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12 GATEWAYS | NEWS BITES Safe and Sound

Severe weather can cause problems for everybody, but it is espe-
cially dangerous for the most vulnerable individuals, such as the
elderly and very young.

The same is true within animal populations. When Hurricane
Irma passed near Sarasota Bay off the west coast of Florida
last September, Chicago Zoological Society researchers were
concerned that the vulnerable members of the long-term resident
dolphin community might be affected.

For their own safety, researchers from the Society’s Sarasota
Dolphin Research Program (SDRP) do not attempt to observe the
animals during severe weather. Thankfully, all our researchers—
and their equipment—made it through Hurricane Irma without
incident. They were able to get out on the water within three days
of the storm’s passage, and they began gathering data.

Researchers were thrilled to see Nicklo, who at 67 years old is the
oldest known bottlenose dolphin in the world, just a few days after
Hurricane Irma passed by Sarasota Bay. Nicklo wasn’t alone, either—
she was observed in a group with Nellie, a dolphin the SDRP
rescued in 2010, and Nellie’s new calf, who was at the time the

youngest dolphin in the Sarasota Bay population.
In eight survey days on the water after the

storm, 133 individual dolphins were identified,
approximately 70% of our resident Sarasota Bay
population. This number (which included all 24
of the 2016 and 2017 dolphin calves) is within the
normal range of dolphins documented during a
typical monthly survey. These animals were found
within the normal home range of the Sarasota Bay
resident community.

The dolphins are continuing to be monitored,
and thankfully, there appears to be no long-term
impacts to the community from Hurricane Irma. █

Dolphin Nicklo and Nellie’s new calf observed after Hurricane Irma
(background) passed near Sarasota Bay. Photo taken by the Chicago Zoological
Society’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program under National Marine Fisheries
Service Scientific Research Permit No. 15543 (Background photo credit: NASA).