Welcome to
The Dolphin Study
Dive in and explore.
This unique citizen science effort brings you the first comprehensive portrait of the thriving bottlenose dolphin communities in Southwest Florida.
The foundation of The Dolphin Study is a database assembled from 14+ years of boat-based photo-identification surveys conducted around Naples and Marco Island Florida.
This website puts The Dolphin Study database at your fingertips. With the tools provided, you can learn the individual dolphins that make up these communities. View their sighting histories and begin to track their fate as they contend with the challenges of a marine environment they share with sharks, humans and neighboring dolphin communities.
Get to know these dolphins and join us in the work of keeping them safe.
Kent Morse
EXPLORE THE DOLPHIN STUDY DATABASE
The Dolphin Study has conducted surveys in four areas in Southwest Florida: Naples, Marco Island, Goodland and the near shore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The tools below put the results of that work at your fingertips. For the first time you can meet the individual dolphins that live in Southwest Florida. Then dive deeper and find out the extent of their home range, who they spend their time with, how many calves the females have given birth to and more.
THE DOLPHINS OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
The Dolphin Study’s many surveys have begun to reveal the world of dolphins in Southwest Florida. Explore these stories for a deep dive into some of what we have learned.
Young Mothers and First Births
Are the first time mothers near Marco Island beating the odds in terms of calf survival
Female Reproductive Success
An explanation of the many challenges in determining the survival rate of calves born to bottlenose dolphins in Southwest Florida
The Distribution of Dolphins in Southwest Florida
Find out what The Dolphin Study's many surveys reveal about how bottlenose dolphins are distributed along the coast of Southwest Florida.
Birthing Season Established For Southwest Florida
The Dolphin Study's many surveys have definitively established a season when bottlenose calves are born in Southwest Florida.
KEEP OUR DOLPHINS SAFE
The bottlenose dolphins that you will meet here live their entire lives in the waters around Naples and Marco Island -feeding, playing, socializing, traveling and raising their young.
T
he biggest threats they face com simple steps will go a long way toward keeping them safe.
KEEP OUR DOLPHINS SAFE
The bottlenose dolphins that you meet here live their entire lives in the waters around Naples and Marco Island – feeding, playing, socializing, travelling and raising their young.
The biggest threat they face is from us.
A few simple steps will go a long way toward keeping them safe.
Our Partners and Fellow Travelers
All of our partners have pledged to operate in a mindful and respectful manner when viewing bottlenose dolphins and to never interfere with or intentionally alter the dolphin’s behavior.
Dolphin Research Tours is a Marco Island based ecotour committed to operating in an ethical and respectful manner when viewing the local bottlenose dolphins. During their three hour tours in The 10,000 Island Aquatic Preserve, naturalists aboard Dolphin Research Tours collect sighting data for The Dolphin Study.
Honest Eco is a visionary Key West based ecotour company offering dolphin watching, snorkeling and kayaking. With their Hybrid electric boat, elimination of single use plastics, dolphin research project and commitment to respectful viewing of dolphins, they are Florida’s leader in ethical ecotourism.
THE DOLPHIN STUDY
3385 Captains Cove, b
Naples, FL 34112
thedolphinstudy@gmail.com
ABOUT US
THE DATABASE
Images on this site are owned and © by The Dolphin Study Inc. All rights reserved. No images may be taken from this site and used for any purpose without explicit authorization.
The Dolphin Study is a 501(c)(3) Organization – Federal tax ID #83-3170365