

Rob Rector
MERR has officially launched its program that allows the public to symbolically "adopt," and potentially name, a dolphin that frequents local waters while also raising funds for the organization in its ongoing rescue and response for marine mammals and sea turtles.
Using Happywhale, a site dedicated to tracking cetaceans through dorsal fin and caudal fluke identification, representatives of MERR have been amassing hundreds of images to enter into the site from weekly trips out into the bay and ocean. Happywhale then uses its database to identify pervious images taken and lets viewers track activity from encounter to encounter. You can view MERR's site here where you can navigate around the map to view all the images included in the program.

Adopt-a-dolphin

With close to 1,000 images, MERR has worked with Happywhale to identify about 30 individual dolphins that visited the area. Participants in the program can choose from three levels for symbolic dolphin adoption.
One-year adoption for $25
One-year adoption with ability to "name" the dolphin for $125
Lifetime adoption with the ability to "name" the dolphin for $500
Each level of participation will receive a host of benefits, including:
A unique "Adoption Certificate"
An image of the dorsal fin of the selected dolphin
A "Proud Parent" sticker
A unique link to a site for your dolphin
A "Care and Feeding" fact sheet

The program has been in the works for the past few years as MERR naturalists and local citizen scientists have been amassing images on a weekly basis in the summers, sifting through hundreds of images to upload onto the site. From there, about seven artificial intelligent agents analyze the images and matches them with previous contributions from MERR as well as the thousands of others it receives from around the globe.
"By gathering information on these dolphins, we are able to not only see where they tend to reside while here, but we can now follow them when they travel and see their changes year after year," said MERR Executive Director Suzanne Thurman. "And with the adoption program, people can not play an active role in observations and gathering critical data with regard to their health and travel."
Funds raised from the adoption program will directly into MERR's operations, assisting with all the rescue, response and rehabilitation efforts for these creatures. "The program is such a unique opportunity to help the local dolphin population, learn about its behavior and connect with them on an even greater level," Thurman added.
For those interested in participating, visit the Adoption home page, select the particular dolphin and level of adoption and the items will be emailed to the recipient to follow along.