Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T01:39:02.908Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Evaluation of the video-identification technique applied to bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Cagarras Archipelago, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2008

Liliane Lodi*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Estudos da Ecologia de Mamíferos Marinhos, Rua Visconde do Rio Branco, 869, Niterói—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 24020-006
Luiz Cláudio Mayerhofer
Affiliation:
Instituto de Estudos da Ecologia de Mamíferos Marinhos, Rua Visconde do Rio Branco, 869, Niterói—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 24020-006
Cassiano Monteiro Neto
Affiliation:
Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Caixa Postal 100644, Niterói—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 24001-970
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Liliane Lodi, Instituto de Estudos da Ecologia de Mamíferos Marinhos, Rua Visconde do Rio Branco 869, Niterói—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 24020-006 email: [email protected]

Abstract

Reliable methods to identify and monitor cetacean individuals are important to assess population behaviour and ecology. We describe and evaluate the application of the digital video-identification technique (DVI) for the acquisition and analysis of dorsal fin images in the study of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Cagarras Archipelago, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Between August and November 2004, we identified and catalogued 20 individuals; 80% were re-sighted more than twice. The Individual Residence Index varied between 1.0 (N = 1) and 0.2 (N = 4). Compared with traditional photo-identification methods, DVI offers significant advantages in respect to production of sequential images and speed of editing and processing.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

De Oliveira, L.V. (2006) Video-identificação na investigação dos movimentos do boto-cinza, Sotalia guianensis (Cetacea, Delphinidae) entre as populações presentes na região de Cananéia (SP) e Ilha das Peças (PR). Master's thesis, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Paraná, Brasil.Google Scholar
De Oliveira, L.V. and Monteiro-Filho, E.L.A. (2008) Individual identification and habitat use of the estuarine dolphin Sotalia guianensis (Cetacea: Delphinidae) in Cananeia, south-eastern Brazil, using video images. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 88, 11991205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Defran, R.H., Shultz, G.M. and Weller, D.W. (1990) A technique for the photographic identification and cataloging of dorsal fins of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Reports of the International Whaling Commission Special Issue 12, 5355.Google Scholar
Hardt, F.A.S. (2005) Padrões de residência do golfinho Sotalia guianensis (Cetacea, Delphinidae) na Baía da Babitonga, litoral norte de Santa Catarina, Brasil. Master's thesis. Universidade Federal do Paraná, Paraná, Brasil.Google Scholar
Kreb, D. (2004) Abundance of freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, based on mark–recapture analysis of photo-identified individuals. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 6, 269277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lockyer, C.H. and Morris, R.J. (1990) Some observations on wound healing and persistence of scars in Tursiops truncatus. Reports of the International Whaling Commission Special Issue, 12, 113118.Google Scholar
Mann, J. (2000) Unraveling the dynamics of social life: long-term studies and observational methods. In Mann, J., Connor, R.C., Tyack, P.L. and Whitehead, H. (eds) Cetacean societies: field studies of dolphins and whales. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 4564.Google Scholar
Markowitz, T.M., Harlin, A.D. and Würsig, B. (2003) Digital photography improves efficiency of individual dolphin identification. Marine Mammal Science 19, 217223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazzoil, M., McCulloch, S.D., Defran, R.H. and Murdoch, E. (2004) The use of digital photography and analysis of dorsal fins for photo-identification of bottlenose dolphins. Aquatic Mammals 30, 209219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pérez, M.J., Thomas, F., Oliva, D. and Moraga, R. (2004) Foto-identicatión del delfín nariz de botella, Tursiops truncatus, en la Reserva National Pingüino de Humbolt, Chile Central: Aplicación y resultados preliminares. In Burneo, S., Castro, C. and Utreras, V. (eds) Proceedings of the XI Reunión de Trabajo de Especialistas en Mamíferos Acuáticos de América del Sur y V Congreso de la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Especialistas en Mamíferos Acuáticos, Quito, Ecuador, 11–17 September 2004, pp. 60.Google Scholar
Sanino, P. and Yánez, J.L. (2001) Nueva técnica de video identificación y estimación de tamaño poblacional en cetáceos, aplicada en delfines nariz de botella, Tursiops truncatus, de Isla Choros, IV Región de Chile. Boletin del Museu Nacional de Historia Natural 50, 3763.Google Scholar
Wilson, B., Arnold, H., Bearzi, G., Fortuna, C.M., Gaspar, R., Ingram, S., Liret, C., Pribanic, S., Read, A.J., Ridoux, V., Schneider, K., Urian, K.W., Wells, R.S., Wood, C., Thompson, P.M. and Hammond, P.S. (1999) Epidermal diseases in bottlenose dolphins: impacts of natural and anthropogenic factors. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 266, 10771083.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Würsig, B. and Jefferson, T.A. (1990) Methods of photo-identification for small cetaceans. Reports of the International Whaling Commission Special Issue 12, 4352.Google Scholar
Würsig, B. and Würsig, M. (1977) The photographic determination of group size, composition and stability of coastal porpoises (Tursiops truncatus). Science 198, 755756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zolman, E.S. (2002) Residence patterns of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Stono River estuary, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA. Marine Mammal Science 18, 879893.CrossRefGoogle Scholar