Chesapeake Bay dolphin tracker helping University of Maryland researchers

CHESAPEAKE BAY, Md. - Researchers have a new tool to help them study dolphins in the Chesapeake Bay and they need the public's assistance gathering the data.

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory has launched the Dolphin Watch tracker.

The web-based app allows users to report dolphin sightings in the Chesapeake Bay. The information will be gathered in a database that scientists can use to further their research.

"Whether you're at home, whether you have a community pier, or you live near the water, or you go out on the water, we need your eyes on the sea telling us where are the dolphins," Dr. Helen Bailey of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory said.

Bailey and her team are studying how often bottlenose dolphins come into the Chesapeake Bay, how long they stay and what areas they're using and why. The researchers want to have a better understanding of how the dolphins use the Chesapeake Bay and will use that information to develop plans to protect them.

Have a dolphin sighting to report? Click here.

If you'd like to learn how to donate to the Dolphin Watch program, click here.