Dolphin Boat Surveys

Our team is committed to monitoring dolphin health and distribution along the east coast of Florida including the Indian River Lagoon and the Halifax River Estuary. Vessel-based survey efforts provide abundance estimates that are critical to monitoring and managing dolphin populations that are consistently exposed to unexplained mortality events and increasing prevalence of human impacts. Likewise, our efforts expand our knowledge of distribution patterns, habitat usage, social structure, calving success, as well as the impacts of human activities on local dolphins. These factors are critical for the management of local estuarine dolphins.

Related Publications:
Durden, W.N. 2005. The harmful effects of inadvertently conditioning a wild bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) to interact with fishing vessels in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, USA. Aquatic Mammals 31(4): 413-419.

Durden, W.N., Stolen, E.D., Jablonski, T., Moreland, L., Howells, E., Sleeman, A., Denny, M., Biedenback, G. and Mazzoil, M. 2021. Robust design capture-recapture analysis of abundance and demographic parameters of Indian River Lagoon common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).  PLoS ONE 16(4): e0250657

Greenfield, M.R., Durden, W.N. Jablonski, T.A., Moreland, L.M, Fabry, A.C, Gemma, L.Y., and Clifford, H.H. In press. Associates from infancy influence post-weaning juvenile associations for common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Florida. Journal of Mammalogy

Mazzoil, M., Gibson, Q., Durden, W.D., Borkowski, R., Biedenbach, G., McKenna, Z., Gordon, N., Brightwell, K., Denny, M., Howells, E., Jakush, J., Moreland, L., Perna, A., and Caldwell, M. 2020. Spatiotemporal Movements of Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus truncatus) in Northeast Florida, U.S. Aquatic Mammals, 46(3): 285-300, doi: 10.157/AM.46.3.2020.285

Nekolny, S.R., M.D. Denny, G. Biedenbach, E.M. Howells, M. Mazzoil, W.N. Durden, L. Moreland, J.D. Lambert, and Q.A. Gibson. 2017. Effects of study area on home range estimates of common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus.  Current Zoology zox049.

Noke, W. Interactions between the Indian River Lagoon blue crab fishery and the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Marine Mammal Science. 18: 819-832. 2002.