HARBOR BRANCH - OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

FLIPPER'S OVERDUE PHYSICAL EXAMINATION

On Wednesday, Feb. 18, for the next event in the HARBOR BRANCH Ocean Science Lecture Series, marine mammal expert Dr. Gregory Bossart will explain the institution's current work to examine the health of Indian River Lagoon dolphins. This new 5-year program, which began last summer and is being performed under a special permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service, is the most comprehensive health assessment of Indian River Lagoon dolphins ever attempted. Its purpose is to identify the most serious health threats facing lagoon dolphins, such as pollutants and new emerging diseases, so that effective management plans to combat these problems can be designed. It was prompted by research observations of large numbers of as yet unexplained skin disorders and tumors in Indian River Lagoon dolphins as well as dolphin deaths caused by a variety of diseases such as hepatitis, meningitis, pneumonia, and central nervous systems disorders, some never before seen in dolphins. Dr. Bossart will describe the extraordinary logistic planning performed by HARBOR BRANCH's marine mammal staff and the cutting-edge technologies they have employed to successfully complete the project's first year. He will also briefly touch on preliminary results from the assessment.

Dr. Gregory Bossart came to HARBOR BRANCH in 2000 as director of the Marine Mammal Research and Conservation division. Overall, he has spent 24 years working in marine mammal and avian medicine and wildlife pathology. In addition to working with animals in Florida, Dr. Bossart is also a clinical veterinary consultant to a number of South and Central American Institutions and conducts conservation outreach programs in Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, Belize, and Guyana. He received his doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978, and a Ph.D. in comparative immunology from Florida International University in 1995.

For more information on the health assessment program, see: http://www.hboi.edu/news/press/jul1703.html

Dr. Bossart will give his talk, titled "The Indian River Lagoon Bottlenose Dolphin Health Assessment Program: 'Flipper' Gets and Overdue Physical Examination," at both 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 18 at the main auditorium of the Johnson Education Center at HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution, 5600 U.S. 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL. The talks are free to the public.

For more information, to arrange an interview, or to request photos or b-roll, please contact Mark Schrope at 772-216-0389 or schrope@hboi.edu.

Ocean Science Lecture Series 2004 Schedule - CLICK HERE for more information

January 14 - Shirley Pomponi - The Census of Marine Life: How Many Fish Are in the Sea?

January 21 - Ned Smith - The Indian River Lagoon System: Five Lagoons, Five Inlets, Five Sound Bites

January 28 - Mark & Diane Littler - Waterways & Byways of Indian River Lagoon

February 4 - Susan Sennett - Marine Chemical Ecology: Applications in Marine Drug Discovery

February 11 - John Scarpa - Clam Strips and Oyster Po'Boys: Florida Aquaculture and the Environment

February 18 - Greg Bossart - The Indian River Lagoon Bottlenose Dolphin Health Assessment Program: "Flipper" Gets an Overdue Physical Examination

February 25 - Tammy Frank - Do Fish See Color?

March 3 - Sarath Gunasekera - Search for Anti-cancer Drugs and Success Stories

March 10 - Ken Riley - Integrated Aquaculture Education: Food for Thought

March 17 - Brian Lapointe - Invasion of Green Tides

March 24 - Tracey Sutton - Predators of the Deep

HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution was founded in Ft. Pierce, Fla., in 1971 to support the exploration and conservation of the world's oceans. The institution has held to this mission and grown into one of the world's leading oceanographic institutions with a 500-acre campus, over 200 personnel, and a fleet of sophisticated research ships and submersibles.