Mazzoil, Marilyn S.

In 2009, Link Summer Intern, Lauren Nys, started a program surveying manatees in the Harbor Branch channel. Five years later, the program has accrued an abundance of data with the daily help of numerous volunteers. This project compiles and analyzes the data to answer questions about the abundance and behaviors of the resident population of manatees in the Harbor Branch channel. The manatees were found to have a general yearly abundance trend having high numbers in the winter and preferring to aggregate in the West Basin. There is no obvious effect of the 2010 cold stun, however, further research involving photo-identification analysis needs to be completed. The main behaviors exhibited in the challllel involve resting, staying warm, and mating, signifying that the channel is an important habitat for manatees. This project will continue as part of the researcher's undergraduate thesis.

A previously undescribed skin abnormality, which we refer to as “tiger stripes,” has been identified in Indian River Lagoon bottlenose dolphins through photo-identification surveys. The condition presents as parallel stripes on the ventral and lateral aspects on the torso of the dolphin with varying length and depth. The condition may be indicative of rapid weight loss, similar to human "stretch marks”, debilitating illnesses resulting in emaciation or a result of starvation due to lack of prey. Goals of this study were to determine if tiger stripes are: (1) a marker of rapid weight loss, (2) more prevalent in post-partum females, and to (3) examine the spatial and temporal distribution in the IRL.
Preliminary findings indicate that tiger striping is a useful marker suggestive of rapid weight loss. The next phase of research is to determine if the condition can be utilized as a pre-mortem marker of emaciation in IRL dolphins.