Great Last Day of 2010

We surveyed the estuary and the coastal ocean off Shackleford Banks today for Photo ID and what a last trip of the year. We recorded a total of 147 dolphins (that's alot).This included 5 calves; 2 'young of the year' and most exciting was a neonate. He/she was dark with very clear folds and was very bouncy. Two of the young calves had visible folds also. The water was clear and we could actually see the neonate nursing. Wow!! We are not yet sure if we have a video of that, but I will definitely post some pictures next week.
Happy New Year.

Dolphin Photo ID and Marine Mammal Strandings for November 2010

November updates from Cape Lookout Studies Program.

Dolphin Photo ID

We were out on the water doing dolphin photo ID 6 days in November. We had 9 distinct sightings with 108 identified dolphins. The dolphins were often in Gallants Channel or the Morehead Port turning basin.

Marine Mammal Strandings   

Vicky Thayer, head of North Carolina Mid-Coast Marine Mammal Strandings, reports that there were a total of 5 strandings:  One spotted dolphin on Bird Shoal and 4 bottlenose dolphins - 2 were on South Core, 1 on Bear Island, and a juvenile male, pictured, found dead  2 miles offshore.  The one from Bear Island was very fresh and was saved in the NOAA freezer to use for the upcoming stranding volunteer workshop. 

 Also, Vicky told us "someone called distressed because an “otter” was on a channel marker in the Cape Fear River.  From the photo and description she sent me, it appears to be a healthy, alert harbor seal with normal posture and behavior. It looks a whole lot like California to me where sea lions hang out on buoys".