These data sets include a compilation of small vessel based studies of bottlenose dolphins that reside within Biscayne Bay, Florida, adjacent estuaries and nearshore coastal waters. The data consist primarily of photo-identification studies that use natural markings on animal dorsal fins to identify individuals over time. Surveys consist of line transects aboard small boats with concentrated effort to collect photographs of individuals. These photographs are reviewed to identify and catalog individual animals. In addition, several targeted studies have been conducted within this program to collect tissue biopsy samples for genetic and contaminant analyses. These data are used to examine demographic structure and population dynamics of the Biscayne Bay Estuarine System stock of bottlenose dolphins.

Data from these surveys have been used to help discriminate among stocks and estimate population sizes.

These data sets include a compilation of small vessel based studies of bottlenose dolphins that reside within Barataria Bay, LA, Mississippi Sound, MS and nearshore coastal waters. The data consist primarily of photo-identification studies that use natural markings on animal dorsal fins to identify individuals over time. Surveys consist of line transects aboard small boats with concentrated effort to collect photographs of individuals. These photographs are reviewed to identify and catalog individual animals. In addition, several targeted studies have been conducted within this program to collect tissue biopsy samples for genetics, stable isotope, and contaminant analyses. These data have been used to support estimates of reproductive success and estimate abundance of bottlenose dolphins in support of the injury assessment for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Data resulted from dolphins during/capture release sampling for health assessments.

To document interactions and harvesting of marine mammals by fishing vessels in which there is an observer aboard

This product represents the marine mammal observation count data for the 2018-2020 Gulf of America Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species surveys and the subsequent 2022-2023 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aerial surveys in the northern Gulf of America. File goamapps_air_marine_mammal_observations_forDistribution.csv and both an html and xml metadata file are included. For more information, consult the associated metadata.