Sponges as Dolphin Tools

PLoS has an interesting research article on some Australian dolphins that use conical sponges to disturb the seafloor in an effort to locate prey.

New Dolphin Identified

A new paper presents evidence for a new species of cetacean, the Southern Australian bottlenose dolphin. (News source.) Species has not yet been described.

NG on Bolivian River Dolphin

NG has a brief note on the "new" species here.

Snubfin Dolphins Filmed

A group of the recently described snubfin dolphin was filmed off Australia's northwest coast. (News source.)

Genetic testing (via dart gun) is being done; there seems to be some speculation that this group may represent a new subspecies or even a new related species. (News source.)

Bolivian River Dolphin Recognized

After a census of river dolphins in the Orinoco and Amazon River basins, the Bolivian river dolphin has been officially recognized as a separate endemic species (Inia boliviensis). "The Bolivian species is smaller and a lighter grey in colour than the other species and has more teeth. It lives only in the Bolivian Amazon and is isolated from the other Amazon River dolphins, separated by a series of 18 rapids between Bolivia and Brazil." (News source.)

This species has been declared a Natural Heritage by the Prefecture of the Department of Beni (northeastern Bolivia), with recognition that immediate steps for conservation is needed. (News source.)

Killer Dolphins

Vacationers thought the dolphins were fishing for salmon, until they realized a small porpoise was being deliberately targeted and rammed. (News source.)

"Film taken of gangs of dolphins repeatedly ramming baby porpoises, tossing them in the air and pursuing them to the death has solved a long-term mystery of what causes the death of so many of these harmless mammals - but has left animal experts baffled as to the motive.
"Another mystery is that the animal 'murders' have only been reported in two parts of the world - along Scotland's East Coast and in America off the beaches of Virginia, where even more alarmingly, the victims were scores of the dolphins' own young."

Baiji Video

A Chinese man videotaped a large white animal that was swimming in the Yangtze river, central Ainhu province.

"Wang Kexiong, of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said experts at the institute had confirmed the footage was of a baiji."

The baiji, a river dolphin, was believed possibly extinct, as a recent survey failed to locate any. (News source.)

Lake Seminole Dolphins?

A freshwater lake with no real access to the ocean shouldn't have dolphins in it, but someone claims to have seen them in Florida's Lake Seminole. From the St. Petersburg Times:

"A reported sighting of three dolphins in Lake Seminole has city, county and state officials scratching their heads over what appears to be an impossibility for a landlocked, freshwater lake.
"The lake does have a weir for outflow, but even then 'there's just no possible way for a dolphin to fit in there,' said Kelli Levy, a Pinellas County environmental program coordinator.
"'They would have to swim through a few feet of water under Park Boulevard, then jump like 12 feet in the air over the weir. I can't think why they would want to do that.'
"Alternatively, Levy said, the dolphins could have been swept into the lake at 10015 Park Blvd. if a 'big, humongous hurricane' came along." ...
"Levy was responding to a plea for help from the city of Seminole, which received an anonymous e-mail last Thursday:
"'At the risk of sounding a little crazy, I would like to mention to someone in Seminole gov't. that at 8 am Wed. 1/31/07 I saw what appeared to be three dolphins swimming in the SW corner of Lake Seminole near Park Boulevard. My girlfriend saw them as well. I thought I should at least report it to someone and found this e-mail contact for Seminole.' It was signed 'Concerned Citizen.'
"A city official forwarded the note to Levy with this note:
"'Have you ever heard of dolphins in Lake Seminole? Is it possible for them to get through the weir from the bayou to the lake? Also, if this is true, we have a problem as these critters are saltwater tolerant.'
"Despite her doubts about the sighting, Levy reported the story to the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which dispatched biologist Ken Arrison to the lake in search of dolphins.
"Arrison spent four hours walking around the park Friday and saw 'a lot of humans and a lot of great birds, but no dolphins,' he said.
"If they're there, Arrison said, it's likely they'll be seen again because dolphins have to come up for air fairly frequently.
"Both Arrison and Levy hope 'Concerned Citizen' will contact them with more information. Thus far, he has not responded to requests for comment to his e-mail address from the city, county, state or Neighborhood Times.
"Levy suggested the couple might have mistaken grass carp for dolphin. Grass carp were put into the lake in the late 1990s to eat the grass.
"They reach 35 to 40 pounds and 'they kind of come to the surface and they kind of roll over,' she said.
"Arrison suggested the sighting may have been diving birds. When cormorants dive, he said, their backs will break the water.
"And perhaps, there's one more explanation, Arrison posited.
"'You never know, maybe Lake Seminole has its own Nessie,' he said, referring to the legendary Loch Ness Monster."

Another "dolphin" was reported from Florida's landlocked Gasparilla Lake in 2003. Unless and until better evidence is found, the carp theory is probably the best one right now.