|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Enter your email to get on our mailing list! |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
The Goal of WDP is to maintain our long-term database while tracking dolphin family units. In addition, new technology has allowed for expansion of exploration, still non-invasively, while maintaining the core of the project. |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| Goal : |
Monitor life history and reproduction |
|
| Objective: |
To maintain continuity of identifying individuals every summer. We are on the third generation of Atlantic spotted and bottlenose dolphins’ life history and reproduction. |
|
| Cost: |
Still to come |
|
|
| Goal : |
Track association patterns |
|
| Objective: |
To track the relationships and dynamics between individual dolphins and family groups. Because we have tracked many of these individuals for 23 years, we can observe the stability, and shifting dynamics, of individuals and generations throughout their lives and critical events (reproduction, etc). |
|
| Cost: |
Still to come |
|
|
| Goal : |
Record high frequency sound recordings |
|
| Objective: |
Because of the digital revolution we are now able to record the ultrasonic sounds of dolphins, previously inaccessible with old video units. |
|
| Cost: |
Still to come |
|
|
| Goal : |
Digitize and create a multi-media underwater video database |
|
| Objective: |
With a 23 year underwater video dataset, WDP is situated to share the amazing lives and underwater behavior of dolphins in the wild. The Annenberg Foundation has granted funding since 2004 for the preservation, indexing and archiving of data to ensure a multimedia library for the future. |
|
| Cost: |
Still to come |
|
|
| Goal : |
Decode dolphin vocalizations |
|
| Objective: |
With our underwater video dataset of acoustic, postural, and visual signals of three generations of dolphins we are situated to crack the code of dolphin communication. Decoding dolphin vocalizations is the first step in many to the ultimate goal of two-way communication with another species. |
|
| Cost: |
Still to come |
|
|
| Goal : |
Track interspecific interactions between spotted and bottlenose dolphins |
|
| Objective: |
Regular observations of social interactions between these two closely related, and sympatric species, will illuminate how two different neighboring cultures live together. |
|
| Cost: |
Still to come |
|
|
| Goal : |
Analyze genetics of Atlantic spotted and bottlenose dolphins |
|
| Objective: |
Collecting fecal samples and extracting DNA of identifiable individuals will illuminate the paternity, relatedness of the spotted dolphins and potential hybridization between spotted and bottlenose dolphins. This non-invasive technique aims to revolutionize the genetic data collection of marine mammals. |
|
| Cost: |
Still to come |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| Goal : |
Educate the scientific, public, and private sectors |
|
| Objective: |
WDP researchers present local, national, and international lectures to share information of wild spotted dolphins. For larger distribution, WDP has created Protect-A-Pod kits, an educational package designed to assist school teachers, on the Pre-K thru 12th grade levels, in their efforts to introduce the students to the Earth's other inhabitants, specifically marine life and ways to keep the Earth clean and safe. |
|
| Cost: |
Still to come |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| Goal : |
Monitor habitat and distribution changes |
|
| Objective: |
To continue tracking the locations of these resident dolphins in order to identify environmental impacts on their habitats and shifting distribution. |
|
| Cost: |
Still to come |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Send this to a friend |
|
|
