Franciscana Dolphins - March 7

Two Additional Dolphins Tagged
Today we tagged two more franciscana dolphins, an adult male and an adult female. They are now transmitting, along with juvenile male Tunken and adult female Kure, tagged on Tuesday. The large red dots on the map are the most recent daily locations of each dolphin.

They are following patterns similar to those observed last year.

Tumken and Kure - March 6

Strong winds and rain squalls kept the team off the water today, but tracking of the first 2 tagged dolphins, Tumken, the young male (42483), and adult female Kure (42485) continues via satellite. Their movements so far are closely following those of the four dolphins tagged in the same area last year. We have begun to receive our first dive data for this species. Tumken has made dives as deep as 20-25 meters and remained down for as long as 2-2.5 minutes, although most dives have been for 1-1.5 minutes, and to about 5-10 meters.

Yesterday, Chicago Zoological Society (CZS) research assistant Aaron Barleycorn obtained a dorsal fin photograph that was matched by CZS Dolphin Conservation Program Lab Manager Jason Allen to a fin photographed last year near the same location. This marks the first documentation of residency by a franciscana dolphin across more than one year at a site. Field work will continue through March 11 , with tracking via satellite continuing for as long as the tags transmit.