Shore Alert Gives Biologist Timely Tally of Dolphins

At first glance, Jerry Velasquez and Ruby Martinez, wearing swimsuits and reclining in beach chairs, looked right at home Saturday among the sunscreen-basted bodies scattered around lifeguard tower 19 at Huntington State Beach.

But something here was different. Equipped with a tripod-mounted telescope, binoculars and a clipboard, they were watching for bottlenose dolphins, hoping to catch a glimpse of the playful mammals who frequent the shallow coastal waters off Southern California.

They were part of the most ambitious undertaking ever to count the number of near-shore bottlenose dolphins along a 232-mile stretch of coast from the Mexican border to Point Conception. About 200 volunteers stood on bluff tops, piers, jetties and lifeguard towers simultaneously for two hours Saturday in an effort to estimate the dolphin population.

The dolphin census was the brainchild of Orange County marine biologist Dennis Kelly, who contends that the first step to protecting the species is determining how many inhabit local waters. The mass sighting Saturday was the third but biggest Kelly has organized in the last year, and by day’s end it appeared it was the most successful.

Spotters, spaced about a mile apart along most of the Orange County and San Diego coast, reported seeing more than 130 dolphins in about 14 groups, or pods. Two research boats and a light plane were also used to help verify the on-shore sightings.

“We are very excited,” said Kelly, who has studied dolphins for a decade as a professor at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa and who formed the Coastal Dolphin Survey a year ago. “We had more people involved and more dolphins spotted than the previous attempts. The news is very encouraging.”

Kelly estimates that 550 to 600 of the slate gray bottlenose dolphins live off the Southern California coast.

Markings Studied

In recent years, Kelly and his research partner, Richard DeFran of the San Diego-based Cetacean Behavior Laboratory, have identified about 350 dolphins by photographing their dorsal fins. The scientists study the markings, nicks and scars on the dorsal fins to tell the animals apart.

Identifying the dolphins, Kelly said, is a key to understanding and protecting the fragile habitat, which is under increasing threats from pollution and heavy commercial boat traffic. Without knowing the dolphins’ population, he said, it will be hard to tell whether the species is thriving or dying.

Critics complain, however, that Kelly is simply trying to attract attention for his Marine Mammal Research Group at Orange Coast College. He acknowledges that his reliance on untrained volunteers to accurately identify bottlenose dolphins 200 yards offshore is not foolproof.

“But what’s the alternative?” Kelly said. “Nobody even studied the bottlenose dolphins until the mid-1970s, and now I’m worried the species is in trouble. At least we’re trying to do something positive.”

The dolphins along the Southern California coast are of the same species as those that washed onto beaches from New Jersey to Virginia last summer. Scientists blamed the deaths of more than 800 bottlenose dolphins on a common ocean bacteria, but they still do not know why the organism killed so many.

Matter of Survival

That’s why Genny Anderson, a marine biologist at Santa Barbara City College, and coordinator of the sighting effort in Santa Barbara, believes Kelly’s effort is so vital.

“This may shed some light on how bottlenose dolphins are surviving environmental jolts,” Anderson said.

Scientists are concerned that these dolphins would be the first to feel the negative results of man’s presence because of their proximity to the shore. The Common Dolphin, which number several thousand, and the Pacific Whiteside Dolphin, which are rarely seen, both live in outer waters.

In Santa Barbara on Saturday, Sherry Piatt, who owns the Blue Dolphin Cafe, watched for dolphins from her beachfront eatery. If nothing else, she said, “This project is going to bring attention to the plight of the dolphin and any attention is needed. They are the most valuable mammal left on this earth and they’re dwindling away.”

Not everybody who looked seaward Saturday spotted dolphins.

In Los Angeles County, 40 volunteers manned 17 posts from White’s Point north to Zuma Beach. But they managed to sight only one pod of dolphins, far off Point Vicente on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. “They aren’t commonly in Santa Monica Bay,” said Pat Petersen, an administrative assistant with the Oceanic Society. “Perhaps the pollution in the bay keeps them out.”

A Career Move

Ingri Quon, a San Diego High School senior, counted “kayakers, lots of boats and three jet skiers,” but no dolphins. Although a bit disappointed, the 17-year-old, who wants to become a marine biologist, seemed resigned to her results. “I’m going to be doing a lot of this,” she said.

In Huntington Beach, the scientific exercise ended on an up note for Velasquez and Martinez.

As they were nearing the end of their watch, preparing to pack it in, Velasquez shouted: “There’s one now!”

Martinez grabbed her binoculars and confirmed the sighting just beyond the surf line. Two more arrived, then a group of three. Several broke off from the main group and put on a show for the spotters, playing tag in the surf, then swimming in circles off the bow of a passing sailboat.

After waiting nearly two hours, the watchers had been rewarded.

“This is great!” Martinez exclaimed. “This made the wait worth it.”

Staff writers Rick Vanderknyff in Orange County, Joe Menn in San Diego, Paul Feldman in Los Angeles and Steven Elzer in Santa Barbara contributed to this story.