DCP Deep Dive: Right Whales, What’s Wrong?

CW: Conversations about whale deaths, photographs of entangled, injured, and dead whales are included in this talk.
North Atlantic Right Whales (NARWs) are critically endangered and face many threats throughout their habitat on the Atlantic coast. Learn more about the plight of NARWs, including their life history, threats they face, and how you can help, from Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network’s Lauren Rust.

DCP Deep Dive: Mother/Calf Contacts

The relationship between a bottlenose dolphin mother and her calf is vital for the survival of the young, but many of the details are yet to be fully understood. This talk explores the physical contacts that are shared between these individuals and suggests explanations for the patterns found in DCP’s recent study.
This Deep Dive was presented by Savanna Duda on 20 March 2024.

DCP Deep Dive: Sperm Whale Reproduction & Society

Sperm whales are well known for being deep-diving predators with extraordinary hunting abilities. They also have a fascinating social system, much of which is shaped by their reproductive strategies and calf-caring behavior. This talk goes beyond DCP’s team and main study species, reviewing what scientists currently know about sperm whale sociality and reproduction, as well as outstanding questions.
This presentation was given by Ana Eguiguren on 6 Feb 2024.

DCP DEEP DIVE: Photo-ID off Nicaragua

Bottlenose dolphins are fascinating animals that are studied in a lot of places in the world. Scientists use their dorsal fins to individually identify them and unravel their social structure. For this talk, we headed away from DCP’s field sites to dive in with Joëlle De Weerdt to learn more about the dolphins she studies off Nicaragua.

DCP Deep Dive: Human-made noise impacts bottlenose dolphins’ ability to work together

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March 15, 2023, Noon ET
Human-made noise poses a significant problem for a wide range of animals. Individuals across animal groups have been shown to use different vocal and other behavioral strategies to compensate for the effects of noise, however, little is known of how successful they are at overcoming the impacts of noise disturbance when working together. In this talk Pernille Meyer Sørensen will present the results of a recent study done in collaboration with the Dolphin Research Center, in Florida, in which they investigated how noise affected two dolphins working together.

DCP Deep Dive: A Dolphin’s Guide to Maintaining Friendships

Emma Chereskin talks about the male bottlenose dolphins of Shark Bay, Australia in this “Deep Dive.” These dolphins form the most complex alliance structure outside of humans. Forming alliances, and maintaining those friendships, is vital in securing paternities and protecting females from rival males. In this talk, Emma explores the wide variety of mechanisms, such as touch, synchrony, and sound, used by these dolphins to maintain their decades-long friendships.