Letter: Thanks From Stephanie Gazda

Editor:

I would like to thank each and every one of the people that attended the lecture on the Cedar Key bottlenose dolphins on December 4th. The large turnout is just further evidence of the support that we have received from the community during our stay here.

I would also like to thank the Cedar Key News and the Cedar Key Public Library for hosting the talk, and Frog`s Landing Restaurant for the food they so generously provided for the reception.

Research is not easy and certainly not without its frustrations, but the community of Cedar Key has made the experience all the better. I feel so fortunate to be able to conduct research here, and I look forward to many years of interaction with the town as I continue to research the dolphins. Cedar Key should be proud to have such a spectacular group of dolphins off their coastline and I look forward to continuing my career with them.

Due to a large amount of requests, I will be placing a copy of our photo ID tracings catalog at the library for anyone to look to at and try to identify their own photos of the dolphins. I have also set up an email account for people who would like to contact me with questions or especially to let me know when they see the herding behavior that brought me here in the first place. It is ckdolphinproject@gmail.com.

If you are unsure of the behavior I am speaking of, you can see a clip of it on youtube.com. Do a search for Dolphin Diner, or the direct link is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TexmIQbgmsw.

Thank you again to the community of Cedar Key. The past 6 months have been a pleasure, and grant funding willing, I look forward to seeing you again in June!

Thank you,
Stefanie Gazda