The Bow Rider
JULY – SEPTEMBER 2026
The Quarterly Newsletter of the Galveston Bay Dolphin Research Program
Galveston Bay Foundation is pleased to share The Bow Rider, the Galveston Bay Dolphin Research Program‘s (GDRP) quarterly newsletter. Thank you for your interest in our research!
A Splashy Overview
This quarter was a fieldwork marathon! In addition to our routine population monitoring photo-identification surveys, we completed the third year of fieldwork for the RESTORE Science Program Dolphin Multiple Stressors Assessment and the second year of fieldwork for the Passive Health Assessment of Sea Mammals (PHASM) project. Thus, our field efforts were greater than usual.
In total, we conducted 33 surveys (1,616km of linear effort; 124hrs of observation), resulting in 204 group sightings of nearly 1,500 dolphins! Watch our video for a glimpse into a typical day on a dolphin boat survey.
July through September 2026. Please note that sightings are more numerous relative to other quarters because of the additional field effort conducted in upper Bay as part of the PHASM and RESTORE projects.
You may have noticed on the sighting map that we had quite a few dolphin sightings in Trinity Bay. We don’t survey this area frequently during regular GDRP monitoring, but we did during RESTORE surveys. It was an exciting opportunity for our team to document dolphin activity in a less industrialized area of the Bay, including fast traveling, leaping, and socializing!
Tail slapping is a behavior observed in many dolphin populations, but Galveston Bay dolphins show off with a unique twist to this behavior. A dolphin will swim for a long time on its back, upside down in the water, while repeatedly slapping its tail on the water’s surface. Dolphins here also display “normal” upright tail slapping, a behavior often used for communication with group members or even boaters. The purpose of the upside-down tail slap is unclear, though it appears to be a social behavior. We have documented this behavior in Galveston Bay for over a decade (see our April 2017 newsletter) and observed multiple dolphins upside-down tail slapping this quarter – we even captured a video of one!
Foraging
We got a rare aerial glimpse of “swirling” behavior that can be seen from the surface when a dolphin chases a school of fish! In the video, you can see the dolphin spinning around, chasing the fish just under the water’s surface.
We also witnessed multiple instances of confirmed feeding, where we saw dolphins with fish in their mouths or tossing fish through the air!
Have you seen dolphins in Galveston Bay or surrounding waters?
Please tell us about it by filling out our sighting form. This is an easy and effective way to notify the GDRP about when and where you have seen dolphins. Always follow dolphin safe viewing guidelines.
News & Updates
In July, the GDRP team joined Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) for another session of testing the new PHASM (Passive Health Assessment of Sea Mammals) drone system for collecting dolphin blow samples. This summer, we spent 13 days surveying in upper Galveston Bay (59hrs, 647km) for this project. The effort resulted in 51 group sightings (541 dolphins) and the collection of 22 potentially viable blow samples.
As with any new method, each day brought new challenges, with the crew growing more practiced and efficient along the way. By the end of the two-week field session, we had become increasingly precise and adept at timing PHASM’s approach, allowing us to stealthily catch a dolphin’s breath as they went about their business in the Bay.
One of the more memorable moments was when the drone pilot exclaimed that there was dolphin snot on the camera lens after a perfectly timed approach with adopted dolphin Heidi (#235)! We look forward to sharing the results with you as these samples are processed. To learn more about the development of PHASM, check out the newly published paper in Aquatic Mammals – congratulations to Daniel Gassen for all his hard work building this impressive drone!
August brought the second field session of the RESTORE Science Program Multiple Stressors Assessment Project “Capture-Mark-Recapture” photo-identification fieldwork, following the initial effort in August 2024. During this operation, we aimed to obtain the clearest possible “snapshot” of every dolphin currently using the Galveston Bay estuary. These data will enable the estimation of dolphin survival rates.
This ambitious field effort involved four vessels with professional field crews from three organizations (GDRP, Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and National Marine Mammal Foundation), plus the help of four dedicated citizen science volunteers. From August 10-17, the four boats logged a combined 207 hours on the water, covering almost 3,000km and documenting 1,488 dolphins in 233 group sightings – an impressive feat accomplished while dodging thunderstorms and enduring temperatures above 100 degrees!
Each year, our involvement in this project reminds us of the extraordinary power of scientific collaboration, and we remain immensely grateful to all of our partners for helping to advance the understanding and conservation of Galveston Bay dolphins!
We are happy to welcome two new team members!
We are thrilled to share that Lauryn Fly, one of our most dedicated volunteers, is continuing her involvement with the GDRP as a Graduate Student Research Assistant with Texas A&M University at Galveston. Lauryn began her work with the GDRP as a Research Student Intern in 2023-2024, when she completed a project on dolphin scar types. Lauryn is now working toward her master’s degree in the Foroughirad Lab at TAMUG, focusing on Galveston Bay dolphin adaptive foraging techniques. She also continues to volunteer as a Shift Lead at our Dolphin Research and Outreach Station.
This September, we welcomed Rheannan Salido as an Undergraduate Research Assistant. Like Lauryn, Rheannan is part of the Foroughirad Lab at TAMUG, and she will be assisting with the processing of photo identification data for the GDRP catalog. Rheannan started with the GDRP as a volunteer at our Dolphin Research and Outreach Station earlier this summer, and we are excited about her growing involvement and contributions.
We were sad to say goodbye this quarter to our summer Research Assistant, Ellie Maus, and intern, Trinity Chenevert. Ellie helped us tremendously with fieldwork, both on the boat and at our Dolphin Research and Outreach Station at Seawolf Park. Her and Trinity worked on photo analysis throughout the summer. Ellie is returning to Florida to continue dolphin research there, and Trinity is continuing her degree at Lee College. Good luck, Ellie and Trinity!
Left: Ellie Maus. Right: Trinity Chenevert.
We are delighted to welcome a new addition to the GDRP family! Melanie Rogers, our fieldwork coordinator, welcomed her first son, Luke Thomas Rogers, on August 30th at 3:30 PM. Although we really missed Melanie on the boat during the intensive RESTORE fieldwork, she had the very best reason to be away. Congratulations, Melanie!
Adoptee Highlights
Don’t miss out! Adopt or name a dolphin to join our Dolphin Society and receive exclusive updates about individual dolphins. Your support goes directly to the Galveston Bay Dolphin Research Program.
The holidays are approaching! Our dolphin adoption kits are a unique and meaningful gift. Angelique (#39) was recently sighted with her calf and is one of six dolphins available for adoption during the holidays.
What YOU want to know…
“What is the difference between Texas dolphins and Florida dolphins?”
Dolphins in Texas and Florida are similar, but how similar, exactly, is an important and complicated question. This is an evolving topic in marine mammal taxonomy, particularly when comparing Gulf bottlenose dolphins to bottlenose dolphins found on the east coast of Florida.
A new species of bottlenose dolphin along the U.S. Atlantic coast was described in 2022 as Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphin (scientific name is Tursiops erebennus). Costa et al. (2022) concluded that near-shore Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (i.e., Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins) are significantly different from offshore Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (scientific name is Tursiops truncatus, the same as all bottlenose dolphins living in the Gulf).
Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins tend to be smaller, have more flexible vertebral columns, different skull shapes, and one extra tooth. These traits may be adaptations to life in smaller, coastal habitats (Costa et al., 2022).
Bottlenose dolphins in Galveston Bay, Texas (left) and St. Johns River, Florida (right). Can you tell the difference between these two dolphins?
The only cetacean species currently found in Galveston Bay is the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). This species lives in both nearshore/bay habitats and offshore Gulf habitats. However, our understanding of Galveston Bay dolphins is growing. Future analyses of Gulf bottlenose dolphins could yield a distinction like what Costa et al. (2022) found on the Atlantic coast.
The question of whether Texas and Florida dolphins are different can’t be answered with a “yes” or “no” because we don’t know yet. More research is needed to determine the full geographic range of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins and whether they could also be found along the Gulf or Caribbean coasts.
If you are curious about other dolphin species and recent discoveries in the field, the Society for Marine Mammalogy’s List of Marine Mammal Species and Subspecies is a comprehensive list with related information.
If you have a question regarding GDRP, Galveston Bay dolphins, or dolphin biology, please submit your question using the button below.
Thank You to Our Collaborators!
Thank you to all of our individual supporters, sponsors, and partners, who make this work possible! We are grateful for your continued support.
All activities are conducted under a NMFS Scientific Research Permit.
Galveston Bay Foundation
1725 Highway 146
Kemah, TX 77565
(281) 332-3381
