Local dolphins and the UNF Bottlenose Dolphin Research Program

Quincy Gibson is the director of the University of North Florida (UNF) Dolphin Research Program. Gibson began studying bottlenose dolphins in the St. Johns River in 2011. And, just like a good old-fashioned soap opera, dolphin research in the St. Johns River reveals that they experience the goodness of family and friendship and the pain and hardship of survival, just like humans.

The UNF Dolphin Research team surveys the St. Johns River from Mayport to downtown Jacksonville once a week each summer. During the school year, they taper back to two surveys a month. The team has collected a tremendous amount of information about local dolphins during this time. They know the dolphins in the St. Johns River very well. And, the surveys have allowed the team to reach some very important milestones in their research.

According to Gibson, “We have moms with calves who were born when we first started surveying the river. Those calves have matured and are now having calves of their own. So, now there is a multi-generation dynamic.” Gibson and her team know individual dolphins by number and name. She and her team have watched all the joys and struggles each new dolphin generation faces in the St. Johns River.

The UNF Dolphin Research Program discovered that St. Johns River dolphins demonstrate a level of social complexity that has only been observed in one other population of dolphins in the world.

Quincy said, “It is kinda silly, but think of this story as modern-day bromance. There is an alliance of male dolphins that operate together when looking for a fertile female. They act like each other’s wingman when working together. Alliances work together to find and mate with fertile females each season. A fertile female may be pursued by more than one alliance of male dolphins.”

By working together, the alliance of males can protect and defend the female from other alliances. This ensures they are successful in breeding and the father of future offspring. But that is not the entire story. Quincy reminds us that many populations of animals protect the female from other males to ensure they are the fathers of offspring.

In Shark Bay, Australia, where Quincy did her Ph.D. research, dolphins form multi-level alliances with each other to ensure breeding success. And, there are levels of alliances. The core first-order alliance can get into a fight with another alliance. When this occurs, they can call in reinforcements and a second order alliance shows up. A pair or trio of dolphins will come and join them to help them defend the fertile female. Gibson pointed out, “Sometimes if they want to be the aggressor and they want to take a fertile female from another alliance, then they call in reinforcements and try to steal the female away from the other group.”

Dolphins will recruit their friends and charge at another group to steal the female. This type of multi-level alliance requires a lot of processing. They must maintain the ability to recognize and track other relationships. Gibson said, “If you are fighting and you call in reinforcements, you want to make sure the reinforcements like you more than the ones you are fighting.”

What is even more special, according to Quincy, is that there are only two places where she has documented bottlenose dolphins displaying this behavior. One is here in the St. Johns River, and the other is in Shark Bay, Australia.

This research was groundbreaking for dolphin scientists. It required researches to look at other bottlenose dolphin populations to see if there were more groups displaying this behavior. They looked at the data and used the same measurements and protocol for each dolphin group. They looked at dolphins from the Indian River Lagoon region all the way up to Savannah, Georgia. They did not find any other groups of bottlenose dolphins displaying these characteristics.

This behavior is unique to the St. Johns River population according to Gibson. They have done a lot of follow-up studies to understand why these male relationships are so dynamic and complex. Most of the research points to the fact that there is a high density of St. Johns River dolphins in the summer months. Summer is prime breeding season along the east coast of Florida. And, Gibson said, “If you pack a large number of competitors in a confined space things are going to get complicated. By having a multi-level alliance structure, this allows for them to negotiate and mitigate for nonstop conflict.”

Once you begin to recognize these individuals and see how they move, it is so fascinating to watch them said Gibson. “There is one case when we were out on the river watching a group of four dolphins. The dolphins were spread out but swimming in a consistent pattern. All of a sudden, we did not know what had happened, but the dolphins did. They immediately formed a tight line. Quincy then spotted another group of dolphins traveling towards them about 100 meters away. They realized it was two older adult males who had been together for a long time. They were swimming towards the group of four dolphins who were young. They had just reached adulthood.”

Gibson went on to describe that the young group of four dolphins was nervous. Safety in numbers and solidarity were on display as the two large adult males approached the young group of four dolphins. The two groups passed each other and nothing happened. After the two large adult male dolphins passed by, the young dolphins spread out and began to patrol the area once more.

Gibson reminded me that bottlenose dolphins are so smart. She said they are basically aquatic humans. They display so many similarities to humans in their day-to-day lives. Like humans, dolphins do not stay in one group all the time. They move and join other groups depending on what they are doing. With humans, maybe the kids are at day care while mom works. With dolphins, mom may be foraging for fish while another dolphin is watching her young calf.

All dolphins come together when they need the safety of numbers. When they are ready to rest, they will call on others to help protect the babies while they sleep. This coming and going from the group is fluid and occurs all day long, according to Gibson. And, because of that, Gibson and her team have been able to define preferences, such as which individuals like each other and which ones do not.

Gibson told me that one dolphin may join a group, which immediately causes another dolphin to leave the group. “Maybe they are not the best of friends. They track all of this, said Gibson.

In my next article about the UNF Dolphin Research Program I will share some of the hardships local bottlenose dolphins deal with daily. Gibson explained to me, “It is a challenging time to be in marine mammal work. We must just keep telling ourselves we are documenting this so that future generations may learn from it and not make the same mistakes."