Ginger The Dolphin Is Being Return By Mote Marine Aquarium To Her Family

By Emily Grimmer 

Sarasota, FL - After less than two months of treatment, “Ginger,” the bottlenose dolphin that stranded in December on Siesta Key, is expected to be released back to her home waters in Sarasota Bay between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 9, 2009. Sarasota Dolphin Research Program researchers have known Ginger since she was born.

Ginger (a Tursiops truncatus) has been treated at Mote’s Dolphin and Whale Hospital for pneumonia and gastro-intestinal problems since her Dec. 16, 2008, stranding. The National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), has approved the plan for Ginger’s release. NOAA is the federal agency that regulates the protection of wild dolphins, whales and porpoises, and the plans for rehabilitation and release of these animals.

Since Her Stranding 

Since Ginger’s stranding on Dec. 16, she has been cared for by a veterinary team and volunteers who have monitored her recovery around the clock. While staff has closely monitored and treated Ginger’s medical condition, volunteers have played an integral role in everything from keeping a close eye on her while she recovered to providing live fish — Ginger’s preferred food — for her to eat during her rehabilitation.

Rehab Facts:
• How Ginger got her name: “Ginger” is short for gingerbread, chosen because she stranded so close to the holidays.
• By the time Ginger is released, specially trained Mote volunteers will have spent 1,320 hours monitoring her condition, providing vital information to the medical team about her progress
• Ginger will have eaten nearly 4,000 pinfish — that’s 35 pinfish fed five times a day at about $1 per fish. Most of the fish have come from Hart’s Landing in Sarasota, which has gone to Herculean efforts to help supply Ginger with all the live food she needs. According to Mote research, pinfish are one of the main prey species for Sarasota’s dolphins.

Ginger’s Family History

We know a lot about Ginger’s life history because Sarasota Bay is home to the world’s longest-running study of a wild dolphin population. The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, a partnership between Mote and the Chicago Zoological Society, has been studying the lives of Sarasota’s 160-resident dolphins since 1970.

We know that:
• Ginger was born in 2005 and is now 3.5 years old
• Her mother is a dolphin known as F127
• She separated from her mother at the end of May 2008, just before her mother gave birth to another calf. Our studies have shown that dolphins typically stick with their moms for three to six years.
• Ginger’s mom, F127, is 13 years old
• Ginger was F127’s first calf
• Ginger’s grandmother is also a long-term resident of Sarasota Bay. Ginger’s grandmother is 50 years old and has been observed by researchers since 1975
• Since her birth, researchers have observed Ginger in the wild 129 times. She’s been observed from Longboat Pass south to Venice Inlet.

Release Location

One area Ginger seems to spend a good deal of time near the grassflats area behind the Sarasota Ski-A-Rees and Mote’s main Lab and Aquarium buildings. For that reason, she will be moved from the medical pool and transported across the street to the Chickee area behind the main Lab buildings and carried into the water. (See “Covering the Release” below)

Follow-up Monitoring after Ginger’s Release

One key aspect of Mote’s dolphin research and rehabilitation efforts is our ability to see how well our patients do after release. For offshore animals, that usually means attaching a satellite-linked tag and tracking a dolphin remotely. While this provides a wealth of very important information, it usually doesn’t allow us to see the animal with our own eyes.

In Ginger’s case, though, since she’s an animal that is already monitored by the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, we won’t need satellites. Instead, Ginger will be outfitted with a small VHF radio transmitter before she is released. This will allow researchers to use a radio signal to easily locate her and then visually monitor her as she re-acclimates to her normal habitat.

On Monday, once Ginger swims off on her own, the tracking team will use the transmitter to follow her movements and make sure she is behaving appropriately. Once they determine that she is doing OK, the team will return to Mote. A team will monitor Ginger daily for the two weeks following her release and at intervals during the one-to-three month battery life of her radio tag. The public can follow along by viewing these updates, which will be posted regularly to (www.mote.org/environmentalupdates).

How We Do It: Only With Help

While in our care, Ginger ate 22 to 25 pounds of fish a day. Medications and tests for sick animals can also be costly. Donations play a key role in supporting Mote’s ability to respond to injured and sick wild animals, bring them to our hospitals for treatment, monitor their conditions upon return to the wild and understand their lives in the wild. In order to bring the next animal like Ginger to Mote for recovery, treatment and release, we rely on reserves. If you would like to make a donation to help us rebuild our reserves following Ginger’s successful treatment and release so that we can respond to new animals, please contact Mote’s Development office at 941-388-4441, ext. 309.

About Mote Marine Laboratory
Founded in 1955, Mote Marine Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit marine research organization. It is dedicated to advancing the science of the sea through the study of marine and estuarine ecosystems, through the public Mote Aquarium and through an education division that provides unique programs for all ages.