Home Page / Education & Research / Research / Current Projects

Dolphin Quest Research Projects

As part of our commitment to global stewardship, Dolphin Quest is dedicated to conservation and the advancement of marine mammal research.

Dolphin Quest proudly contributes significant funding for field studies, staff expertise in the field and on-site, as well as involving the Dolphin Quest animals in responsible non-invasive research projects at our sites. Many of the projects sponsored by Dolphin Quest are associated with renowned scientists from universities and organizations around the world. These studies provide new scientific information for a better understanding and conserving of marine mammals. In addition to marine mammal research, Dolphin Quest assists with projects involving the many islands and local communities where Dolphin Quest resides.

Click here to see a list of our completed research projects.

Current Projects

Dolphin Hormones: Establishing Baseline Values According to Reproductive Condition
Dolphin Physiology: An Investigation into Factors Affecting Mortality in Calves
Dolphin Renal Health Study
Environmental Influences on Tursiops Truncatus
Examination of the Population Size and Structure of Whales and Dolphins in the Hawaiian Islands
Goose Creek Association Macroinvertebrate and Chemical/E-Coli Stream Monitoring
Health Assessment of Bottlenose Dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida
Long-term Residency Patterns of Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins around the Island of Hawaii
Movements of Hawaiian odontocetes: populations structure and overlap with long-line fisheries
Protection of the Ocular Surface in Marine Mammals: The Role of Tear Film
The Quantity and Quality of Milk Intake in Dolphin Calves: An Expansion of Project Newborn

Dolphin Hormones: Establishing Baseline Values According to Reproductive Condition

Species: Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
Project Investigators: Kristi West, M.S. and Ph.D., Candidate, University of Hawaii and L'Universite de la Polynesie Francaise
Affiliate Organizations: Dolphin Quest Bermuda, Dolphin Quest Hawaii, Dolphin Quest French Polynesia, Dolphin Quest Oahu, Dolphin Lagoon, Indiana Zoo, Minnesota Zoo, Sea Life Park and Sea World San Diego.
Project Conducted – 2003
Dolphin Quest Supported – 2003 to present

Project Description:

Project focuses on gathering data from blood and milk samples to gain a greater understanding of dolphin pregnancies.
Data collected will determine factors affecting hormone levels.

Benefits to Marine Mammals:

Research findings provide diagnostic value in dolphin medicine and may contribute to greater reproductive success and a higher level of animal care for dolphins.

Dolphin Physiology: An Investigation into Factors Affecting Mortality in Calves

Species: Tursiops truncatus
Project Investigators: Kristi West, Ph.D., Olav Oftedal, Ph.D., and Jan Ramer, DVM
Affiliate Organizations: University of Hawaii at Manoa, Smithsonian Institution, Indianapolis Zoo, Dolphin Quest
Project Conducted – 2003
Dolphin Quest Supported – 2003 to present
Project Description:

This project looks at factors that affect mortality in calves.
It looks at the energetic demands of young calves and the relationship among milk intake and several other key factors.
The project also is investigating the thyroid gland.

Benefits to Marine Mammals:

Estimation of milk intake and greater understanding of body condition and milk composition in lactating dolphins would greatly contribute to our understanding of calf requirements for successful survivorship.
Regular blood sampling and ultrasound measurements of thyroid gland size at various facilities will provide insight into thyroid abnormalities, which have been identified in dolphins. Only by comparing a large data set from many facilities with varying environmental conditions (as well as with wild dolphin populations) will it be possible to determine appropriate steps to rectify this problem.

Dolphin Renal Health Study

Species: Tursiops truncatus
Project Investigators: Stephanie Venn-Watson D.V.M., M.P.H., U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program
Affiliate Organizations: Dolphin Quest, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, The Mirage, MOTE Marine Laboratory, Navy Marine Mammal Program, Sea World, SHEDD Aquarium
Project Conducted - 2006 to present
Dolphin Quest Supported – 2006 to present
Project Description:

Increase understanding of the impact of physiology, diet, activity, environment and therapeutics on the formation, progression and severity of kidney stones (urate calculi) in dolphins and to assess potential predictors and risk factors for renal disease.

Environmental Influences on Tursiops truncates

Species: Tursiops truncates
Project Investigators: Jeff Stott, University of California - Davis
Affiliate Organizations: NOAA
Project Started – 2008
Dolphin Quest Supported – 2009
Project Description:

Was designed to address the major focus of a 2007 NOAA-sponsored workshop entitled “Managing Cetaceans for Optimal Health’ (Bohem, 2007).
This proposed project touches upon four of seven action plans developed at the workshop including: defining a) environmental health, b) air and water quality and the air-water interface, c) animal health and d) mentoring the marine mammal scientist of the future (see accompanying fellowship application).
Our primary goal is to identify factor(s) that influence cetacean health and how they might manifest themselves differently among animals in differing habitats.

Benefits to Marine Mammals:

Data generated should facilitate the tailoring of husbandry practices and/or aquatic environment, resulting in improved animal health. Expansion of the immunologic knowledge of cetaceans will provide valuable data that can further enable studies researching the influence of changes in global environment on marine mammal species.

Examination of the Population Size and Structure of Whales and Dolphins in the Hawaiian Islands

Species: Pseudorca crassidens
Project Investigators: Robin Baird, Ph.D., Cascadia Research
Project Conducted – 2005 to present
Dolphin Quest Supported – 2005 to present
Project Description:

This study is part of a long-term multi-species examination of the odontocetes found in Hawaiian waters.
To examine population size and inter-island movements of these species, photographic catalogs are being developed along with the collection of genetic samples for analysis.
A primary objective of this study is to gather accurate population estimates of false killer whales found in Hawaiian waters as well as to examine within-Hawaii population structure.
A second objective of this study is to continue collection of genetic samples and photographic IDs of other odontocetes species including rough-toothed dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, short-finned pilot whales, pan tropical spotted dolphins, melon-headed whales and pygmy killer whales.

Project Web site:
http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/Robin/Hawaii.htm

Benefits to Marine Mammals:

This project will provide information about the populations of false killer whales in Hawaiian waters, which may be at risk due to a greater than acceptable level of injury or mortality due to the offshore long-line fishery.

Goose Creek Association Macroinvertebrate and Chemical/E-Coli Stream Monitoring

Project Investigators: Marcia Woolman, Goose Creek Association Board
Affiliate Organizations: Dolphin Quest
Project Started – 2008
Dolphin Quest Supported – 2008 to present
Project Description:

Maintenance and improvement of stream water quality in Goose Creek watershed
Twenty monitoring stations on Goose Creek main-stem and tributaries in Fauquier and Loudoun Counties
Conduct a variety of tests through support of stream monitoring volunteers

Project Web site:
http://www.goosecreekassn.org/

Health Assessment of Bottlenose Dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida

Species: Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
Project Investigators: Randall S. Wells, Ph. D.
Affiliate Organizations: Chicago Zoological Society
Project Started – 1970
Dolphin Quest Supported – 1997 to present
Project Description:

The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program began in 1970 and is the longest running wild dolphin research program in the world.
This program is an ongoing, long-term research assessment of health life history of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Sarasota Bay, Florida.

Project Web site:
http://www.sarasotadolphin.org

Benefits to Marine Mammals:

The primary contributions to science have been to gain a better understanding of the biology, behavior, ecology, health, and population dynamics of coastal Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

Long-term Residency Patterns of Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins around the Island of Hawaii

Species: Stenella longisrostris
Project Investigators: Jan Ostman-Lind, Kula Nai’a Foundation
Affiliate Organizations: Chicago Zoological Society; Texas A&M University, Galveston
Project Started – 2007
Dolphin Quest Supported – 2009
Project Description:

To continue the effort started in 2007 to digitize and compare the three main photo-ID databases for spinner dolphins studied along the Kona Coast of the Island of Hawaii, covering the time periods 1979-81, 1989-1993 and 2003
Complete the analysis of the last two studies, analyzing some 6,000 photos taken between 1991 and 1993, and some 2,000 photos taken in 2003. These slides represent one of the longest photographic identification records for one of the most studied dolphin population.

Benefits to Marine Mammals:

If the analysis confirms the long-term residency patterns of the Kona spinner dolphin population, then we can highlight the cumulative effects of human activities on these animals, as well as on the populations around the other Hawaiian Islands.

Movements of Hawaiian odontocetes: populations structure and overlap with long-line fisheries

Species: Pseudorca crassidens, Globicephala macrorhynchus, Feresa attenuata, Peponocephala electra, Ziphius cavirostris.
Project Investigators: Robin W. Baird, Cascadia Research Collective
Affiliate Organizations: Wild Whale Research Foundation, Alaska Sealife Center
Project Started – 2009
Dolphin Quest Supported – 2009
Project Description:

Use remotely deployed satellite tags on several species of toothed whales in Hawaiian waters to examine movements to assess stock boundaries and overlap with long-line fishery exclusion boundary.
Work with be done in concert with ongoing studies of odontocetes in Hawaiian waters, focusing on rarely-encountered species such as melon-headed whales, false killer whales, and pygmy killer whales.

Project Web site:
http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/Robin/Hawaii.htm

Protection of the Ocular Surface in Marine Mammals: The Role of Tear Film

Species: Tursiops truncates
Project Investigators: Robin Kelleher Davis, Ph.D., Schepens Eye Research Institute
Affiliate Organizations: Harvard Medical School
Project Started – 2009
Dolphin Quest Supported – 2009

Project Description:

To perform biochemical analyses of tears collected from resident animals and to perform histochemical and molecular analysis of accessory glands and ocular tissues

Benefits to Marine Mammals:

The results of these analyses will provide a better understanding of the nature of the marine mammal eye and may lead to the development of therapies for ocular ailments in marine mammals.

The Quantity and Quality of Milk Intake in Dolphin Calves: An Expansion of Project Newborn

Project Investigators: Kristi West, Hawaiian Pacific University
Affiliate Organizations: National Zoological Park, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Project Started – 2009
Dolphin Quest Supported – 2009
Project Description:

To determine the relationship between the quality and quantity of milk produced over the course of lactation in dolphins.
A simultaneous measure of milk intake, milk composition, prey composition and weight changes of the mother and calf would allow for energetic calculations.

Benefits to Marine Mammals:

Information gathered will be valuable to understanding factors that may contribute to dolphin calf mortality and will aid in the sound management of both captive and wild dolphin populations.