THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407100065
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Kathy Marchant's hobby of watching dolphins became scientific pursuit Saturday as she joined hundreds of volunteers along the Atlantic coast in the second annual bottlenose dolphin count.
``We do this anyway,'' Marchant said, with binoculars trained on a school of five dolphins off the 89th Street beach. ``We'd be sitting on the beach, my husband would be fishing and I would count the dolphins.''
Only this time, Bob had pencil and clipboard in hand instead of a fishing pole. And their tally will provide more than just amusement.
It will help piece together the mystery surrounding the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, the most common, yet one of the least understood, marine mammals on the East Coast.
The Marchants were part of a team of 100 trained volunteers assembled by the Virginia Marine Science Museum to scan Virginia's waters for dolphins within a mile of the shoreline.
Between the North Carolina and Maryland state lines, counters dotted beaches, flew in airplanes, cruised in boats and surveyed from bridges and piers. Many Eastern Shore counters were dropped off near remote barrier islands by boat, waded to shore, conducted their counts and were picked up later.
Hundreds more volunteers from Florida to New Jersey counted dolphins at the same time.
``This work is extremely important if we want to preserve and protect the species,'' said W. Mark Swingle, a marine biologist who heads the museum's dolphin-research program.
The bottlenose dolphin's population was designated last year by the National Marine Fisheries Service as depleted, which is not as serious as threatened or endangered classifications. The designation was a result of the 1987-88 dolphin deaths in which about 750 dolphin carcasses washed ashore along the East Coast in the largest mass poisoning of marine mammals on record.
Though they are a familiar sight to beachgoers, little is known about dolphins. For example, no one really knows how many exist or what their migratory patterns are. Only after years of study will scientists be able to start drawing conclusions.
``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. The year, we may be able to start to make out the picture.''
Preliminary results of the Virginia census indicate that there were at least 500 dolphin sightings in 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.
``The actual number will be somewhere between those two,'' Swingle said. The data will be analyzed over the next few months to determine an accurate count.
The Virginia Marine Science Museum has taken the lead in the effort to learn more about the number and migration of dolphins, largely through Operation Dolphin. The program has identified more than 250 different dolphins in Virginia waters through research and photographs of their distinguishing dorsal fins.
Museum scientists also developed the protocol for the entire count. And Virginia was the only state last year to cover its entire shoreline. This year, South Carolina is also making a coastwide count.
Virginia is a critical area for studying the movements of the coastal migratory dolphin population. South of Cape Hatteras, dolphins live near shore year-round. But in Virginia, coastal dolphins appear in May and leave in November.
Last year, 347 dolphins were counted in Virginia. Swingle estimated that 7 percent of the population were calves, under 1 year old. About 70 percent of the dolphins were spotted from Cape Henry in Virginia Beach south to the state line. Large concentrations were recorded at Cape Henry - known to researchers as Dolphin Disneyland - and close to the North Carolina border.
The dolphins were again concentrated this year around Cape Henry and the southern end of Virginia Beach.
All of this data will be used to help the National Marine Fisheries Service develop a conservation plan to protect the species. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
IAN MARTIN/Staff
Kathy Marchant counts dolphins at Virginia Beach while her husband,
Bob, records the information. Hundreds of volunteers from Florida to
New Jersey counted bottlenose dolphins Saturday. The Marchants were
among 100 trained workers in Virginia.
by CNB