Page 24 - Gateways_2017_Fall

Sarasota Dolphin Research Program continued

Left: Dolphins travel at high speed
in Gulf of Mexico waters.
Below: Ultrasound is used to measure
blubber thickness as an indication
of body condition. Sarasota Dolphin
Research Program director Dr. Randy
Wells is at right in the photo.
Right: A dolphin is readied for release
following a brief health assessment.

VITAL SIGNS
While photo-identification surveys are hands-off, occasional
health assessments involve brief handling of individuals. Wells
and his team have been conducting medical evaluations on
dolphins for decades—the longest-running project of this
kind in the world. Measurement by measurement, sample by
sample, a constantly growing body of data on the health of
bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay contributes to knowledge
about these animals and their protection worldwide.
For each health assessment, scientists and veterinarians
gently lift a dolphin onto a soft, shaded pad located in a
special medical boat. On board are staff and veterinians
whose sole purpose is to keep the dolphin calm and wet
as they monitor its vital signs and collect samples and
measurements. The team weighs the dolphin and makes
32 length and girth measurements, at the same time taking
avariety of samples to measure environmental contaminants
and other health parameters. Then the dolphin is released.
But those are just the baseline procedures. Recent health
assessments of 15 dolphins over five days illustrate the true
breadth of what really happens during the process. More
than 145 researchers, veterinarians, support staff, and law
enforcement agents—about 95 of whom were actively

24 GATEWAYS | UNDERSTANDING DOLPHINS BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS