The Bottlenose Dolphin

By American Cetacean Society
September 18, 2009

CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Cetacea
SUBORDER: Odontoceti
FAMILY: Delphinidae
GENUS: Tursiops
SPECIES: Truncatus

The bottlenose dolphin is perhaps one of the most well known cetaceans, because of its widespread use in marine parks and research facilities. The bottlenos dolphin may be best known as “Flipper” (as seen in the television series). This is the dolphin most frequently seen along the shores of the United States. This species is very flexible in its behavior.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:

This is a relatively robust dolphin with a usually short and stubby beak – hence the name “bottlenose“. The bottlenose dolphin (like the beluga) has more flexibility in its neck than other oceanic dolphins, because 5 of the 7 neck vertebrae are not fused together as in the other oceanic dolphins. There are 18-26 pairs of sharp, conical teeth in each side of its jaw.

COLOR:

The color of the bottlenose dolphin varies considerably, but generally this dolphin is light gray to slate gray on the upper part of the body shading to lighter sides and pale, pinkish gray on the belly.

FINS AND FLUKE:

The dorsal fin is high and falcate (curved) and located near the middle of the back. The flukes are broad and curved with a deep median notch. The flippers are of moderate length and pointed.

Length and Weight:

Adult length is from 8-12 feet (2.5-3.8 m). These dolphins may weigh as much as 1,430 pounds (650 kg) off Great Britain, though most are much smaller in other parts of the world. Males are significantly larger than females.

Feeding:

Feeding behaviors are diverse, primarily involving individual prey capture, but sometimes involving coordinated efforts to catch food, feeding in association with human fishing, and chasing fish into mudbanks. An adult bottlenose dolphin may consume 15-30 pounds (8-15 kg) of food each day. Bottlenose dolphins eat a wide variety of food, including primarily fishes, and sometimes squid, and crustaceans.

Mating and Breeding:

Males reach sexual maturity at about 10 years. Females reach sexual maturity at about 5-10 years. The gestation period is 12 months. Calving can take place year-round with peaks in some areas during spring and fall. Calves nurse for over a year (12-18 months), and stay with their mothers for 3-6 years learning how to catch fish and other important tasks.

Distribution and Migration:

Bottlenose dolphins are found worldwide in temperate and tropical waters, absent only from 45 degrees poleward in either hemisphere. They are frequently seen in harbors, bays, lagoons, estuaries, and river mouths. There appear to be two ecotypes: a coastal form and an offshore form. Population density appears to be higher nearshore. Biochemical studies now are providing more information about the relationship within and between the ecotypes. In some areas, dolphins have limited home ranges; in others, they are migratory. A second species Tursiops aduncus, inhabits the Indian Ocean.

Natural History:

Based on a number of studies of nearshore populations, bottlenose dolphins seem to live in relatively open societies. Mother and calf bonds and some other associations may be strong, but individuals may be seen from day-to-day with a variety of different associates. Group size is often less than 20 nearshore; offshore groups of several hundred have been seen. Much of what we know of the general biology of dolphins comes from studies of bottlenose dolphins, both in captivity and in the wild.

Status:

The bottlenose dolphin is protected in U.S. waters by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Bottlenose dolphins are still generally plentiful in numbers, but are near depletion in some areas. Both incidental and direct exploitation of bottlenose dolphins are known to occur, generally at low to moderate levels. The largest direct kills have traditionally been in the Black Sea, where Russian and Turkish hunters apparently have reduced local populations. Bottlenose dolphins are accidentally caught in a variety of fishing gear, including gillnets, purse seiners used to catch tuna, and shrimp trawls. These dolphins also are occasional victims of harpoon and drive fisheries. Live captures of bottlenose dolphins for captivity have had effects on some local dolphin populations in the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern United States, but no commercial live captures have occurred in the U.S. since the 1980’s. Bottlenose dolphins are vulnerable to pollution, habitat alteration, boat collisions, human feeding of and swimming with wild animals, and human disturbance (such as boating). Several die-offs of bottlenose dolphins have occurred. Retrospective analysis of tissues of dolphins that died in 1987-1988 during a large die-off (approximately 800-1,000 dolphins) on the Atlantic U.S. coast indicates that mortality may have been caused by a morbillivirus. This virus has been linked to dies-offs of Gulf of Mexico bottlenose dolphins as well. Dolphins with disease symptoms appeared to have elevated levels of PCB’s, leading researchers to conclude that pollutants may be playing a role in these events. Preliminary evidence from other studies show links between contaminant residues in tissues and impaired immune system function.

Bibliography:

• Wells, R.S. and M.D. Scott. 2002. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus and T. aduncus). Pp. 122-128 In: W.F. Perrin, B. Wusig, and J.G.M. Thewissen, eds., Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
• Reynolds, J.E. III, R.S. Wells, and S.D. Eide. 2000. The Bottlenose Dolphin: Biology and Conservation. University Press of Florida. 289 pp.
• Connor, R.C., R.S. Wells, J. Mann, and A.J. Read. 2000. The bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops spp: Social Relationships in a fission-fusion society. Pp 91-126 In: J. Mann, R.C. Connor, P.L. Tyack, and H. Whitehead, eds., Cetacean Societies: Field Studies of Dolphins and Whales. University of Chicago Press. 433 pp.
• Wells, R.S. and M.D. Scott. 1999. Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821). Pp 137-182 In: S.H. Ridgway and R. Harrison (eds.), Handbook of Marine Mammals, Vol. 6, the Second Book of Dolphins and Porpoises. Academic Press. San Diego, CA. 486 pp.

Acknowledgements:

• We greatly appreciate the knowledge and assistance of Randall S. Wells, Conservation Biologist, Chicago Zoological Society and Dagmar Fertl, Biologist, Minerals Management Service, U.S. Department of Interior.
• Illustrations courtesy Uko Gorter, copyright© 2006, 2006 all rights reserved.

Source  American Cetacean Society

Editor’s Note: We want to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

JUAN BATALLA

Case Type: Family Abduction
DOB: Jun 8, 2001	Sex: Male
Missing Date: Dec 6, 2007	Race: Hispanic
Age Now: 8	Height: 3’9″ (114 cm)
Missing City: MEMPHIS	Weight: 57 lbs (26 kg)
Missing State : TN	Hair Color: Black
Missing Country: United States	Eye Color: Brown
Case Number: NCMC1127667
Circumstances: Juan was last seen on December 6, 2007. He may be in the company of his father. They are believed to be in Mexico. Juan’s nickname is Juanito.

Missing Kids

Patient of the week – Ellen Taylor

By St. Jude/PIO
Sept. 17, 2009

5 years old

Diagnosis:

Ellen was found to suffer from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in February 2008.

Ellen’s Story:

The mother of 3-year-old Ellen was plagued with worry over her daughter’s swollen lymph nodes, even though doctors repeatedly told her it was nothing.

They insisted the bumps on Ellen’s head and neck were caused by a simple infection. But after three months of taking antibiotics with no improvement, Ellen’s primary care doctor examined the bump on her head and said, “It’s not good. I don’t know what this is, but we need to get it off.” The doctor sent them immediately to the local children’s hospital, where the family was devastated to learn their little girl had non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The doctor referred Ellen to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

At St. Jude:

Ellen’s mom remembered how terrified she and her husband were when they arrived to St. Jude. “We were at the security gate, and you could see the devastation on our faces. The security guard put his hand on my husband’s and said, ‘You are in the right place.’”

Doctors immediately placed Ellen on a two-and-a-half-year protocol of chemotherapy. The treatment is tough, but Ellen has been brave.

Ellen’s mom says there are two miracles at St. Jude: the cures the hospital provides and the beautiful people she’s met during this experience with her daughter—people like the doctors and nurses who care for her daughter, as well as the volunteers and donors who give so generously to St. Jude.

Darlene, a nurse in the medicine room, knows how much Ellen hates shots—but also knows how much she loves the Wizard of Oz. So when Ellen gets her chemotherapy shots, they hold hands and repeat, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” Ellen’s mom said these small acts of kindness mean the world to their family.

Ellen is responding well to treatment, and her prognosis is good. Ellen loves cooking with her dad and playing dress up. She also loves to sing, and she knows all the words to “The Star Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful.”‘

Source: St. Jude

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

Officer of the week – Police Officer John D’Allara

Remember September 11, 2001
Angels Among Us

Police Officer John D’Allara
Shield 4011
ESS-2
September 15,2001

Police Officer John D’Allara
Shield 4011
ESS-2
(recovered)

John D’Allara, a member of the New York Police Department’s emergency service office in Harlem, was a rescue specialist on the scene at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. During his 14 years on the job, he pried, cajoled or otherwise extracted a broad array of life forms from danger, dealing with a menagerie of exotic animals. Spider monkeys. Bats. Squirrels. One time, he saved an iguana. But he helped plenty of people, too.

“One time, we had a kid trapped in an elevator, with his head trapped between a beam and the elevator,” said Sgt. Lee Hom, who worked with Officer D’Allara for five years in the late 1980’s and early 90’s. “He kept the kid calm, and we got him out.”

A physical education teacher before he joined the Police Department, Officer D’Allara, 47, who lived with his wife and two sons, Johnny, 7, and Nicholas, 3, in Rockland County, intended to go back to teaching. “He loved the Police Department,” said his brother, Dan. “But he was counting his paychecks to retirement.” – The New York Times 1/29/2002

Source: NYP Angels

Firefighter of the week Dep. Chief SOC Raymond M Downey

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
Sept. 15, 2009

Firefighter to the Core
Raymond M. Downey was the battalion chief in charge of special operations in the New York City Fire Department.

Here’s his son, Chuck, a fire lieutenant: “Dad joined the Fire Department on April 7, 1962. Coming on in the 60’s, they went to a lot of fires. The war years, they termed it. In 1995 he was assigned to Special Operations Command, SOC is the acronym, as chief of rescue operations. . . .

“He was on the Gilmore Commission to fight domestic terrorism. No one’s going to see it all, but I don’t think anyone thought of the World Trade Center. . . .

“When the south tower went down, there was a lot of Maydays. He survived. A lot of the top brass did. These are all guys with 30- plus years. They went back in. There were two young firemen, he told them, not in the nicest language, to get out of here.”

Here’s Chief Downey’s daughter, Marie Tortorici: “Mommy, Rosalie, is Italian. Daddy’s Irish. He would have been 64 on Sept. 19. He’s very spiritual. He was in Oklahoma City after the bombing. Gov. Keating gave him a set of rosary beads. He wore them every day. Well, they broke, and he kept them in his pocket. He had them with him, because they’re not home. . . .

“When I was a little girl, he was working three jobs to support the family, and he was always too busy to come to the school to do fire prevention week. Last year, when my daughter was in first grade, he went to the school for fire prevention week. I don’t know. It’s so sad, everything. But a good thing came out of this. My sister, my father called her the baby, we just found out she’s pregnant. So she felt like it was a blessing from my father.”
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 22, 2001.

DOWNEY-Raymond. Of Deer Park, LI, FDNY-Deputy Chief of Special Operations Command, heroically in the line of duty at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, a week before his 64th birthday. Beloved husband of Rosalie (nee Princiotta). Loving and adored father of Joseph and Lynn, Marie and Girolamo Tortorici, Chuck and Melissa, Ray and Christine, Kathy and Brian Ugalde. Cherishd poppy of Gina Marie, Nicolette Rose, Peter Raymond, Joseph James, Connor Joseph, Olivia Faith and Kayla Rae. A dear brother to Eugene, Thomas and the late Joseph and Alice Routledge. Dear brother-in-law of Eileen Downey, Jean Downey and Sal Princiotta. Survived by many loving nieces and nephews and cherished family and friends. Memorial viewing at the Claude R. Boyd-Caratozzolo Funeral Home, 1785 Deer Park Ave, Deer Park, NY, on Thursday and Friday from 2-5 PM and 7-9:30 PM. A memorial mass will be held at St. Cyril and Methodius, RC Church at 11:00 AM on Saturday, December 15th. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his loving memory to the Deputy Chief, Raymond Downey Scholarship – Charity Fund (D.C.R.D.S.C Fund) 7 Bardish Lane, Babylon, NY 11702.

Paid notice published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 13, 2001.

Source Legacy

Soldier of the Week- Marine 1st Sgt. Paul Archie

by Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
Sept. 14, 2009

Editor’s Note:
Hometown: Dallas, TX, NJ
Awarded: Bronze Star

A year ago, many people fretted that Iraq’s Anbar province was lost. Yet since then progress has come at an almost unthinkable pace, the results of principled and dangerous work by Marines working with locals. As the top enlisted Marine in his company, 1st Sgt. Archie provided consistent leadership in battle from August 2006 through February 2007, a key period of the turnaround in Anbar.

In October of last year, insurgents launched a brazen attack on his company’s base: mortars, rockets, AK-47’s, and a suicide bomber driving a truck. Archie coordinated the defense of the base by setting up fortifications on six rooftops and sending out Humvees to block roads from incoming insurgents. Under constant and heavy fire, he moved throughout the battlefield, making sure his Marines had everything they needed. He also successfully oversaw the evacuation of two wounded Marines from the fight. Archie is largely credited for the defense of the base during the intense hour-long fight.

That was not 1st Sgt. Archie’s only encounter with insurgents: His company saw combat all over Anbar during the seven-month deployment. In all, Archie undertook more than 200 combat missions and guided his company through more than 100 engagements with the enemy. Archie estimated that in many areas, there was a 50 percent chance his unit would face an Improvised Explosive Device attack.

For his leadership, dedication, and courage, 1st Sgt. Archie received the Bronze Star with the Combat Distinguishing Device at Camp Lejeune on July 30, 2007.

Editor’s Note:

Hometown: Dallas, TX, NJ

Awarded: Bronze Star

We would like to know what you think? dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

Source: Our Military

Wish of the Week – Brenda

By MWF/PIO
Sept.15. 2009

Because of her battle with cerebral palsy, 7-year-old Brenda uses a communicative device to interact with others. She made it clear to her wish granters that her one true wish was to go on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas. Once aboard the Disney Wonder, there were characters everywhere Brenda turned. She could not believe she was really there. The Broadway-style shows were entertaining, the Mickey Mouse pool was refreshing and the sunsets were breathtaking. Brenda was mesmerized by her dolphin encounter as she pet and hugged her new friend. Every night, Brenda tried her hardest not to sleep because she wanted to keep having fun.

Brenda’s Disney Cruise continues to inspire her months after returning from her dream vacation. Her mother said, “Her wish really made an impact. It was a life experience for her. Brenda is expressing herself better and being more independent.” The other morning, she woke up saying “Mickey’s boat” over and over. She has a scrapbook and often goes and gets the album to revisit the fun she had with Captain Mickey on his big red boat.

Brenda’s mother said, “Every detail was thoughtful. All the words I can say but ‘thank you’ is not enough!”

Wish Granters: Michelle Del Valle & Andrea Liscano
Referred by: her mother
Sponsored by: Palm Beach Sailfish Classic & Village Tavern

Source: Make A Wish Foundation

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

Arnold R Stavis | Sexual Predator | Miami Beach, FL

Arnold R Stavis

DOB:

09/22/1949

Reported Address:

1555 NE 181ST ST Miami Beach,Florida

Additional Information:

Predator Flyer

Curtis Leroy Dickerson | Sexual Predator | MIAMI, FL

Curtis Leroy Dickerson

DOB:

11/21/1960

Reported Address:

7843 NE 10th Ave Apt 1 Miami,Florida

Additional Information:

Predator Flyer

Derrick Steven Matthews | Sexual Predator | Miami, FL

Derrick Steven Matthews

DOB:

12/16/1976

Reported Address:

7851 Dunham Blvd Apt 6 Miami,Florida

Additional Information:

Predator Flyer

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