Research Field Notes: No. 3

6/04/2014 Dolphin Boat Survey

Due to conditions out on the open ocean; the morning survey did not take place. Conditions did not improve for the afternoon; however we had received several reports of dolphin sightings in the Lake Worth Lagoon (26°40′53″N 80°02′45″W) over the past several days, so we decided to head down to the area travelling in the intracoastal waterways. We were not successful in sighting any dolphins. The research team spent the first part of the day in the office doing data analysis.

Conditions: Seas 3-5 feet. Winds E/SE 10 knots

Duration: 12:00pm – 5:00pm

Research Organization: Taras Oceanographic Foundation

Recorded dolphin photo ID: zero encounters on this trip.

 

Other: Behind the scenes. The boat survey is only a small portion of the work that is needed to be done for photo ID and habitat utilization studies. Each trip can produce a few hundred to even a thousand images. Once the team heads back to the office, the photos need to be downloaded, sorted and compared. The best images of each animal are organized into their own file. This step is the most labor intensive. Illustrated by the fact that the researcher has to figure out which images are of one animal [this is done from comparing distinct dorsal fin markings]; how many times you have seen each animal; and compare it to the existing ID catalog.

They are several ways of organizing these ID photos and each researcher develops their own system. There are however universal ID methods and protocol that are utilized. These processes take countless hours. There is also GIS mapping data; habitat and COA (coefficient of association) data files, etc. that need organized and analyzed depending on what the research team is investigating.

Students doing field work or internships soon learn the field part is actually a very small portion of the entire research process.