Genetic stock structure of common bottlenose dolphins in Mobile Bay, Perdido Bay, and the adjacent coastal waters of Alabama

A recent photo-identification study of dolphins in Mobile Bay and Perdido Bay, AL revealed differing residency patterns between the two BSEs with higher residency in the smaller, enclosed Perdido Bay in contrast to lower residency and potentially higher occurrence of transient dolphins in the larger, semi-open Mobile Bay (Bouveroux et al. 2025). The goal of this study is to expand our knowledge about population differentiation of common bottlenose dolphins in these two BSEs (Mobile Bay and Perdido Bay) and the adjacent coastal waters of Alabama using genetic data. Grant no. NA20OAR4320472