying to understand. Other researchers around Cedar Key mentioned that the turtles and the sharks are also behaving differently this year, so my bet is on climate change.

Another challenge is the weather. Because we have a small boat and because dolphin spotting becomes harder once the waves become bigger, we can only go out on the water when the weather is near perfection: glassy waters, barely any swell, and no rain. Usually, the mornings in this area are as described, and the wind and/or rain pushes us back on land between 2-4pm. Yet, this year, rain and storms have been too common in the mornings, meaning we cannot go out, and a side effect of this is that the water has been murkier for longer periods, and therefore not easy to see the dolphins through it with the drone.

The biggest challenge this year however has been technicalities. We are using a combination of a drone, so we are able to also see what they do from a different angle, as well as acoustic recordings. We have been fighting the drone this season, as it created a lot of issues for us, and some were fixable, others were not. We were able to buy a new one, but that one failed, and then tried another one which also had issues. That drone has been discontinued, so, we decided to buy a different brand, which is not waterproof, meaning we need to be extra careful catching it on the boat. Because we are a small NGO, these decisions need to be taken carefully, because we do not have the money to buy multiple drones at once. 

The other big issue has been the boat engine, which has had multiple different issues over this season. All of this means a lot of waiting, either for the drones and engine parts to be shipped, and then the fixing itself as well, resulting in days of less or no data collection.

What has been amazing is the community feeling in and around Cedar Key. People have generously offered to lend us their boat; while we were fixing our engine at the dock, others have tried to help us out in the nicest ways; and our mechanic has been very helpful and fixing our boat issues fast as possible to get us back to doing research ASAP. I could not be more grateful for how everyone has been involved and helpful! Thanks to this, we have had a great run these past days, have finally been able to get the data we needed, and observed amazing – and maybe even new – behaviors in combination with some vocalizations. Let’s hope this field season ends on this high note!

​As much as this season has been the most challenging one just yet, this year for me has been the best year with the Cedar Key Dolphin Project, and I will be back next year!

 ​Hello! My name is Carrie, and I’m a CKDP field assistant this summer. I can’t believe we’re already almost halfway through the field season! In June, thunderstorms kept us off the water for more days than we would have liked, but we’ve still had many field days so far, and have encountered lots of dolphins on each of these days. Thankfully, we have plenty of data to keep us busy in the lab when we can’t go out! I’d love to give you an idea of what a day in the life of a field assistant is like on field days.

Our day starts at 6 AM, when Jolinde, our field manager, checks the weather radar, wind speed and swell height to make sure that conditions are good for spotting dolphins and staying safe on the boat. We then eat breakfast and pack up the equipment. The “data cooler” holds our DSLR camera, handheld video camera, GPS, datasheets, and lots of spare batteries. Another cooler holds our water bottles, sandwiches for lunch, and an abundance of snacks. We pack the coolers, along with acoustic and drone equipment, into the truck, and hook up the boat trailer. We then head to one of our launch locations. This year, we’ve launched from Cedar Key, the Waccasassa river, and Yankeetown. Jolinde chooses our launch location based on a combination of factors, including weather, expected boat traffic, and water depth. The coastal waters in this region are very shallow, so we are often boating in a meter or less of depth while navigating through obstacles like oyster bars and crab pots. When we get to the boat ramp, we load the equipment into the boat, prepare the boat for launch, and then we are off!

While on the water, we’re constantly scanning the horizon for dolphin dorsal fins. We’ve been lucky to have several mornings lately where the water is so calm and glassy that it’s almost hard to tell where the water ends and the sky begins, and cotton-candy-like clouds are reflected onthe water’s surface. When the water is choppier, though, dorsal fins can be camouflaged by the waves. It’s also easy to confuse other animals for dolphin activity. Ospreys and pelicans plunge into the water, creating huge splashes. Cormorants bob on the surface. Fish cause ripples and splashes, and mullets launch themselves into the air. Boulder-like manatee snouts emerge to take a breath, while sea turtle heads poke out of the water like periscopes.

When someone yells, “dolphins!” and we confirm that we have indeed spotted dolphins, we begin to approach them. Boaters are required by law to stay 50 yards away from dolphins, or to continue on their course if dolphins approach their boat. CKDP has a research permit that allows us to approach and follow dolphins at a closer distance. A flag on our boat lets other boaters know that we are performing dolphin research under a permit.

When we arrive at the dolphins, we begin a “sighting,” where we collect photo-ID and behavioral data. Sightings can last from five minutes to an hour, and we usually have multiple sightings per day. During a sighting, one field assistant takes photos, with the goal of taking at least one clear photo of both sides of each dolphin’s dorsal fin. Individuals can be identified using the unique pattern of notches on their dorsal fins, caused by other dolphins, sharks, or boats. They can gain more notches throughout their lifetime, but they don’t lose them (unless they are overlapped by new notches). Their scars, which may fade over time, and dorsal fin shapes can also be helpful for identification. Dolphins with “clean” fins, who are usually calves, are the hardest to identify. Taking photos of dolphins can be extremely difficult, because they only surface for about a second and can stay underwater for long periods of time. Some dolphins are more “photogenic” than others, meaning that they tend to surface frequently alongside the boat, making the camera person’s job easy. Dolphins who don’t surface often or frequently change directions can be very challenging to photograph. Calves are especially difficult to capture, because they surface faster than adults. The more dolphins there are, the more difficult it is tokeep track of where they all are and which fins have already been photographed. We have had many chances to practice this so far, because we’ve frequently encountered large groups of 20 or more dolphins socializing. The camera person and boat driver work together to constantly position the boat in places where we can take photos at good angles.

Another field assistant is in charge of filling out the datasheet. This is also a collaborative process; everyone on the boat discusses what we are seeing. We record information about the time, location and conditions of the sighting. We also estimate the number of dolphins present in the sighting, distinguishing between adults, calves, and young-of-the-year (YOYs), which are calves that were born this year. We estimate these age categories based on the size and behavior of the dolphins. Calves up to three years old are generally no more than half the size of adult dolphins, and YOYs are even smaller. YOYs don’t have fully developed motor skills, so they often stick their face out of the water when they surface to breathe, and they surface very quickly. YOYs also tend to swim in “baby position” alongside their mom. We also record information about how spread out the dolphins are from each other, whether there are subgroups within a larger group, when dolphins join or depart from the group, and how they are moving around the area. We record information about the activities that the dolphins are performing, which could be traveling, foraging, socializing, or resting. My favorite part of data collection is observing and recording specific foraging and social behaviors.

Dolphins in this population have several different foraging techniques, including the cooperative driver-barrier (DB) foraging behavior that is unique to this population, as far as we know. We haven’t gotten a good look at DB yet this season (we are not specifically searching for it this year), but I hope I have a chance to witness it. We have seen other interesting foraging techniques, like “fast swimming,” where dolphins accelerate very fast to chase a fish, sometimes creating a rooster tail at the surface with their dorsal fin. We saw a dolphin named Eller toss a Crevalle Jack fish into the air several times, perhaps to stun it. We’ve seen several dolphins “bottom grubbing,” where they stick their snout into the mud and root around for fish. This requires them to kick their flukes at the surface to keep their body pointed downwards, creating huge splashes. We got to see Nail bottom-grubbing with her YOY watching nearby. My favorite foraging encounter so far was watching Knuckles perform “kerplunking,” where he forcefully dives into the water and holds his body in a curved position so that his tail slaps against the surface as he enters the water, presumably to stun fish. Although this behavior is seen in some other bottlenose dolphin populations, Knuckles is the only individual in this population who has been observed kerplunking. I would love to find out how these dolphins learn these behaviors and how this knowledge is transmitted throughout the population.

School has started and our research team is back in school or at home! We are moving to the other phases of our yearly research, which focuses more on overall population monitoring. We asked our Field Assistants to reflect on what they've learned this summer, what they still want to know, and where they are going. Here are their responses. THANK YOU to their hard work this summer!

Jaiere: 
Having the opportunity to be a full-time summer intern for the Cedar Key Dolphin Project was an amazing experience. Before coming to Florida for the summer, I had little experience regarding marine mammal science and field work. Over the past three months I have learned a substantial amount of information about bottlenose dolphin social and foraging behavior, the specific individuals residing in and around Cedar Key, and their habitats. I also learned a lot about other related topics to the project, including boating etiquette and logistics. I did not know that there could be in a single dolphin performing the driver-barrier technique; I thought the behavior was only performed in groups. I also did not know that there is potential for mothers to steal calves from other mothers! Throughout the season we had some technical difficulties, and it was rewarding learning about the boat itself, including names of different parts of the boat and learning the standard procedure of prepping the boat before going out onto the water.

Due to the driver-barrier foraging technique being the dominant focus of the project, there were lots of questions asked, and some still needing to be answered after observing and analyzing the dolphins for the past three months. Therefore, I am still curious about the social structure associated with driver-barrier. I would be interested in learning more about individuals’ memory capacities and if there is an intentional hierarchical influence when determining who is driving, and what that entails. For example, do the dolphins have the capacity to remember and rank the success of driving of specific individuals over a long period of time? I also would be interested in learning more about mother/calf pairs, and the genetic influence, if any, of learning driver-barrier and other foraging techniques. Not only have I learned so much about marine mammal science, but I have also improved on quickly and efficiently applying new knowledge to real-life situations, which will definitely be of great service to me in my future educational endeavors. I plan to continue my education via a PhD focusing on interdisciplinary ecology, yearning to specifically focus on marine mammal behavior. Therefore, this internship gave me the opportunity to expand my knowledge in that area and open doors for more opportunities to
continue to expand my knowledge on marine mammal behavior and other related topics. A big thanks to the Cedar Key Dolphin Project for an amazing summer!

Faith:
This field season I learned so much about dolphins and their unique behaviors. Before I came here, I didn’t know anything about role-specialization in foraging, and I didn’t know about the immense range of foraging strategies that dolphins utilize. After all, how many ways can there be to catch a fish? Apparently a lot! I also didn’t know how specialized different foraging tactics are based on the location. In addition to learning more about bottlenose dolphins as a species, I was able to get to know some of the dolphins that reside in the area. They really do have their own personalities!

I would be curious to learn more about what other foraging strategies dolphins in this area utilize. DB is the only documented example of role specialization with a division of labor documented in any marine mammal, but why is role specialization so rare? What other species (cetaceans and otherwise) use role specialization? Is knowledge passed down primarily through matrilines or do dolphins learn from other non-related animals as well? How much do resident and transient animals mingle? Could they learn from residents and utilize the tactics they pick up elsewhere?

After I finish my bachelor’s degree, I would like to enter a marine biology graduate program. This summer, I’ve gained some essential skills that will serve me well in my future studies. For example, I’ve become much better at photo ID since starting. This method is used in a variety of species, but especially in marine mammal studies. I’ve also learned a lot of field research skills this season. I learned just much goes into working safely on the water! It’s been so much fun to observe the dolphin’s interactions this summer. I’ve really learned a lot about cetaceans
and field research.

After hours and hours out on the water observing dolphins going about their daily lives, we start to become aware of the unique personalities of each individual dolphin. Naturally, the team develops favorites over time. Read below for everyone’s favorites and why they stand out to them!

Our field team recently completed 12 days in a row on the water. Everyone is a little bit exhausted and possibly a little bit sunburnt, but it was a great opportunity to collect important data on our local dolphins! We launched out of various points so that our survey efforts in those 12 days covered from Cedar Key down to Crystal River, about 30 miles of coastline. In that time, we were on the water for a total of 72 hours and had 54 dolphin encounters. The variation in the days can be drastic – on one day out, we had what we call “dolphin soup”, meaning we had hardly any breaks between sightings because there were dolphins everywhere as far as the eye could see! On another day, we were out for 5 hours and didn’t see a single dolphin! We were excited to find animals doing plenty of Driver-barrier foraging on several days, which is the focus of much of our research. We have seen 4 different groups doing DB foraging, collecting data on over 60 occurrences within the 12 days out, which is a great boost for our data this season!

This summer we are trying to get drone footage of dolphins foraging, specifically when they are engaging in Driver-Barrier foraging. We've documented this behavior from the boat (and added hydrophone recordings to hear what sounds they are making), but we've believed an aerial view would give us a lot more information on how they set up a bout and the exact positioning of the dolphins as the bouts occur. This would help us figure out why they do what they do any maybe why they choose their specific locations for this activity. 

We were able to capture a couple of instances of the dolphin, "Speed", and her new calf foraging. Speed is a little different Driver than the usual (she doesn't do it that often), but here's a clip from our attempt at recording her! What we didn't realize is that we would be able to see the schools of fish before the bouts as well! This opens up a whole new world of questions for us:

 Now the less great part of the field season. We had some unexpected and big repairs to the boat engine and the drone, and no doubt you've noticed the cost of gas recently. If you can help us out to keep this season running, we'd greatly appreciate your help on our GoFundMe campaign. All donations are tax deductible! Thank you!

​We’ve had a great start to the 2022 field season! We’ve been able to be in the field for the past four days in a row with fantastic conditions. Within these last few days, we’ve been seeing plenty of newborn baby dolphins. Dolphins in this area are normally born anytime between late March and late May. We call a new baby dolphin a YOY, meaning Young Of the Year. You can spot a YOY from 3 different clues:

1. They are usually only half the size of an adult dolphin.
2. They have fetal folds on their body – creases from being curled up before birth. These slowly fade over the first month or so of life.
3. They are usually very clumsy! It takes a YOY some time to learn how to swim with balance and grace, so they often mis-judge the distance to the surface when coming up to breath and can be seen “corking” up above the water in an uncoordinated (but adorable!) fashion.

Hi, we’re Jaiere and Faith! We are the full-time interns here at Cedar Key Dolphin Project for the
2022 Summer season and we’re so excited to be here!

I, Jaiere, am specifically excited because I believe this opportunity will allow me to continue to
learn about marine ecology, specifically dolphin behavior and habitat utilization, as these
interdisciplinary topics are what I focused on for my master’s thesis. I am always yearning for
new knowledge and am very grateful for this opportunity to add to my marine ecology
background, as I also want to continue my education and eventually obtain my PhD in this
subject!

Hi, Faith here, I’m still in undergrad, about to start my senior year at UF. I’ve always been
interested in learning more about marine biology and hope to eventually pursue a graduate
degree and career in it. I’m also excited to learn about dolphin behavior and how they
communicate. I’m interested in how these unique behaviors are shared between individuals and
groups.
​
We just recently had our training day, where we learned about strandings and what to do if there
is one, and the process of photo-id when collecting data in the field. Today is our first day in the
field and on the boat, so wish us luck!