Tracking tags might tell just how far dolphin wander

Don Hammond already knew dolphin trek long distances darting about for food while riding the Gulf Stream.

Just how many miles they log, and the exact route they take, remains a mystery.

A few high-dollar satellite tracking devices could change all that, creating a virtual itinerary for dolphin like the 3- to 4-foot bull tagged off Charleston in June and recovered Wednesday off Venezuela at 26 pounds.

If the fish rode the Gulf Stream and then veered off and headed for the Caribbean, then that's a journey of about 2,400 miles. If it stopped to chase food or simply took a few unexpected turns — also completely likely —the dolphin might have covered 5,000 miles.

"Honestly, I thought (dolphin) just went up and down the coast," said Stevie Leasure, a James Island angler whose boat "Summer Girl" was used to tag the dolphin. "That's way the heck out there."

Every year brings new data for Hammond, a marine researcher, on how deep dolphin are willing to dive and where they end up. But this year could offer the biggest revelations yet.

He expects to implant six fish with satellite tracking devices. Once the device releases from the fish and resurfaces to the ocean surface, the data is transmitted to Hammond's computers. Then he'll know whether the dolphin took a direct route along the Gulf Stream or got sidetracked for days chasing food or hanging around a warm-water eddy, a large whirling offshoot of the Gulf Stream.

"I really see these fish as key to understanding larger fish," said Hammond, who runs the privately funded, nonprofit Cooperative Science Services LLC from his home on James Island.

Hammond caught his first dolphin at age 21 while trolling, and he fell in love with the fight. During his 35-year career with the state's Department of Natural Resources, Hammond focused on teaching South Carolina anglers how to be fish-friendly. In 2002, he helped kick off a dolphin- tagging program and began making it a success.

Before Hammond, no one studied dolphin this closely, mostly because the federal government doesn't recognize it as an overfished species requiring strict protection.

When Hammond worked for the state, about 5,000 dolphin were tagged and 116 recaptured. He also confirmed then that dolphin travel long distances. One recovered dolphin in particular traveled 2,500 miles from Charleston to the Azores islands in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. Others are found in the Caribbean Sea, a southern locale few expected them to visit.

"If you were to ask 100 fishermen in Florida, 'Does a dolphin go south?' Out of 100, then 99 would say 'No way,' " said Jack Riedel, president of the Central Florida Offshore Anglers. "The belief was they would always go north, they get big and they die."

Hammond retired from the state in 2006 and decided to carry on the research.

For months, he has wanted to purchase the satellite tracking devices, which cost $5,500 apiece.

Riedel expects to help Hammond implant one of the first devices. He hopes Hammond's research provides facts on migrating and feeding habits so regulators in the future don't make "knee-jerk" reactions on what size and number of fish can be kept.

Hammond said his dolphin research could shed light on all pelagic fish — species such as billfish and tuna that cruise the open waters.

"All of those fish prey on dolphin," Hammond said.

And they go where dolphin go.

Coryphaena hippurus

COMMON NAME: Dolphin

STOMPING GROUNDS: Ocean waters from Massachusetts to the Florida Straits, in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean down to Brazil. They like the warm oceanic waters of the Western Atlantic where surface temperatures exceed 70 F.

LIFESTYLE: School size decreases as the fish grows. Later, large males, commonly called bulls, take on a solitary, nomadic life.

WHERE TO FIND THEM LOCALLY: Off the coast of South Carolina, dolphin are present virtually year-round in the warm waters of the Gulf Stream 60-75 miles offshore but are at peak abundance April through July. As shallower waters warm in the summer, the fish move closer to shore and have been found within 10 miles of the coast.

To help

Don Hammond founded Cooperative Science Services, LLC to continue the dolphin research project the state started in 2002. With every tagged dolphin recovered, anglers are learning more about how far the fish travel and how long it takes them to get there.

With the help of satellite tracking devices, Hammond also monitors the depths dolphin reach, shedding new light on their feeding habits.

It costs $5,500 for one device and satellite time to use it, a price Hammond considers steep for a nonprofit organization operating on an annual budget of $56,000. The program is funded through private donations.

Anglers interested in funding the project or tagging fish for the program, and those who recapture a tagged dolphin, should contact:

DON HAMMOND

Cooperative Science Services, LLC

961 Anchor Road

Charleston, SC 29412-4902

843-795-7524

CSSLLC@bellsouth.net

dolphintagging.com

Reach Andrew Lyons at alyons@postandcourier.com or 937-4799.