By Nan Marshall

Since the days of ancient Greece and Rome, dolphins have delighted and intrigued people with their inquisitive nature and playful manner. Always smiling (the natural curve of their mouths gives them no other choice), they perform acrobatic feats as they roll in the waves.  Watch the synchronization of the dorsal fins as the dolphins swim a water ballet and marvel that with a thrust of a powerful tail (peduncle) and fins (flukes), they can propel (breach) their entire bodies out of the water.  Laugh as you watch the dolphins playing with seaweed or tussling with the other dolphins.  Did you know dolphins often expel bubble rings from their blowholes, use their head and nose to break the bubble into smaller circles and then swim through the rings?
The Dolphin Project has been monitoring the bottlenose dolphin in estuarine waters off the coast of Georgia and lower South Carolina for more than 20 years. “By monitoring the health and abundance of our inshore dolphins, we also monitor the health of our coast,” states Peach Hubbard, president of The Dolphin Project. “The dolphin is a sentinel species, like the canary in the mine shaft.  If the dolphins are sick, you can bet there is something wrong with their environment and most everything within it.  This is our environment, too. We need to protect it.”    
Lori Muskat, a doctor in psychology, became particularly interested in dolphins in 1996 while attending a conference in England where she learned about dolphin-assisted therapy with children who had been abused.  A psychotherapist from Wales told her about the dolphins’ ability to recognize the neediest of children and to pay the most attention to them, facilitating their psychological and spiritual healing.
“I will never forget my first sighting of these silvery-gray animals gliding through the water,” Muskat says. “I was unprepared for how taken I would be, and how taken I continue to be by their majesty. I never dreamed that the sound of chuffing would become one of my favorite melodies. And who would have guessed that I could spend endless hours tirelessly waiting like some kind of dolphin paparazzi, for those odd triangles to break the surface of the water.
The Dolphin Project offers volunteers like Muskat several ways to enjoy and learn more about the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin.
• Photographers record individual dolphin fins to note unique markings that help to match them with animals observed on previous surveys and track them in space and time.
• Skippers (with their own boats) safely maneuver their vessels to where each volunteer can best do his or her job.
• Team leaders make sure The Dolphin Project procedures are followed, the Marine Mammal Protection Act is observed, and all the data is valid.
• Assistant team leaders record the dolphins’ feeding and traveling activities, their numbers, size (adults, calves, etc.) and data such as event location, time, tide and weather.
• Volunteers, regardless of scientific experience, photography skills or boating prowess, are needed to conduct monthly surveys.  The only requirement is that participants be over 18, complete a 90-minute basic-training workshop and continue with on-the-water training. Training is free and no reservations are required. For information on upcoming training, call 912-727-3177, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or go to www.thedolphinproject.org.

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
A bad experience with sea sickness on a deep sea fishing expedition in New England has made Cheryl Tilton of Wilmington Island wary of going out in boat on a survey, but that does not deter her from realizing her passion for dolphins.
“Every time I walk on the beach and see a dolphin, it is like I have never seen one before.  I continue to be awed by this magnificent animal,” says Tilton.  If you, like Tilton, appreciate dolphins but find that time on the water makes you a bit queasy, The Dolphin Project’s educational outreach program offers volunteer positions for landlubbers to work to expand the public’s knowledge and concern for our marine environment.
Bottlenose dolphins are extremely smart, social and playful with each other in their natural environment. Dolphins are not interested in socializing with humans, but they are curious about us.  The Education Outreach program respects that the dolphins in their natural habitat should be protected from harassment and free to roam at will. The Dolphin Project presentations include the do’s and don’ts of dolphin watching.
DO enjoy watching the groups or “pods” of females and their calves as they roll, jump and dive.
DO learn the facts about dolphins. Did you know that some female calves stay with their mother’s pods for life and that male calves leave the pod between 2 and 4 years of age and roam the waters individually or in bachelor groups? Though bottlenose dolphins, like all mammals, have lungs and therefore must rise to the surface to breath through the blowholes on the top of their heads, they can dive up to 984 feet below the ocean’s surface and can stay underwater for approximately 10 minutes at a time. Dolphins produce whistles and clicks, as well as the sounds of moaning, trilling, grunting, squeaking and creaking doors by pushing air back and forth between air sacs below their blowholes as they navigate, communicate, hunt and avoid predators in dark waters.  
DO NOT feed the dolphins.  Too many years of handouts from locals, tourists and fishermen have compromised the health and welfare of dolphins.  Dolphins, in relying on begging rather than natural foraging for live fish, squid and crustaceans, increase their risk of being injured by boats, entangled in fishing gear or ingesting dangerous items such as fishing hooks and unnatural items that can poison or choke.  As Barbara Conway wrote after a survey with The Dolphin Project in Calibogue Sound, the May River and Broad Creek, “The dolphins approach the boat shamelessly for food and disappear with a tail slap when no handouts appear.  These animals have lost their fear of humans.”
In two senses of the word there are teeth in the warning to restrain from feeding the dolphins. First, dolphins have 86 to 100 sharp, cone-shaped teeth in their mouths. Many a human hand holding a fish has been grasped by a hungry dolphin. Secondly, the Marine Mammal Protection Act fines up to $20,000 and one year in jail for feeding and harassing wild marine animals. Harassment is defined as anything that interferes with the natural habitat and way of life of wild marine animals.
If you know of an organization or school that would be interested in learning more about dolphins and their coastal environment (there are three versions of the presentation geared to grades K-4, 5-6 and 9-12/adult), put them in touch with Peach Hubbard at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 912-727-3177.

SUPPORTING THE DOLPHIN PROJECT
A $25 contribution supports The Dolphin Project through the Adopt- A-Dolphin Program. Elementary-school educator Charlotte Keenoy says, “Though no one can predict when the adopted dolphin will next be sighted, contributing to the well-being of one dolphin increases the student’s awareness of all facets of marine ecology – the dangers of debris and the interconnectedness fish, crustaceans, kelp, turtles, etc.”
The adoption kit includes a photograph of your adopted dolphin’s dorsal fin, a personalized adoption certificate, dolphin washable tattoos, a general information sheet about the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, The Dolphin Project car sticker, a list of the sightings for your dolphin and other pertinent information concerning The Dolphin Project.
You can also support the protection of wild dolphins with the purchase of a “Protect Wild Dolphin” license plate. Through the sponsorship of Philippe Cousteau and his EarthEcho Foundation, South Carolina and Georgia now have these tags available. For information on how to apply for these tags, go to www.ProtectDolphin.org
Whether seated in a boat, on the beach or even in an estuarine or oceanfront dwelling, residents and visitors to the Lowcountry experience paradise in the beauty and sounds of the sea. The waves crash, the sea gulls squawk, the pelicans dive, but most wondrous of all, the dolphins surface.  Respect and rejoice with The Dolphin Project.

Nan Marshall is a freelance writer who lives in Savannah. Photos courtesy of The Dolphin Project