Dolphin Days Premiers June 1st in the U.K.

Just a quick reminder to all of our friends in the United Kingdom. Tune into Animal Planet on Monday, June 1st, 7:30 pm for the first episode of Dolphin Days! This fantastic 8-episode series focuses on Dolphin Research Center's family pod and all of our activities, as well as on spotted dolphins that have been studied for 25 years in the Bahamas.

If you love dolphins and DRC, you definitely don't want to miss Dolphin Days!

Make sure to let us know if you watch it and what you think!

We Can't Get Enough of Molly and her Scarves!

Recently some DRC members brought two new scarves to Molly. We all know how she loves to swim around with them, and keeps her stash hidden in her lagoon. At the end of the session, the trainer asked Molly to find a present for her guests. She swam off and then returned wearing a scarf on each pectoral flipper and one draped across her rostrum! Two of her three accessories were the very ones that she’d just received! It’s like Miss Molly had to show her appreciation and model the newly acquired attire!

Peacock Meets Thor

A peacock surveys DRC, perched right next to our lightning detection/alert system.

In addition to dolphins and sea lions, various other animal species call DRC home. Tropical birds greet guests from their aviary while cats, iguanas, chickens and peafowl roam the grounds, frequently getting their pictures taken. Recently on a stormy morning one of the peacocks ventured up to the roof of one of our buildings, perhaps to get a true “bird’s eye view”. He probably didn’t realize that he perched right next to DRC’s lightning detection system, known as Thor. When storms travel into our area, the system detects when lightning strikes are close and emits an extremely loud alarm. For the safety of our guests and staff, we then temporarily halt our programs and go inside buildings.
Staff members report seeing the peacock was already in that position when the alert sounded. Much to our amazement, the ear-piercing alarm didn’t faze the bird! He remained up there for at least 45 minutes afterward! Perhaps we need to check his hearing??

We're on Facebook!

Dolphin Research Center has officially joined the Facebook nation! Join our fan page today. To find us, search Facebook for Dolphin Research Center. You might see different groups pop up. Several volunteers, interns or DolphinLab students created this to keep in touch with each other and other people who have spent time at DRC.

The official DRC page shows the above picture in its profile and is listed as non-profit type. Join up as a fan and share the information with your friends.

If you have any questions or aren't sure which Facebook page to join, let us know in comments and we'll do our best to help!

See you on Facebook!

Countdown to Dolphin Days!

DRC President Jayne Shannon Rodriguez (seated, left) and VP of Animal Care & Training Linda Erb discuss the DRC dolphins for Dolphin Days, produced by Athena Films, Ltd.

For all of you who live in the United Kingdom, we have exciting news! Dolphin Days, the fantastic new documentary series that focuses on Dolphin Research Center in every episode, is scheduled to begin airing in the U.K. on June 1st on Animal Planet!

Each episode provides an in depth look at the dolphins in the DRC family pod, the people who care for them, and the mission we achieve together. The show also takes you to the Bahamas to learn more about spotted dolphins that have been studied by Dr. Denise Herzing for over 25 years.

We've seen the first cuts and are excited that it is truly a wonderful series. We can't wait for you to see it, too. Right now, the only air dates we know are for the United Kingdom. We expect to learn dates for other parts of Europe, Asia, the Pacific Rim, etc. as time goes on.

Unfortunately, the United States has not yet aquired the series to air, but we're keeping our flippers crossed.

We hope you'll enjoy Dolphin Days. Please let us know what you think!

The Making of the Don't Feed Wild Dolphins PSA

Hi, Everybody,

Some time ago, we showed you the fantastic, animated PSA that urges people not to feed wild dolphins. Dolphin Research Center was heavily involved in the teamwork that brought this PSA into being. Tinsley Advertising, the agency that created the PSA, put together an interesting, fun "Making of" video. It includes a fascinating look at the animation process and also shows how our own Merina assisted the animation specialists.

Here it is!