InTheBite

  • Home
  • News
    • All News
    • Featured Stories
    • General News
    • Captain of the Year
    • Tournament Results
    • First Builds
    • Splash Reports
    • Old Salts Rule
    • Tackle Tips
    • Dock Talk
    • Crew Records
    • Conservation
  • Tournaments
    • Calendar
    • Captain of the Year
    • Champion’s Cup
  • Shop
    • All Products
    • Subscriptions
    • Back Issues
    • Shirts
    • Hats & Visors
    • Miscellaneous
    • Release Rulers
  • Classifieds
  • Job Board
  • Contact
    • Contact InTheBite
    • InTheBite Media Kit
  • Log in

Dolphin Research Project Update

December 5, 2014 By InTheBite Editor

December 2014.

The Plight of Dolphin Carrying PSATs
Any time a prey species alters its basic movement patterns or appearance, it will be noticed by a predator. Most times a large dolphin can either out-swim or out-maneuver its predators, like sharks, marlin, or toothed whales, but there are always some times when they don’t. Large predators have to eat, too.
Unfortunately, you cannot place a pop-off satellite archival tag (PSAT) on a dolphin without altering its appearance and possibly its swimming behavior. Changes in either of these will draw the immediate attention of predators. You might as well place a bull’s-eye on the fish. After tagging, it will be up to the fish to avoid all of the additional predator-attention the tag has brought its way, if we are to acquire any long-term data.
Nature being what it is, one of the dolphin tagged June 3, 2013, with a PSAT as part of a long-term tracking study ended quickly. Just 36.75 hours into a planned six-month deployment, the unit popped to the surface at 1:30AM EDT and began to drift with the prevailing surface currents of the ocean. While we cannot absolutely say what caused its separation from the fish, but having been the one who attached the tag, I say an outside force had to sever the200-lb. mono tether to which it was attached. Since the tag surfaced from a depth of two meters, this suggests that it was attacked by a critter with sharp teeth, such as possibly a mako shark, which has a known fondness for dolphin.
All is not lost, because in its brief liberty the bull dolphin did provide a look at a new behavior we have not recorded before. Long-term tags such as the ones in this study only record data on the quarter-hour, so that leaves large gaps of unrecorded behavior. With that said, this fish did not like the surface. It was observed in the top 10 meters (m) of the water column only on 12 percent of the records with most occurring near the end of the track.

 

Screen Shot 2014-12-05 at 3.09.51 PM

The dolphin carrying the satellite tag 136761(above) was one of two bulls fitted with satellite tags during a trip off Charleston, South Carolina, on June 3, 2014, aboard Hunter Edward’s boat My Three Sons, captained by Michael Mattson.

It stayed at an average depth of 29.5 m or 97 feet during its brief tracking period. The maximum depth observed for this fish was 69.9 m or 229 feet. The fish was observed to occupy waters between 65 and 115 feet 51 percent of the time. So, if you don’t already pull a deep line when fishing in blue water, this may be a good reason to start.
The fish was observed to move between temperatures of 69.6 to 80.4 o F and occupied waters having an average temperature of 76 o F. It did show a preference for 74 oF water, spending 35 percent of its time there. The hottest water was encountered when it was at the surface near the end of its life. The coolest water was noted during a dive to 172 feet a few hours after it was released.
This fish remained at depths of around 100 feet for the longest period observed for any of the 20 dolphinfish tracked with PSAT’s by the DRP. Most of the other dolphin tracked off South Carolina, southeast Florida and the Caribbean were observed to dive to these depths but remained there for only brief periods. While this could be a unique behavior for just this one fish, it does open the possibility of a new behavior that some mature bull dolphin could spend long periods well below the surface of the water.
While this was an abbreviated tracking effort, as I write this article, there is one tagged fish still out there that has not been heard from for 140 days. This leaves 40 days in the Sat tag’s planned monitoring period to achieve the six-month monitoring goal. These fish represent the start of a long-term study made possible by a grant from the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation. Three more pop-off satellite archival tags will be deployed in 2015 to complete this initial segment of the ongoing study.
Capt Jimbo Thomas and his brother Rick, who operate the Miami, Florida, based charter boat Thomas Flyer have become the first crew to tag 2,000 dolphinfish under the DRP. Rick Thomas tagged their two-thousandth fish on August 1, 2014, off Miami.
Capt. Thomas joined the DRP tagging effort in 2004. Since that time he and his brother Rick have averaged tagging 204 dolphin each year. Their best year was in 2007 when they tagged 367 dolphin. They have earned the DRP top charter boat award on all but one year since they have been participating.
Thanks to their efforts in tagging dolphin, we have been able to track fish from Palm Beach, Florida, all the way to New Jersey. Their fish have even been recovered as far away as the Dominican Republic.

Screen Shot 2014-12-05 at 3.10.04 PM

Hot Fall Dolphin Fishing
The northeastern Caribbean from the Lesser Antilles through the Greater Antilles experienced some of their worst dolphin fishing during the 2013-14 season. In the words of one charter captain, there was no grass and no fish, nothing. Well, the ocean made a 180-degree turnaround starting in late August 2014. Large lines of Sargassum that stretched for miles began showing up with large dense mats. With this grass came dolphin, and an unusually large number of small 15- to 18-inch fish. These reports have come in from participating anglers in the Virgin Islands, Antigua, the southern and northwestern coasts of Puerto Rico as well as the southeastern corner of the Dominican Republic.
It appears that this large influx of Sargassum, an oceanic algae, could be a repeat of the 2011 event when vast amounts of the weed washed ashore on Caribbean beaches. While fishermen look upon this oceanic weed as a blessing to their fishing, it can create serious problems for the islands. During these events tons of the weed can blanket the white-sand beaches, threatening the vital tourism of the islands.
While the grass may pose a threat to island beaches, it may offer a great opportunity for tracking the movements of dolphinfish around the Caribbean. During September 2014 60 fish were tagged in the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters. This is more than the average total number of fish tagged each year in this region. The surge in Caribbean tagging also pushed the total number of fish tagged for the month of September to a new record high of 148.
The September tagging activity was a great start but it slowed way down in October. Now we will have to wait to see if the abundance of dolphin picks back up during the fall and winter fishing season. If tagging rebounds, this could be a great opportunity to advance our knowledge of the movements of dolphin in the Caribbean Sea.

Screen Shot 2014-12-05 at 3.10.15 PM

Donations are Needed
It is not too late to provide financial support to the Dolphinfish Research Program. Donations to the 2014 program have been the lowest in the research program’s nine-year history. Please consider making a contribution to keep this important research effort alive.
Donations are fully tax deductible. Checks should be made out to the Reef Foundation/Dolphin Study and sent to the address shown below.
For More Information, Contact
Don Hammond
Dolphinfish Research Program
Cooperative Science Services, LLC
961 Anchor Rd., Charleston, SC 29412
Telephone – FAX (843) 795-7524
Email CSSLLC@bellsouth.net
Web site www.dolphintagging.com

For more InTheBite News Click Here

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Do you have any comments or questions for us? We’d love to hear from you.

    Filed Under: Conservation, General News

    Recent News

    vela boatworks catamaran gamechanger

    Vela Boatworks Enters the Sportfishing Market with New Catamaran “Gamechanger”

    Some things in life are just meant to be. For Tommy Jones and Blake Kingsbury it was boat building. The two had attended middle school together and were friends all the way through high school but ended up losing touch when they went to college. It … [Read More...]

    boats running

    The Extremes of Tournament Fishing

    By ITB Staff The time was, perhaps not too long ago, that tournament time meant rounding up a few friends, grabbing a half-dozen cases of beer, a handful of plugs and taking a boat ride. During some tournaments, the most important thing to … [Read More...]

    auspicious team

    2020 International Division Captain of the Year Capt. Edward Murray

    Auspicious // 1,350 points Bermuda Billfish Blast 2nd Place – 300 pts. Bermuda Big Game Classic 1st Place – 500 pts. Sea Horse Anglers Club 2nd Place – 300 pts. Bermuda Triple Crown Overall Champions – 250 pts. … [Read More...]

    native son

    Native Son Takes First in Leg 2 of the “Quest for the Crest” Sailfish Challenge

    First Place: Native Son, Capt. Art Sapp Second Place: Weez in the Keyz, Capt. Chris Zielinski Third Place: The Edge, … [Read More...]

    vaccine

    New Updates on COVID Vaccine Requirements in Hawaii

    Hawaii-Guide.com recently provided a new update to requirements and changes in regards to Hawaii travel and the COVID vaccine parameters. Read the excerpt below or click here for the full article. The Vaccine in Relation to Hawaii Travel Presently, … [Read More...]

    Leave a Reply

    Connect With InTheBite

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Sign Up for the InTheBite Newsletter


    Be the first to hear about the latest Sportfishing News, Products, and Services!

    Subscribe to InTheBite Magazine Today!

    InTheBite Magazine Current Cover

    Our latest issue is hitting the docks now! Be sure to subscribe to the hottest bluewater mag on the market. Purchase or Subscribe »

    Upcoming Tournaments

    Sat 27

    Los Suenos Signature Billfish Series, Leg 2

    February 24 - February 27
    Sun 28

    The Masters Angling Tournament

    February 28 - March 4
    Tue 02

    Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring

    March 2 - March 6
    Fri 12

    Quepos Billfish Cup

    March 12 - March 13
    Fri 12

    Pelagic Shamrock Shootout

    March 12 - March 13

    View More…

    InTheBite Champion’s Cup

    InTheBite Champions Cup Logo

    New for 2021, the Champion’s Cup is an optional paid entry with a winner-takes-all prize format for teams who want to up the stakes in each division utilizing our longstanding tournament scoring formula.

    Captain of the Year Cup Standings

    Captain of the Year Cup Standings Logo

    View the current standings for InTheBite's Captain of the Year Cup... Leaderboard »

    News

    • Native Son Takes First in Leg 2 of the "Quest for the Crest" Sailfish Challenge

      Native Son Takes First in Leg 2 of the "Quest for the Crest" Sailfish Challenge

      First Place: Native Son, Capt. Art Sapp Second Place: Weez in the Keyz, Capt. Chris Zielinski Third Place: The Edge, BAR South in Top Spot for Most Sail Releases for the Florida Division Congratulations to BAR South and their six sail releases during Leg 2 of the "Quest for the Crest" Sailfish Challenge. This puts them at the top for... [Read More...]

    • New Updates on COVID Vaccine Requirements in Hawaii

      New Updates on COVID Vaccine Requirements in Hawaii

      Hawaii-Guide.com recently provided a new update to requirements and changes in regards to Hawaii travel and the COVID vaccine parameters. Read the excerpt below or click here for the full article. The Vaccine in Relation to Hawaii Travel Presently, proof of vaccination is not a recognized exemption to the Hawaii travel quarantine. The state continues to evaluate the latest science and... [Read More...]

    • Caterpillar Marine Releases the CAT C32B 2433 MHP Triple Turbo Marine Engine

      Caterpillar Marine Releases the CAT C32B 2433 MHP Triple Turbo Marine Engine

      Caterpillar Marine, Houston, Texas—Following the successful launch of the C32B 2025 MHP engine, Caterpillar Marine has announced the release of the new Cat® C32B Triple Turbo 2433 MHP (2400BHP) high-performance marine engine, with a rated engine speed of 2300 rpm. With an incredible 20% increase in power output, the C32B Triple Turbo engine leverages the same core engine upgrades as the... [Read More...]

    • Palm Beach Inlet Boat Gallery

      Palm Beach Inlet Boat Gallery

        January 16, 2021—Check out the gallery of some of the finest sportfishing teams returning to Palm Beach inlet. Most of the vessels are competing in the Operation Sailfish tournament. Scroll to the bottom for a new video showcasing the incredible speed of these modern-day machines as they return from the competition.  [Read More...]

    • Slant vs. Cupped Head

      Slant vs. Cupped Head

      Slant Heads Vs. Cupped Heads: Action Makes the Difference Tech Talk By Capt. Bart Miller of Black Bart Lures From InTheBite Vault As far back as I can remember, lure designs were very basic: bullet-shaped heads and slant heads. Slant heads fell into two categories, one being a tube-shaped head with a slant nose; the other being a cylinder-shaped, tapered... [Read More...]

    Search InTheBite

    Copyright © 2021 InTheBite, LLC · All Rights Reserved.

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.