Assessing Ala. coast's dolphins’ health

In September, health assessments were performed for the first time on common bottlenose dolphins off the coast of Dauphin Island, Ala., and Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) researchers were part it. The assessments are part of ongoing efforts by marine scientists to understand the impact of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the dolphin population in the northern Gulf of Mexico. A major focus was placed on the dolphin in Louisiana’s Barataria Bay because of the spill. Since then, the Consortium for Advanced Research on Marine Mammal Health Assessment (CARMMHA), led by the National Marine Mammal Foundation (NMMF), has expanded that focus of dolphin health assessment research to the Alabama coast. Dr. Ruth H. Carmichael, a senior marine scientist, is part of the CARMMHA project to understand the impact of the spill on dolphin diets and how they may have changed. As part of the Alabama assessments, DISL researchers helped collect a variety of samples from dolphins. They were also satellite-tagged to study movements over time. Project data will be “important to protect dolphin health, conserve habitat, and support dolphin recovery in years to come,” concluded Carmichael. (DISL 10/2018)