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CURTIS MORGAN For biologists Joe Contillo, Blair Guthrie-Mase and Sarah Gomez, the underwater whirl of eating, playing and vigorous nuzzling was no mystery. They'd seen it many times before, dolphins doing their typical wild thing in Biscayne Bay. The challenge was to determine if they'd seen these specific dolphins before. After more than a decade of study, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries lab on Virginia Key, Fla., have developed a system for telling one swift, sleek animal from all the look-alikes in the pod. They've got it down well enough to produce what amounts to a census of Biscayne Bay's most charismatic creatures. The results are intriguing - some 80 to 90 dolphins live in Biscayne Bay, most of them year-round - and so is the identification system. To tell them apart, researchers focus on one thing even the wariest dolphin can't help but display - the dorsal fin. Dorsals may look alike at a distance, but viewed up close - or through a telephoto lens - each one bears a set of nicks, gouges or bumps caused by everything from shark bites to sex romps to boat props. Some marks are so distinctive, biologists can read them on the spot, almost like numbers stitched across blubbery backs. Take that weird flapping tip shaped like a squashed letter F: From high atop the tower of a specially built dolphin-spotting boat, Contillo identifies it as "Crunchy" even before Guthrie-Mase can focus her telephoto lens. "He's pretty hard to miss," said Contillo. The Biscayne Bay fin photo program isn't a first. Other researchers pioneered the technique in the 1980s to track dolphins in Sarasota Bay and the Florida Keys, and it's been widely adopted since. Manatee scientists also have long kept prop-scar pictures to track sea cows. But the NOAA study, which dates to 1990, is the longest-running look at dolphins in Biscayne Bay and has given researchers new insights into the creatures Contillo has come to think of as "fellow Miamians." After all, he said, "They've been here for generations, and they will be here in the future." Unlike many South Florida residents, most of them aren't just passing through. NOAA's study estimates some 80 percent of the bay's dolphins are permanently settled neighbors in South Florida's watery backyard. But given the common sight of dorsals on the bay, even researchers are a bit surprised at how few animals there are. The population averages just 80 to 90, transients included, in the 200 square miles from the southern end of Miami to the northern tip of Key Largo. The Indian River Lagoon to the north supports five times as many animals than the Florida Keys, even more. Contillo, the lead researcher, believes a few things could contribute to that. The bay, for one, doesn't produce the thick schools of bait it did decades ago. The smaller pods in the bay's heavily developed north end point to assorted environmental impacts, from urban runoff to sea grass die-off. In the 1960s, the bay also was a prime hunting ground for marine exhibitors, which may have permanently knocked down numbers. Overall, NOAA surveys have identified 193 separate dolphins in the bay since 1990. About nine of 10 showed up more than once. Dolphin No. 39 is far and away the most frequently sighted - spotted in 41 surveys since first being photographed in 1994. Contillo can only guess why. Some dolphins are clearly more curious or bolder than others. Or maybe it's because he's just easy to see - he's
"one of the bruisers," a 500-pound male that ranks among the
biggest residents of Biscayne Bay, aside from fat manatees and the occasional
shark. Or maybe it's because No. 39 is one of The dolphins don't always cooperate with the camera, slipping under the water or shooting away at the perfect moment. One recent day, it took researchers an hour of steering in slow circles to count one large pod of 22, but they still couldn't get clean shots of all of them. "It can get a little frustrating," said Contillo. Because dolphins are the bay's top predator - they're at the top of the food chain - the study provides much more than a simple census, says Guthrie-Mase. "Bottlenose dolphins are the sentinels of Biscayne Bay," she said. "They're going to give you the best idea of the kind of things that are happening in the system." If that's so, then the system appears stable. As research tools go, fin-spotting has proven one of the least intrusive ways to monitor dolphin populations. It also has some limitations. It's not useful for very young, mostly unmarked dolphins. Fins also can change too much over an animal's lifetime to qualify as "fin-ger" prints, with new wounds forming and old ones healing. Sometimes, pieces even fall off. Every dolphin photographed gets a number, its dorsal photo cataloged according to fin shape - chops, notches on front, notches on back, odd shapes. Only a few have been given names. While some are clearly descriptive of shapes -
"Hatchet," for example - Contillo laughingly admits he bestows
names like Gonzo or Crunchy based less on science than whimsy. "We
attribute some personality to these dolphin because of their fins,"
he said. "It's like, that must be a cool dolphin because he's got
a cool fin shape."
Japanese
Police Arrest Eco-Activists Filming Dolphin Roundup Brooke MacDonald (Canadian), Morgan Whorwood (British), and Nicholas
Hensey (American) recently traveled to Japan to document the dolphin round-up
and slaughter by local Wild dolphin slaughter occurs in several areas of Japan. It is estimated
that between 1,000 and 2,000 dolphins are killed each year via round-ups,
and additional thousands The three Sea Shepherd members reportedly called the local Japanese police themselves, but were then arrested. The reason for the arrest is still unclear. While it is not illegal to document a dolphin round-up, the video documentation
of the slaughter is very graphic and, according to the Conservation Society,
is effective in The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said it is very concerned about the welfare of the arrested individuals and is trying to reach them in Japan for updates. Japanese fisherman, faced with depleted fisheries due to over-exploitation, frequently cite wild dolphins as the cause of low fish catches, and herd the dolphins with prods and nets into shallow bays for a painful and slow execution. The slaughters are also seen as a way to eliminate non-human competition for the plummeting fish stocks. Similar slaughters are frequent and increasing in other coastal fishing villages such as Futo. Although dolphin meat is highly toxic with industrial pollution, it can be passed as prized whale meat and sold on the open market. Other dolphin products include pet food and fertilizer. The Japanese government promotes a whaling program that kills over 1000 Minke whales each year, despite the 1986 international moratorium on whaling. Sea Shepherd took part in a successful effort to stop dolphin slaughter on Iki Island, Japan, in the early 1980's when the local fishermen signed an agreement with Sea Shepherd's Captain Paul Watson to permanently end the practice. Sea Shepherd, founded in 1977 by Captain Paul Watson, is a non-profit,
non governmental marine wildlife conservation organization which works
to protect the lives of marine Bahamas Wild Dolphin Vacations
Here are some comments from the September 2003 Trip from Bimini. A great adventure for everyone.
(Click Here for more information on this trip) SKY
WATCH: A dolphin sings in the sky As soon as it's dark enough, about 8 p.m., face east and crank your head up to nearly overhead. Better yet, be nice to your neck and lie back in a chair or on a blanket and look up. That's more like it! Now look for the famous "Summer Triangle," the three brightest stars in that part of the sky. Deneb, Altair and Vega are each the brightest stars in their respective constellations: Cygnus the Swan, Aquila the Evil Eagle and Lyra the Harp. Now use the Summer Triangle to point you
to Delphinus the Dolphin. (Make sure it's dark enough or you won't be
able to see it). As you stand facing east, look at that Summer One look at this and I know you'll say something like "awesome" or "cute," or, as I hear from kids at my stargazing parties, "sweet." With a telescope or a really good pair of binoculars, you might see that the nose of the dolphin on the left side of the little diamond is actually a double star, made up of two stars with a distinct yellowish tinge. I love the mythology of how Delphinus got in the sky as much as the little dolphin itself. One of the stories centers on Arion, a musical superstar of his time. He sang and played his harp all over the world. Everywhere he went, his fans waited for him, tried to touch him, get his autograph and just breathe the same air. Street vendors made a bundle selling Arion togas and souvenir Arion harps. Needless to say, he was loaded ó had mansions and castles everywhere. If they existed back then, he would have owned his own 747, but since they didn't, he traveled by land and sea. He had his own yacht and crew who would row him everywhere around the Greek isles and beyond. Unfortunately, Arion was a cheapskate when it came to paying his crew. Every night the crew watched with growing envy as Arion climbed back onto his ship with sacks of money. Mutiny, robbery, and murder were on the minds of the crew members one night after a concert in Sicily. They cornered Arion and put him on the plank for a final stroll. Arion promised to give them all 50 percent raises, but it was too late. He was to walk the plank to his doom. Arion begged and cried to play his magical harp and sing just one more time. They threw his harp up to him and yelled, "OK tightwad, sing before you swim." Arion clutched his harp and sang out with all his might. His music was so beautiful that dolphins gathered by the ship and started singing along. Arion extended his song as long as he could, but when the final chorus ended, into the ocean he went. Apparently, the dolphins hadn't heard enough of Arion and went to his rescue. Delphinus, the largest dolphin of the group, swam under the drowning man, hoisted him out of the water and threw him on his back. Delphinus gave Arion a ride all the way back to Greece. Arion and his music would live on. The gods on Mount Olympus were so pleased to hear about Arion's rescue by Delphinus that they raised the great dolphin to the celestial sea, where every night he swims among the stars, still humming his favorite Arion tunes. If you listen with all your might on a quiet night, you might just hear the singing dolphin! Dolphin
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