Image Placeholder 1

Thirty-Seven Years, and Still Going

The “world’s longest-running wild dolphin research program” is now in its 37th year. It continues as a full-time, year-round operation involving staff, graduate students, and volunteers and student interns, sometimes joined by Earthwatch Institute volunteers. The scientific staff spans three academic generations of researchers.
 
The program’s primary research and training focus involves the five generations of bottlenose dolphins residing year-round in Sarasota Bay, Florida, where the program originated in 1970. Some field projects involve more than 100 participants, including visiting scientists, animal care professionals, and trained volunteers. The program has gained an international reputation for providing high-quality information of importance to dolphin conservation.
 
Our desire with each research or conservation project in Florida or elsewhere is to contribute to a better understanding of the structure and dynamics of populations of small cetaceans (dolphins, whales, and porpoises), as well as the natural factors and factors of human origin that impact them. We use an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach in conducting studies of bottlenose dolphins within a unique long-term natural laboratory.
 
The primary goals of this program include:
  • Collecting biological, behavioral, ecological, and health data of importance to the conservation of small cetaceans, especially bottlenose dolphins.
  • Providing requisite information on bottlenose dolphin conservation to wildlife management agencies.
  • Disseminating the information generated by our program to scientific and general audiences in order to aid dolphin conservation efforts.
  • Using our model program to develop and refine hypotheses regarding bottlenose dolphins in other parts of the species' range, as well as other species of small cetaceans.
  • Using the established natural laboratory to develop and test new research tools and methodologies of potential benefit to conservation efforts.
  • Training cetacean conservation workers and students from around the world in the use of these techniques.
  • Applying our unique program expertise to dolphin rescue operations and post-release follow-up monitoring.
  • Applying the information we gather from wild dolphins to improve the quality of care for dolphins in zoological park settings.
In recent years, our scope of international work has expanded from simply providing training opportunities for foreign colleagues at our base of operations at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, to working with these colleagues in their countries and providing what assistance we can as they develop their research and conservation programs.

News & Press

Get Involved