These sightings add to our knowledge of bottlenose dolphin distribution in Virginia and will be disseminated to local planners, volunteers, libraries, and schools. Information will also be posted on the Internet by the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Summary This pilot project helped us assess the effectiveness of volunteer observers. We know that shore-based observation areas must be carefully chosen to create an observation area that includes potential dolphin habitat. The sighting data provided by this study expand our knowledge of dolphin occurrence and will be helpful to environmental planners.
Volunteers are a valuable research tool and can be utilized in large scale distribution research.
However, in order to determine where dolphins do not occur as well as where they are seen, we must be able to calculate the effort expended by volunteer observers. Furture studies may recruit volunteers to set up stationary boat-based observation stations where effort and area observed can be documented and compared from station to station. Data generated from this type of study may allow us to designate certain areas and times as high or low dolphin use areas. Such designations would further aid wildlife managers and environmental planners. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of NOAA or any of its subagencies.