Wild AmeliaPress Release
Kathy Brooks
904-277-4507
[email protected]
January 30, 2017 12:00 p.m.
An update on “Jacksonville’s Urban Dolphins” once again will be the topic of Wild Amelia’s Wild Nite on Tuesday, February 14, at 7 p.m. at the Peck Center Auditorium, 516 S. 10th Street in Fernandina Beach. The guest speaker will be Dr. Quincy Anne Gibson of the University of North Florida whose previous presentations at Wild Nites have made her a favorite of audiences. She will be sharing information from the dolphin behavioral ecology research program which has focused on male alliances and female calving rates and talking a bit about “Dolphin Love” on this Valentine’s night program.
Since 2011, researchers at UNF have been collecting weekly photo-identification and behavioral surveys of bottlenose dolphins in the St. Johns River and have identified over 300 individuals using the dorsal fins for identification. Dr. Gibson will update the audience on what new information has been learned about dolphin behavior and ecology in this past year. This program is free and open to the public.
Dr. Gibson, an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department of UNF, received a Bachelors of Science degree in biology and psychology from the University of Maryland and a Doctorate in Biology from Georgetown University. For this doctorate, Dr. Quincy did research on the social development of wild dolphin calves in Shark Bay, Australia. She served as the Research Director for the Pacific Whale Foundation and led research on humpback whales in Hawaii, Australia, and Ecuador. In 2010, she joined UNF’s Coastal Biology Flagship Program as a visiting researcher, established the university’s dolphin research program, and officially joined UNF’s biology faculty in December 2012.
Come and learn about new and local research on the bottlenose dolphins in waters near Amelia Island. This Wild Nite is one in a series of nine monthly nature forums sponsored by Wild Amelia, and leading up to the 11th annual Wild Amelia Nature Festival, May 19-21 at locations on and around Amelia Island. Wild Amelia is an all-volunteer non-profit whose mission is to educate residents and visitors about the wildlife and wild places of Amelia Island. For more information about Wild Amelia and its year-round programs, please visit www.wildamelia.org and Wild Amelia on Facebook.