Red Tides Influence Juvenile Dolphin Behavior

from Sarasota Dolphin Research Program by Blair Irvine

 Social behavior, activity budgets and ranging behavior of juvenile bottlenose dolphins change during red tides.

They spend less time alone, and they associate in larger, less stable groups, that include a greater diversity of companions.

Harmful algae blooms, called red tides in Florida contain neurotoxins which impact prey fish abundance  and potentially dolphin health.
New research by the SDRP’s Dr. Katherine McHugh and other SDRP staff documents the impact of red tide on juvenile dolphin behavior.

Marine mammal conservation studied

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Preserving a key 4 percent of the world's oceans could protect vital habitat for most of Earth's marine mammals, U.S. and Mexican researchers say.

Researchers from Stanford University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico say setting aside just nine critical ocean conservation sites would save crucial habitat for most species.

To identify such sites, the researchers overlaid maps of where each marine mammal species is found to reveal locations with the highest "species richness," the highest number of different species, a Stanford release said Monday.

Marine Mammal Species Fact Sheets

from Sarasota Dolphin Research Program by Blair Irvine

While we love our bottlenose dolphins, we also support education about other marine mammal species.

Interested?

If so, check out the Species Fact Sheets on the website of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, the world’s largest association of marine mammal scientists, students, and interested members of the public.

There’s a ton of interesting facts about each species on the Fact Sheets.
The list of 37 species includes dolphins, porpoises, whales, seals, sea lions, manatees and dugongs.

It's tough being ginger even when you're a seal: Lonely pup shunned by his colony

A RARE ginger-furred seal pup was spotted alone on a Russian island after being shunned by its colony.

The rest of its sleek black family took an instant dislike to the pup's reddish-brown fur and pale blue eyes, leaving it to fend for itself.

Photographer Anatoly Strakhov spotted the seal, which is almost blind, hiding under a pile of logs on Tyuleniy Island. Mr Strakhov, 61, said: "He was hiding and waiting for his mother to come and feed him."

"He had a very strange colour fur and looked different from his two black brothers.
"I was pleased to be able to capture such an unusual animal, but the poor seal is almost blind and so was unlikely to survive in the wild."

Mr Strakhov was with staff from a dolphinarium who took the seal pup into their care.

Read more at the Daily Mail

Dolphins beat Italian swimming champ in race-off

TORVAIANICA, Italy (AP) -- Italian 
 swimmer Filippo Magnini once ruled the pool in the 100 meter freestyle, but on Thursday he met his match dolphin-style.

The captain of the national swimming team raced a pair of dolphins - King, 19 years old, and Leah, nine-years old - at a specially arranged event in a swimming pool in Torvaianica, about 30 miles (50km) south of Rome.

Mekong Dolphins in Danger of Extinction

A group of dolphins is on the brink of extinction in part because their calves are not surviving, the World Wildlife Fund reported.

There are 85 Irrawaddy dolphins left in Southeast Asia’s Mekong River, according to the conservation organization.

Open Sea Web Cam

Open Sea Exhibit @ Monterey Bay Aquarium

Click Here to watch the open sea web cam at the Monterey Bay Aquarium from 7 am to 7 pm Pacific time.  The open sea exhibit contains a diverse group of animals found in the Pacific ocean including sharks, sea turtles, sunfish and blue-fin tuna.