Biscayne Bay Dolphin Photo ID System

It has been shown through a variety of photo-identification studies that populations of bottlenose dolphin inhabit the various embayments along the coast of Florida. Knowledge of population stock structure is critical to developing management plans and understanding how stressors impact individual populations. Researchers have found that photo-identification is one of the best ways to study populations of bottlenose dolphin in near shore environments. Unlike aerial and ship-board surveys, individual dolphins can be identified and tracked temporally and spatially, giving investigators a more comprehensive picture of population stock structure

The bottlenose dolphin is a heterogenous species found throughout temperate and tropical waters. In past years, aerial surveys, photo-identification studies, and, more recently, genetic studies have begun to divide this worldwide species into population stocks. In 1998, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reported to the Marine Mammal Commission that there appears to be at least four discrete population stocks of bottlenose dolphin in the U.S. Atlantic waters:

Dolphin sighting surveys are conducted by boat. Environmental conditions are recorded and linked back to sightings of individuals, which are identified by photos, which are also stored in an Oracle database.

Location Of The Main Office Of The South East Fisheries Science Center

To fishery Scientists and other qualified researchers upon request.

Contact someone who has one of the support roles

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Data set is not for use in litigation. While efforts have been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages or misrepresentations caused by inaccuracies in these data, or as a result of these data being used on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does distribution constitute any such warranty

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Oracle Database

Visual sightings and effort data are reviewed and verified by field leads after each survey day. Identifications of individual animals are reviewed and verified by multiple indivisuals using tools within the FinBase database system. Key entered data are verified by comparison to written data sheets.

This data is currently wavered under the current NOAA guidelines for relational databases.

When ways to deal with archive of still images have been developed, then this dataset may be archived.

The data resides on a secure database server only accessible through the NMFS network requiring separate multi-factor authentication for both network and database access.