
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 11, 1994                   TAG: 9407110136
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                LENGTH: Medium

VA. VOLUNTEERS HELP TAKE STOCK OF EAST COAST DOLPHIN POPULATION

One hundred trained volunteers manned Virginia's shoreline this weekend, joining an East Coast effort to count the dolphins swimming within a mile of land.

Scientists hope the second annual Atlantic bottlenose dolphin count, held Saturday from Florida to New Jersey, will provide more information about one of the most common but least understood animals on the East Coast and help to develop a conservation plan.

"This work is extremely important if we want to preserve and protect the species," said W. Mark Swingle, a marine biologist who heads the dolphin-research program of the Virginia Marine Science Museum.

The museum trained the Virginia volunteers, who dotted beaches, flew overhead, cruised in boats and surveyed from bridges and piers. Some counters assigned to the Eastern Shore were dropped off near remote barrier islands by boat, waded to shore for the count, and were picked up later.

The museum's scientists developed the procedures for the entire East Coast count.

Though they are a frequent sight to beach goers, little is known about the dolphins. For example, it is not known how many dolphins exist, or what their migratory patterns are.

"It's sort of like trying to put together a puzzle not even knowing what the picture is supposed to be," Swingle said. "Last year, we got a few pieces down. This year, we may be able to start to make out the picture."

The National Marine Fisheries Service last year designated the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin population as depleted, a condition that is not as serious as the classifications of threatened or endangered. The designation was the result of a 1987-88 dolphin kill, in which about 750 dolphin carcasses washed ashore in the East.

The preliminary results of the Saturday's count in Virginia indicated there were at least 500 dolphin sightings within a four-hour period, but many of those dolphins were counted twice as they moved from one study area to another. In a one-hour period, the amount of time it would take for a dolphin to move between observation stations, at least 150 were counted.

by CNB