PROJECTS

The goals of the proposed study are to determine abundance, habitat use, and distribution patterns of bottlenose dolphins in St. Andrew Bay and adjacent coastal waters in the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division, over two seasons.  During fall in the St. Joseph Bay region, the observed 2-3 fold increase in abundance was attributed to Northern Coastal Stock dolphins entering St. Joseph Bay waters.  St. Joseph Bay summer abundance was low and animals sighted during this season were suggested to be representative of the BSE Stock.  Thus, the seasons selected for surveying in SAB are July 2015 (summer) and September 2015 (fall) to determine abundance for the BSE Stock and provide insight into abundance and movements of Northern Coastal Stock dolphins.  Specific study objectives are:

(1)    Identify which marine mammal species occur seasonally within St. Andrew Bay and coastal waters;
(2)    Calculate seasonal resighting rates for individual dolphins and develop a site fidelity index for dolphins in this region to provide baseline data for future studies to assess long-term residence;
(3)    Determine distribution patterns for dolphins within and between SAB and coastal waters;
(4)    Estimate seasonal abundance across the two primary sessions (July and September 2015) and;
(5)    Correlate dolphin presence with particular environmental parameters (e.g. water depth, water temperature, water salinity) and broad habitat types (e.g. shallow bay, channel, sea grass bed, surf zone, open water).