Volunteers keep eye on local dolphins

People line the O.C. coast counting the cetaceans for research purposes. OCC teacher started the program.Seated in a foldable beach chair, Linna Bernhard scanned the waters off Newport Pier on Saturday, looking for any signs of dolphins swimming offshore.

“You see birds feeding and pretty soon you’re going to see some dolphins,” Bernhard said.

Bernhard wasn’t recreationally spotting dolphins, she was counting them for research purposes. Working as a volunteer with the local chapter of the American Cetacean Society, Bernhard counted the dolphins from the Newport Pier as part of the society’s Day of the Dolphin.

“People are interested in dolphins; they’re just kind of an interesting thing to see,” Bernhard said.

Several times each year, volunteers line the coast from Seal Beach to Dana Point and count the number of dolphins they see. The volunteers document the dolphins’ location and behavior.

“If anything happens, we’ve got years of tracking,” said Bernhard, a Huntington Beach resident.

The Orange County coast is home to a population of an estimated 200 dolphins, Bernhard said. Researchers can recognize the individual dolphins by the notches on their dorsal fins, Bernhard said.

Bernhard has been active in the American Cetacean Society for nearly 25 years.

“I just think what’s happening in the ocean will eventually be related to what’s going on in our life,” Bernhard said.

Orange Coast College marine science instructor Dennis Kelly started the Day of the Dolphin program to involve people in generating useful data about the dolphins.

He turned the program’s operations over to the American Cetacean Society.

“The purpose was to involve citizens directly with the dolphins, studying them,” Kelly said.

Kelly said research does not indicate that the local dolphin population is declining, but the dolphins are carrying a lot of pollutants, such as mercury.

“They’re at the receiving end of our waste stream,” Kelly said.20060129ittjljncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Linna Bernhard of Huntington Beach, a member of the American Cetacean Society for 26 years, scans the water for dolphins near Newport Pier.