Literary Exploration of the Barataria Bay Disaster: Saving Bottlenose Dolphins in the Face of Catastrophe

Dzierba, Samantha

Literary Exploration of the Barataria Bay Disaster: Saving Bottlenose Dolphins in the Face of Catastrophe

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10456/59153

Author(s)

Dzierba, Samantha

Date Issued

March 21, 2025

Abstract

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are one of the most well-known keystone species of the sea. This recognizable dolphin species supports their ecosystem through predation, habitat stimulation, and nutrient cycling (Born Free). Tursiops truncatus are found across the globe in both temperate and tropical waters, including Barataria Bay, Louisiana. This bay resides in the Northern center of the Gulf of Mexico, and one of the largest T. truncatus pods in the Gulf of Mexico resides here. This pod lost almost half of their 4,000-individual population size due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, and it now faces another ecological hazard: the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project (MBSD). The MBSD aims to restore eroded marshland by depositing large amounts of sediment and freshwater into Barataria Bay. This construction would bring back species that once depended on this marshland but will be detrimental to the T. truncatus pod. Tursiops truncatus are known for their high site fidelity, even with lowering salinities, a decision that will lead to their extirpation. The MBSD contains a Dolphin Intervention Plan, but it focuses only on remote observations and what to do when a deceased T. truncatus individual is found. The goal of this research was to create a more appropriate and in-depth conservation management plan for the Barataria Bay T. truncatus pod. After a large-scale literature analysis, a new dolphin intervention plan was created using a 4-tier approach. Each tier represents a worsening ecological situation, and as they progress to 4, Barataria Bay and the T. truncatus pod within it fall further and further away from the possibility of successful rehabilitation, emphasizing human intervention as a tool to help as many T. truncatus individuals as possible. Efforts such as technological development, rehabilitation, observation, deterrence, and cooperation with the MBSD project itself were all included in this plan.

Major

Environmental Science and Sustainability

Honors

Environmental Science and Sustainability, 2025

First Reader(s)

Bradshaw-Wilson, Casey R.