10 Fascinating Dolphin Facts

This year, our blog has covered everything from highlighting aggressive behaviors to a“creature feature” on a unique species of dolphin, like the Amazon River Dolphin.  So, to wrap up the end of the year, this month’s blog is going to highlight 10 fun facts about dolphins. For instance, did you

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Florida Day December 2nd

During our off season, September through April, we try to get out and monitor the SE Florida coast populations of Atlantic spotted dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. We have a NMFS permit to survey the SE Florida coast from Jupiter down to the Florida Keys.    We try to get out

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Sargassum Seaweed, a Favorite Dolphin Toy

We talk a lot about sargassum seaweed being a favorite toy for the dolphins we study in the Bahamas, but what exactly does that mean? For our blog this month, we want to share more about this special seaweed, how the dolphins use it, and how we use it to

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Meet the Board: President, Axel Stepan

We’ve decided to introduce you to our Board of Directors, to help you get a sense of the people who help the Wild Dolphin Project fulfill our mission! First up, is our current president, Axel Stepan.     After receiving his MBA in 1999, Axel started his career as an

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2021 Field Season Summary

Following an almost non-existent 2020 field season due to COVID-19, we were anxious to start this year.  We did not have a full 2021 field season however, because every season has its bumps. But we did gather basic life history information and we saw plenty of dolphins!  We saw a

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Celebrating the Amazon River Dolphin, for World Rivers Day

“The boto is an endangered species and we need to protect them before they are lost forever.” — Suzanne Smith, founder and director of ARDCF.  World Rivers Day, the last September Sunday, is a global celebration of the world’s waterways. So, here at the Wild Dolphin Project we’re highlighting a

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Sharks? Boats? possibly Orcas?

This summer we observed many dolphins in our population with wounds. We try to keep track of scars and wounds because they can be used as identifiers throughout a dolphin’s life.  Usually a few dolphins each summer receive a new nick or scratch, but this summer we had at least

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No, That Dolphin is Not Smiling At You

It’s a familiar sight —  whether at aquariums, in the movies, or Instagram photos — a friendly-looking dolphin with an open mouth, which gives the appearance of a smile. But, in the wild, that open mouth is anything but friendly. In the Bahamas, people have the incredible opportunity to swim

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Plastic is Bad. Real Bad.

In the Bahamas, spotted dolphins play with sargassum seaweed. They play games of keep away and chase, passing the seaweed effortlessly from their rostrum, to pectoral fin to fluke. But sadly, they also play with plastic — we witness it. So far this summer, we’ve already observed dolphins playing with

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Another Fourth Generation!

For 36 years, researchers with the Wild Dolphin Project have studied generations of dolphins in the Bahamas. As many of you know, it was founded in 1985 by our current research director, Denise Herzing, Ph.D. In 2016, the project reached a major milestone when the first fourth generation calf was

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