Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responder Blog

Wild Dolphin of the Month

Greetings, everyone!

Photo Identification studies have been hard to achieve this past month due to high-wind conditions, but the team hopes to get out on the water in the next couple of days for the first Photo - ID survey of the new year! 

The turn of each new year brings positive vibes, exciting resolutions and goals, new beginnings, and this year... hope. 

Alfonz - Alfonz and his trainer Kayla have been working on his belly breach and have recently made some strong headway! He is starting to come out of the water and "breach" on his belly. This is a relatively complex behavior that may take a while to build, so stay tuned for updates!  Al is loving it so far, though, and seems to be very excited when he succeeds with a new step in the behavior. 

BOO!

October has been a busy month for our resident dolphins with the installation of new platforms in both lagoons. Here's how our 7 family members are doing: 

DPMMR’s Photo-ID researchers conducted multiple photo-ID surveys between Key Largo and Islamorada at the end of August on both Atlantic and Florida Bay sides. The first day resulted in 3 sightings with a total of 7 individual dolphins which are identified by the nicks and notches on their dorsal fins. Of these dolphins, 4 have been previously sighted within the Upper Keys region. These re-sights suggest strong site fidelity to the region which has implications for management and conservation efforts.