Hunting

The Wild Dolphin Project was started by Dr. Denise Herzing back in 1985. Since then Dr. Herzing, along with her colleagues and graduate students, put out multiple peer reviewed research papers on the behavior, acoustics, and ecology of the two species we study in the Bahamas. Over the years she

Continue reading

WDP Research Associate Studies Shy, Elusive Species in the Pacific NW.

Little is known about the harbor porpoise, including their social structure. That’s why Cindy Elliser, Ph.D., research director and founder of Pacific Mammal Foundation (PacMam), launched a research project in 2014 to study this small coastal species off Fidalgo Island in Washington State. She recently published the first 3 years

Continue reading

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

Continue reading

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

Continue reading

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

Continue reading

New Research Alert! Shifting Home Ranges in Spotted Dolphins

Recently, WDP graduate student Brittini Hill completed her master’s degree and thesis research. So, WDP sat down with Brittini to talk to her about her research and why she was interested in this question. Check it out. WDP: What was the goal of this research paper? BH: In 2013, an

Continue reading

The other dolphin of the Bahamas….

People travel from all over the world to snorkel and dive with the charismatic dolphins of the Bahamas, like the the playful spotted dolphins or aloof bottlenose. They’re pretty well-known marine mammals for the area. But, there’s another dolphin that cruises the waters of the Bahamas, and is far more

Continue reading

Meet the Team: Captain Brad Ruda

Brad Ruda grew up in the Lake Worth, Florida and always loved the water and being outside. He spent his days boating fishing, camping and canoeing. After graduating high school, Brad had been working as a dockhand at the same marina where we dock our research vessel Stenella. He regularly

Continue reading

2020 Field Season: Trip 2

Trip #2 & maybe our last for the 2020 Field Season… The 2020 Field Season is proving to be an interesting and frustrating one. Due to delayed COVID-19 test results, this last trip started four days late and on top of that we also had rough seas for the remainder

Continue reading

2020 Field Season: Trip 1

As I am sure everyone is experiencing the impact of COVID-19 in some capacity, we are experiencing the same here at WDP. This pandemic has wreaked havoc on our summer field season. We are starting two months late, and unfortunately some people have had to cancel their trips with us

Continue reading