The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is on the east coast of Florida. The lagoon is a long, narrow body of water that stretches from Ponce Inlet (in the north) to Jupiter Inlet. The lagoon is 155 miles long. In and around the IRL, biologists have identified more than 1,350 kinds of plants and 2,956 kinds of animals, including the bottlenose dolphin and the Florida manatee.

The IRL is used by people for boating and fishing, so it is important to know about the biology of dolphins and how human activities may affect them. Because bottlenose dolphins (and all marine mammals in the United States) are protected by law, we will be doing our work under a research permit issued to us by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service.