Mentor/s

Dr. Deirdre Yeater

Participation Type

Poster

Abstract

Whereas several studies focused on object play in dolphins, few have examined details about observers, i.e., individuals just watching the play event without participating. It has been suggested that calves and juveniles are more likely to observe others engaging in object play, but not enough evidence has been collected. Object play among bottlenose dolphins at the Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences was documented from 28 sessions recorded underwater. 692 object play events including observers were analyzed, involving 18 dolphins. We expected calf and juvenile dolphins to be the most frequent observers and longer play bouts to attract a greater number of observing dolphins. Data analyses showed that juveniles were the most frequent observers. However, there was not enough evidence to support the idea of longer play bouts (30-70 s) having a greater chance of attracting observers than shorter bouts (0-30 s). Our result showed that even though juvenile dolphins seem to observe object play more than any other age group, further analyses are required to determine if juveniles are more likely to become actors in the future based on their role as observers.

Academic Level

Undergraduate student

Location

Digital Commons & West Campus West Building University Commons

Start Day/Time

4-25-2025 12:00 PM

End Day/Time

4-25-2025 2:00 PM

Students' Information

Samantha Apostolico, Biology Pre-Vet major, Honors, 2026

Sophia Pertoso, Biology Pre-Vet major, 2026

Samantha Gojcaj, Psychology major, 2025

Angelika Falandysza, Psychology Pre-Vet major, 2026

Diego Salles, Biology/Psychology Neuroscience major, 2027

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Prize Categories

Most Scholarly Impact or Potential, Best Visuals

Share

COinS
 
Apr 25th, 12:00 PM Apr 25th, 2:00 PM

Decoding Dolphin Dynamics: Observing Object Play Among Bottlenose Dolphins

Digital Commons & West Campus West Building University Commons

Whereas several studies focused on object play in dolphins, few have examined details about observers, i.e., individuals just watching the play event without participating. It has been suggested that calves and juveniles are more likely to observe others engaging in object play, but not enough evidence has been collected. Object play among bottlenose dolphins at the Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences was documented from 28 sessions recorded underwater. 692 object play events including observers were analyzed, involving 18 dolphins. We expected calf and juvenile dolphins to be the most frequent observers and longer play bouts to attract a greater number of observing dolphins. Data analyses showed that juveniles were the most frequent observers. However, there was not enough evidence to support the idea of longer play bouts (30-70 s) having a greater chance of attracting observers than shorter bouts (0-30 s). Our result showed that even though juvenile dolphins seem to observe object play more than any other age group, further analyses are required to determine if juveniles are more likely to become actors in the future based on their role as observers.