BAY SIGHTINGS OUR RESEARCH OUR TEAM DONATE SUPPORTERS Photos & Videos
How often bottlenose dolphins come into Chesapeake Bay? How long do they spend here? What areas of the Bay are they using and why?
A team at University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL) developed the Chesapeake DolphinWatch app, which engages the public to help answer these questions surrounding dolphins in the Chesapeake Bay. The app has now surpassed over 13,000 registered users, all members of the community helping UMCES scientists learn more about these incredible Chesapeake Bay mammals.
Members of the public can report dolphin sightings in real time. This observation network provides information on dolphin distribution and local residents are encouraged to learn about these animals and their environment through participating in this research project.
Report your dolphin sightings to Chesapeake DolphinWatch!
Join 13,000 DolphinWatchers in and around Chesapeake Bay by signing up and logging into the app via iPhone, Android, or the ChesapeakeDolphinWatch website.
Once you’re logged in you can view the locations of recent and past dolphin sightings on a map as well as images DolphinWatchers have submitted. By tracking the occurrence of dolphins and their movements, we’ll gain a better understanding of how bottlenose dolphins use the Bay and how to protect them in our local waters.
How to use the Chesapeake DolphinWatch app
Here is what we have learned from your sighting reports.
Since launching the wildly popular app, Chesapeake DolphinWatch, in 2017 we put together a brief summary of what we learned from your sighting reports each year.
Click here to see the two-page summary.In May 2022 we surpassed 10,000 registered app users.
You can learn more about DolphinWatch. Watch DolphinWatch founder Helen Bailey's presentation about the program during the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory's Science for Citizens series, and listen as she discusses the first summer of the project.Thank you for all of your support!
Fifth anniversary Chesapeake DolphinWatch book
As a thank you to DolphinWatchers and a celebration of what we have learned about dolphins in the Chesapeake Bay from sighting reports, we created a Chesapeake DolphinWatch - Dolphins of the Chesapeake Bay photo book. We do not receive any commission from the sale of the book, but all donations go towards our dolphin research and providing copies of the book to schools and public libraries around the Chesapeake Bay.
Thank you for your support!
Since launching in June 2017, we have more than 7,000 users registered to use the Chesapeake DolphinWatch app and reported over 3,500 dolphin sightings. You don't need to see dolphins to help Chesapeake Bay science. Your generous donation can help us learn more about dolphins in the Chesapeake Bay by covering costs to maintain the dolphin sightings app and database, allowing us to to make upgrades to the app to help your experience in this volunteer science project.
This is a program of the University System of Maryland Foundation. All gifts are tax-deductible to the extent of the law. No goods or services were exchanged for contributions made.
 |
 |
 |
 |