Meet the team: Board Member Edition
Meet the team: Board Member Edition Ruth Petzold always loved the ocean. She grew up in Michigan, but spent her summers in New Hampshire, snorkeling and searching in tidal pools for clams, snails and sea stars. She even collected critters from the beach and sneaked them back to her grandfather’s
Hunting
The Wild Dolphin Project was started by Dr. Denise Herzing back in 1985. Since then Dr. Herzing, along with her colleagues and graduate students, put out multiple peer reviewed research papers on the behavior, acoustics, and ecology of the two species we study in the Bahamas. Over the years she
Can Anyone Hear Me?
The Wild Dolphin Project was started by Dr. Denise Herzing back in 1985. Since then Dr. Herzing, along with her colleagues and graduate students, has put out multiple peer reviewed research papers on the behavior, acoustics, and ecology of the two species we study in the Bahamas: the Atlantic spotted
2021 Field Season Summary
Following an almost non-existent 2020 field season due to COVID-19, we were anxious to start this year. We did not have a full 2021 field season however, because every season has its bumps. But we did gather basic life history information and we saw plenty of dolphins! We saw a
Sharks? Boats? possibly Orcas?
This summer we observed many dolphins in our population with wounds. We try to keep track of scars and wounds because they can be used as identifiers throughout a dolphin’s life. Usually a few dolphins each summer receive a new nick or scratch, but this summer we had at least
New Research: Spotted Dolphins Riskier When Fighting Other Species
Despite their friendly appearance, dolphins aren’t just cute and cuddly. They are wild animals that engage in aggressive behaviors, just like any other animal. Since 1985, we’ve observed the interactions between two species of dolphins who share the waters of the Bahamas Banks, the spotteds (Stenella frontalis) and bottlenose (Tursiops
2020 Field Season: November
A Quick Trip Over Thanksgiving! This year has been quite a challenge, and we thought our data collection was going to be limited to the two trips we had in July. However, the weather gods provided us one more chance to get back over to The Bahamas for a few
2020 Field Season: Trip 2
Trip #2 & maybe our last for the 2020 Field Season… The 2020 Field Season is proving to be an interesting and frustrating one. Due to delayed COVID-19 test results, this last trip started four days late and on top of that we also had rough seas for the remainder
2020 Field Season: Trip 1
As I am sure everyone is experiencing the impact of COVID-19 in some capacity, we are experiencing the same here at WDP. This pandemic has wreaked havoc on our summer field season. We are starting two months late, and unfortunately some people have had to cancel their trips with us
Meet the Team: Field Assistant, Liah McPherson
Growing up in the Outer Banks, Liah always had a passion for the ocean, but in particular, dolphins. Clearly driven from a young age, she began volunteering with the Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research in middle school. “My parents have always been supportive of my passion and saved many