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New Study Says Dolphin Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Featured Image Credit: Unsplash

In a recent study from the Dolphin Research Center and Dr. Stephanie King from the University of Western Australia, scientists found that bottlenose dolphins are capable of working together in an effort to collaborate with one another in hopes of receiving a reward. The dolphins cooperate with precise behavioral coordination that’s never before been demonstrated in nonhuman animals.

At the Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys, researchers developed a task in which dolphins had to swim across a lagoon at different times yet press a button at the same time. This task required the dolphins to work together to achieve a common goal – in this case, it was fish and praise for pressing a button at the same time.

Researchers found that the dolphins’ behavior changed as they repeated the task. Even though they were signaled to swim at different times, the dolphins eventually learned to press their respective buttons within 370 milliseconds of each other.

The Dolphin Research Center was founded in 1984 as a nonprofit to provide a permanent home for dolphins, while simultaneously providing a research and education center. Bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions now reside at the Center, with over half of the Center’s residents having been born there and the remaining population having been rescued and deemed unreleasable by the government. The Center serves as a major source of dolphin research, focusing on cognition, behavior, and husbandry in the species.

 

Guest Columns

Moody Gardens Welcomes Two New Seals

Featured Image: Kelsey Walling/The Galveston County Daily News / Associated Press

By: Sarah Sharkey

Two young harbor seals were recently welcomed home at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas. Tomato
and Ravioli already seem to be enjoying their new home.

The seals were each rescued on the California coast last year. The Northcoast Marine Mammal Center in
Crescent City cared for the young seals. It was hoped that they could eventually be released, but
eventually rehabilitators decided that these animals could likely never return to the wild. So, they found
the pair a new home in Texas.

Tomato was found after being attacked by a dog. Even with extensive care, he lost sight in this left eye.

Ravioli was found on a beach and taken to the center; she has severe neurologic and balance problems.
She also suffers from seizures. Both seals are one year old, so the pups needed a new place to stay.

The two were taken to Texas in early July after a 2,324 mile journey. The two will call the North Pacific
Exhibit in the Aquarium Pyramid home. At Moody Gardens, the seal be cared for by professional to
ensure their continued comfort and health. If you want to see the two seals, then you should check out
the webcam. You will be able to see the pups anytime, without traveling all the way to Texas.

Read more from the source.

News

Manatees Trapped by Monofilament in Florida Keys

Featured Image Credit: Fox 13 News Staff.
By: Sarah Sharkey

Fishing line that is tossed into the ocean is a huge problem for marine animals everywhere. Although
you may think that a small piece of line could only affect small creatures, that is just not true. Recently,
two manatees were found entangled in fishing line in the Florida Keys.

Both incidents occurred this summer, one in Marathon and one in Key Largo. Both manatees were taken
care of by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Miami Seaquarium and the
Dolphin Research Center. The team worked together to rescue the manatees, disentangle them and
release them back into the ocean quickly.

Luckily, these manatees were spotted quickly and helped immediately. Many other animals are not as
lucky.

FWC is urging people to recycle their monofilament line to prevent future incidents like this one. Their
Facebook page asked people to “please do your part to prevent entanglements such as these from
occurring by recycling all monofilament fishing line into a monofilament recycling bin.” These recycling
bins are set up across the state at many popular fishing sites. Usually, they look like a large white PVC
pipe attached to a post, it will indicate that it is a recycling station. Please put you monofilament in
there, FWC will recycle it for you to prevent future events like this one.

Learn more from the source.

News

Rare Sighting of Beluga Whales

Submitted by Levon Drover, via CBC.CA
By: Sarah Sharkey

Earlier this summer, beluga whales were spotted near Ingonish, Nova Scotia. It was an extremely rare
sighting. In fact, these whales have not been spotted in the area since August of 2015. Although the
whales have not been seen for years, they seemed perfectly at ease in these waters.

The sighting happened on a Zodiac Adventures boat. Dave Sigworth and Mary Barton were on board to
witness the amazing spotting.

Sigworth described his experience, “ We were expecting to see maybe pilot whales or dolphins, but we
never expected to see beluga whales. The word from the captain on the earlier tour was that they had
seen beluga whales, so it certainly put a little buzz in the air among the people.”

The captain of their boat took some time trying to find these elusive whales, but eventually he found
them. Sigworth said, “They weren’t concerned about us at all, they came right up to the Zodiac and we
think they were rubbing on the boat a little bit. I’m not sure if anyone on the boat managed to touch
them, but they were swimming around and under the boat.”

It was definitely a uncommon sighting of the smallest species of whale. Although there are breeding
populations nearby, they rarely occur in this area. It may be a sign that the breeding whales are doing
well.

Read more from the source.

News

National Aquarium Opens New Center

Courtesy of National Aquarium
By: Sarah Sharkey

The National Aquarium opened its Animal Care and Rescue Center earlier this summer. So far, it seems
to be off to a good start.

Joey, a South American yellow-footed tortoise, led the ceremony that opened the new center. The
ribbon was made of zucchini and fabric, so Joey enjoyed his part of the ribbon cutting.

The facilities are over 55,000 square feet of space to house animals. In addition to the large size of the
center, the animals here will have access to world class care around the clock. The space and staff can
accommodate up to 1,500 animals at a time. Each of those animals will be housed in facilities that are
appropriate for their species. From a small fish to a larger seal, all of the animals will be taken care of at
this amazing new facility.

The new center also has a new way for visitors to watch the animals. Instead of just the public habitats
being on display, most of the animals care and welfare work will be available for the public to see on
tours. The tours for the general public will start in January. If you get the chance, then definitely check
out this amazing new facility that will help heal animals.

Read more from the source.

Dolphins

Hong Kong Bridge Construction Negatively Affects Dolphins

VCG Via Getty Images
Sarah Sharkey

The rare pink river dolphins in Hong Kong are struggling to survive as new construction happens
in their home. Huge construction projects, including a $19 billion dollar bridge across the Pearl
River are threatening the ability of these animals to survive.

The bridge is being built across an estuary area that is a vital habitat for these dolphins.
The dolphins are already struggling to live in the area due to a growing population that has led
to pollution and overfishing.

According to Lindsay Porter, researcher at the marine mammal research consultancy SMRU in
Hong Kong, “When you increase that underwater noises, you not only stop dolphins from being
able to forage, we also stop them communicating with each other.”

The dolphins are under severe stress. The stress has been evident through skin lesions and
infections.

The Hong Kong conservation department said that it wants to designate more conservation
area in order to compensate for the building stress. However, some environmentalists have
pointed out that the other efforts to designate conservation area have not resulted in
significant help for the dolphins.

Human growth is a huge factor affecting aquatic animals everywhere. We need to continue to
find ways to improve habitats in order to offset our disturbance.

Read more from the source.

News

Sea Turtle Dies With a Stomach Full of Plastic

Featured Image Credit: Source.
By: Sarah Sharkey

A young leatherback sea turtle was found dead in Shinnecock East County Park in Southampton
earlier this summer. Although the official cause of death is not known, it probably had
something to do with the 13-gallon plastic bag found in its stomach.

According to Rachel Bosworth, a member of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, it is very
likely that the cause of death was the ingestion of plastics. The biologists that performed the
necropsy found a large plastic bag, many smaller plastic bags and food wrappers.

Plastic bags are a huge problem for sea turtles because the floating plastic resembles their
favorite food closely. Imagine if you saw a plastic bag floating on the surface, wouldn’t it look
like a jelly fish? That is exactly what turtles are thinking when they eat this garbage.

Sea turtles are just one of the marine species that are susceptible to death by plastic. It is
pervasive problem in our oceans and it only seems to be getting worse. Around the world we
are finding more and more animals with serious health problems due to plastic ingestion.
Unfortunately, many of these animal die because of the trash that is throw into their home.

Read more from the source. 

News

Ancient Hippo Bones Rediscovered

Featured Image Credit: Dallas Zoo.
By: Sarah Sharkey

16 million years ago there was apparently a hippo-like creature that roamed the sea near Japan.
Scientists discovered the animal after having the bone collect dust for over 50 years in a
museum.

The original thigh bone was collected in Tsuchiyu Onsen, Fukushima in the 1950s. The bone
even had muscle scars that are important for scientists to determine what the animal
looked like.

Dr. Kumiko Matsui with the National Museum of Nature and Science was able to track down
the original site of the fossil due to a handwritten note by the original collector. The team dated
crystal rocks to  estimate that the animal lived approximately 15.8 million years ago.

After careful observation, the team determined that the animal was over 7 feet long and it
inhabited the Pacific coast from Japan to Mexico in the Miocene.

The bones were not looked at until now because the original museum they were housed in
burned down in a fire. Somehow these bones survived the fire and eventually found a new
museum to call home. However, it was unclear what the bones were original so the scientists
filed it away for further study later.

Great discovery by the team in Japan! Who knows how many other “new” ancient species are
hiding in museum drawers.

Learn more from the source.