Little Dipper:
Drone-based
Eye in the Sky and
Ear in the Sea
Loggerhead Instruments and the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program created a drone-deployed video and underwater audio system to study Sarasota Bay’s bottlenose dolphins
Little Dipper:
Listening to a dolphin community
The Little Dipper was inspired by the U.S. Navy’s Big Dipper which "dipped" sonar transducers into the ocean from a hovering helicopter while searching for submarines. Using inexpensive drones instead of helicopters, and focused on studying marine mammal behavior, the Little Dipper was developed by Loggerhead Instruments in collaboration with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP).
The Little Dipper allows scientists to view and listen to members of the long-term resident Sarasota Bay bottlenose dolphin community, a group that has been extensively studied since 1970. The drone is equipped with GPS, a video camera, and an audio recorder attached to a long-cabled hydrophone. When a dolphin group is spotted, the drone hovers to deploy the hydrophone and then records synchronized underwater audio and video of the dolphins. This unique combination will allow SDRP researchers to stealthily observe undisturbed dolphins and link their unique vocalizations and environmental sounds to observed behaviors.
The Dolphins of Sarasota Bay
The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program conducts the longest-running study of a wild dolphin population in the world: 56+ years and counting. They know the signature whistles, fin markings, and family relationships of hundreds of bottlenose dolphins living in Sarasota Bay and vicinity, through six generations.
Loggerhead Instruments is proud to continue its long-standing collaboration with the SDRP team and its many partnering organizations.
Some of the dolphins studied by SDRP
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![Aya with her fourth calf in 2016.]()
Aya
Researchers not only have studied Aya and her offspring, they also know her maternal lineage going back three generations: she was born to Claire, who was born to Genie (named for Eugenie “Shark Lady” Clark), who was born to Granny. Learn more
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![Nicklo and other dolphins, observed in Sarasota Bay, 2012]()
Nicklo
67 at the time of her death, Nicklo was the oldest documented wild dolphin in the world. She was sighted more than 820 times. This image shows her with a daughter, grand-calf and another individual, Blacktip Doubledip, with whom she was frequently spotted. Learn more
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![Image of Squirt]()
Squirt
Squirt was tagged with a satellite-linked transmitter so that vets could monitor his health after an ultrasound showed issues resulting from a healed shark bite. Learn more
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![Image of Norman's distinctive dorsal fin]()
Norman
Norman was the first Sarasota Bay dolphin ever tagged (1970), and his strong bonds with other males was the first example of a strongly bonded male alliance, a fascinating feature of bottlenose dolphin social systems. Learn more
