Bottlenose dolphins surfacing off the Cape Fear coast
Brunswick & New Hanover Counties, NC

Studying the dolphins & whales of the Cape Fear coast.

LivnOcean Research, Inc. — doing business as Cape Fear Dolphin Research — is a nonprofit dedicated to long-term study and stewardship of cetaceans in coastal North Carolina.

Explore our research

3 Focal Species

Bottlenose & Atlantic spotted dolphins, and humpback whales.

Field-Based Science

Photo-identification and behavioral surveys from the Cape Fear River to the open Atlantic.

Local Stewardship

Community-rooted conservation across Brunswick and New Hanover Counties.

Our Focal Species

Who we study off the Cape Fear coast

Bottlenose Dolphin

Bottlenose Dolphin

Tursiops truncatus & Tursiops erebennus

Two species frequent our waters: Tursiops erebennus, the smaller coastal bottlenose dolphin found close to shore and in the Cape Fear River mouth, and Tursiops truncatus, the larger, more ocean-going offshore form.

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin

Stenella frontalis

Offshore visitors with distinctive mottled patterns that develop with age.

Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale

Megaptera novaeangliae

Migratory giants documented seasonally along the Brunswick and New Hanover coastlines.

Photos by Dr. Kim Jones.

Help us protect the Cape Fear's marine mammals.

Online donations are coming soon. In the meantime, reach out — we'd love to share how you can support our research, volunteer, or report a sighting.