Nicks 'n' Notches Online
A monthly enewsletter from the
Sarasota Dolphin Research Program
August 2022
Whistling Away in Sarasota Bay
Did you know that we’ve been recording dolphin whistles since the 1970s? Today, the Sarasota Dolphin Whistle Database contains 926 recording sessions of 293 individual dolphins; we know the age, sex and the matrilineage for most of them.

One of the things these recordings have allowed our acoustics colleagues from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of St. Andrews to do is find support for the 1960s hypothesis by David and Melba Caldwell that each individual dolphin has a unique signature whistle. These whistles allow them to recognize others of their species as individuals with separate identities — almost as if they were names.

A new paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Marine Science — "The Sarasota Dolphin Whistle Database: A unique long-term resource for understanding dolphin communication” — outlines how we’ve studied the differences among individual dolphin whistles, what these differences mean and the many ways our colleagues are using this database to help unlock the mysteries of how and why dolphins communicate.

Studies have focused on classifying whistles, the context of whistle production, whistle development and stability, whistle copying, non-signature whistles, and playback studies of whistle function and perception.

The paper’s lead author is Dr. Laela Sayigh, research specialist at WHOI. Laela has been studying the whistles of Sarasota’s dolphins since the mid-1980s, when this was the topic of her WHOI/MIT doctoral dissertation. She also presented information about the database during the 24th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals earlier this month.

  • Read the paper here
  • Click on the image below to listen to a few of our dolphins. Don’t forget to turn your sound up! You can listen to more Sarasota Bay dolphins in our “Meet the Dolphins” section of our website.
  • Did you know that the cover of our last annual report, Nicks ‘n’ Notches, showed a visual representation of the signature whistles of all 269 Sarasota Bay dolphins who have been recorded, prepared by colleague Frants Jensen? Check it out here.
Notes from the Field and Lab
It’s been a busy summer here at the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, as we spend time catching up on numerous projects put on hold for COVID-19.

Three members of our team traveled to Georgia to participate in a project looking at the health of dolphins relative to environmental contaminant concentrations.

We’ve continued to track Eugenie Clark for a third month. We tagged this Atlantic spotted dolphin that as part of the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence-funded program. Through this research, we’re documenting movements of an individual 25-50 nautical miles offshore over the West Florida Shelf, in a first-of-its kind study of this species.

Closer to home, postdoctoral scientist Dr. Krystan Wilkinson downloaded data from four offshore acoustic tag receivers (located 20-48 nautical miles offshore) that are part of the Sarasota Coast Acoustic Network (SCAN). These receivers were installed in July 2021 to evaluate whether fish sampled and tagged with acoustic transmitters along the coast also use offshore Gulf waters or whether their movements and habitat use are restricted to coastal areas. Preliminary analysis suggests that use of offshore areas may be species-specific, with the majority of tagged sharks, rays and teleost fishes staying closer to the coastline, but the study is ongoing. This research is supported by the Mote Scientific Foundation.
We’ve also been conducting our regular dolphin population monitoring and prey fish surveys and we are very pleased to report that this research — which forms the backbone of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program — has received its second $1 million grant from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation (the first was in 2017)! The new three-year grant will provide key support for our program to continue operating the longest-running wild dolphin research program in the world. This baseline support is crucial to our continued research and allows us to seek supplemental grant funding and donations for specific research projects that are helping to protect and conserve wild dolphins, not just here in Florida but throughout the Gulf of Mexico and in other locales around the world.
Our team recently shared information about many of our ongoing projects during the 24th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals (Aug. 1-5). In all, our staff, students, volunteers and collaborators gave 23 presentations during the conference, which was attended by about 1,800 participants (in person and online). [Some of these presentations are posted on our website. You can review all of the conference abstracts here.]

I was honored to give the first talk of the conference after accepting the Kenneth S. Norris Lifetime Achievement Award — I was a bit intimidated to be the warm-up act for the keynote speaker, “Her Deepness” Dr. Sylvia Earle. (We also had the opportunity to enjoy a cocktail together!)

In addition to the presentations, our staff also participated in workshops and helped with the conference itself: Lab Manager Jason Allen was responsible for exhibitions with assistance from our 36-year volunteer James Thorson; Ph.D. student Theresa Tatom-Naecker, a Student Member-at-Large on the Board of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, was responsible for the student-mentor reception (192 students, 54 mentors) and Research Assistant Jonathan Crossman provided general assistance as a yellow-shirt volunteer. Special thanks also go to an anonymous Chicago Zoological Society donor for making our participation in the conference possible.

It was a really great feeling to see participants’ interest in the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program and to see the program so well represented by our staff. I couldn’t be prouder that the program we started more than 50 years ago with a simple question about dolphin home ranges has grown so much.
And I couldn’t thank you all enough for your support over the years. For that, you have our heartfelt gratitude!

Here’s to fair winds and following seas!

Randy Wells
Group shot of SDRP staff at the conference.
A few of our favorite images from the week.
Fin of the Month
Name: F259
Age: 9
Sex: Female
A Dolphin’s Life: F259 was born in 2013 to a dolphin named Saida Beth, FB33.

We’re excited to report that she’s a first-time mom this year, having given birth to the 10th of 12 calves documented for Sarasota Bay dolphins so far in 2022.

Nine years old is the average age of first-time dolphin moms in Sarasota Bay. The picture below shows F259 with her first calf, 2591.We can only hope that she will be a mom as successful as Saida Beth, who has given birth to 11 calves of her own since she was born in 1982! (Saida Beth's most recent calf was born in 2018. Learn more about her here.)
This August 2022 picture shows 2591, left, with mom F259.
Be Dolphin Safe

  • Don’t feed wild dolphins.
  • Reel in your fishing line if dolphins appear.
  • Change locations if dolphins show interest in bait or catch.
  • Release catch quietly away from dolphins when and where it is possible to do so without violating any state or federal fishing regulations.
  • Check gear and terminal tackle to make sure it won’t break off easily and, if your line does break, be sure to collect anything left behind in mangroves or on docks.
  • Use circle and corrodible hooks and avoid braided fishing line.
  • Stay at least 50 yards away from dolphins.
  • Stash your trash in a lidded container on your boat until you can get to shore and dispose of it safely in a place where it will not blow back into the water.

Download the Dolphin-Friendly Tips Card

Celebrating More than 50 Years of Research, Conservation and Education
For more information on how you can help support wild dolphin research, please contact Randy Wells, Director of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, at RWells@mote.org or 941.374.0449.
Dolphin Biology Research Institute — DBA Sarasota Dolphin Research Program — is dedicated to research and conservation of dolphins and their habitat. Community Foundation of Sarasota County Giving Partner Profile available here.

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