Abstract
On February 15 & 16, 2022, CRRC and NOAA ARD co-sponsored a virtual workshop entitled “Greater Houston Area Bottlenose Dolphin Data Gaps.” The workshop addressed data needs, distribution, health, and challenges of these dolphin stocks and how this information could support potential future Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDAs) in the region. The two-day workshop included plenary presentations in which federal, state, and local representatives outlined: dolphin distribution demographics, and fecundity; and health (live animal studies, strandings, unusual mortality events (UMEs)). Threats to the animals were also discussed, including contamination (mercury, land-based emerging contaminants of concern, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxin), oil spills, superfund sites, water/sediment quality; human-caused impacts from shipping, fisheries, and engineering projects (storm surge protection, dredging, construction); and extreme weather, freshwater inundation, and harmful algal blooms (HABs). Presentation summaries can be found in the section entitled Plenary Presentations.
Publication Date
11-2022
Journal Title
February 2022
Document Type
Report
Recommended Citation
CRRC, "Greater Houston Area Bottlenose Dolphin Data Gaps" (2022). February 2022. 32.
https://scholars.unh.edu/crrc/32