With all the bad news this year about water quality due to red tide and Piney Point, the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program has some much-needed very good news – the birth of 15 new dolphin calves in area waters.
The bouncing baby marine mammals have been born over the past four months – one in April, six in May, five in June and three in July – including three births to first-time dolphin mothers.
One July calf is really special – the daughter of mom F233 is the sixth generation of dolphins documented since the program began studying her maternal lineage in the 1970s.
Program scientists are continuing their photographic ID surveys in southeast Tampa Bay around Piney Point and Port Manatee, where more than 215 million gallons of polluted water from a decommissioned phosphate plant was released into the bay in March and April, feeding an ongoing bloom of toxic red tide.
During the initial surveys just after the spill, scientists noted they were not seeing the numbers of dolphins in the area normally expected, and concluding they were fleeing the pollution. But sightings have been increasing recently, indicating that dolphins may be moving back.
Still, red tide continues to stress local dolphins by depleting their food source as it kills fish. When fish are scarce, dolphins can feed aggressively near anglers as they both vie for the few remaining fish, leading dolphins to ingest and become entangled in fishing lines and become hooked by fishing gear.
The dolphin research program, operated by Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota and the Chicago Zoological Society, is developing a new app to collect reports of human-dolphin interactions and is seeking volunteers to test it.
Recreational and commercial anglers and fishing guides are invited to register at http://dolphin.report. When a dolphin approaches you or your gear, steals your catch or damages your gear, you can use the report form to inform program scientists, who aim to track dolphin behaviors of concern and develop mitigation strategies.
The best approach is to avoid dolphins when possible, especially during this time of year when distracted moms are busy taking care of naïve newborns, often in shallow water where they can’t dive beneath a boat.
If you see a dolphin or other marine life in distress, report it to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922). From a mobile phone, use #FWC or *FWC. Text a report to Tip@MyFWC.com. When reporting a stranded, sick or dead animal, please take a GPS reading so that responders have the greatest chance of finding the animal.
Dolphin Tips
DO
- Stay at least 50 yards away from dolphins when viewing from a vessel or watercraft.
- Limit time spent observing dolphins to 30 minutes or less.
- Avoid making loud or sudden noises near dolphins.
- Move away slowly if a dolphin’s behavior indicates the animal is stressed or disturbed.
- Look Before You Book! Book wild dolphin viewing tours with businesses that responsibly view dolphins in the wild and help dolphin conservation. See Facebook “Don’t Feed Wild Dolphins” and “Dolphin SMART.”
- Put your vessel’s engine in neutral if in the close vicinity of dolphins.
- Call for help if you hook a dolphin on a fishing line or see a stranded or injured dolphin – Mote Marine’s Stranding Investigations Program, 941-988-0212.
DON’T
- Pursue, swim with, pet or touch wild dolphins, even if they approach you.
- Feed or attempt to feed wild dolphins.
- Encircle or entrap dolphins with vessels.
- Direct a vessel or accelerate toward dolphins with the intent of creating a pressure wake to bow or wake-ride.
- Separate mother/calf pairs.
- Drive watercraft through or over groups of dolphins.
