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Photo Identification Studies

Many species of dolphins accumulate a series of natural nicks and notches on their dorsal fins that can be used to identify individuals. Photographs of identified individuals can be compared among areas, years, and seasons to:

• document home ranges
• document movements of individuals
• provide longitudinal demographic data
• provide mark-capture-recapture estimates of abundance

Photo ID studies require photographing individuals in the field and then comparing photographs in the lab to find matches.

Dolphin photo identification
Photo Credit: SEFSC Beaufort Lab

Biopsy Sampling during Photo-Identification Studies

Biopsy sampling a bottlenose dolphin
Photo Credit: SEFSC Beaufort Lab

Biopsy sampling of free-swimming dolphins allows for the collection of small skin and blubber samples, with photo-identification of biopsied animals generally conducted at the same time. The biopsy samples are collected with specialized tips attached to a modified arrow that will float.

For our research, each skin sample is split, with one part sent to the SEFSC marine mammal genetics lab in Lafayette, LA, and the other used for analysis of stable isotope ratios.