Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T01:17:57.520Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) resting habitat in Samadai Reef (Egypt, Red Sea) protected through tourism management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2008

Giuseppe Notarbartolo-di-Sciara ,
Mahmoud H. Hanafy ,
Moustafa M. Fouda ,
Ayman Afifi  and
Marina Costa
Giuseppe Notarbartolo-di-Sciara*
Affiliation:
Tethys Research Institute, Viale G.B. Gadio 2, 20121 Milano, Italy
Mahmoud H. Hanafy
Affiliation:
Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt
Moustafa M. Fouda
Affiliation:
Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, 30 Misr Helwan El-Zyrae Road, Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
Ayman Afifi
Affiliation:
Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, 30 Misr Helwan El-Zyrae Road, Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
Marina Costa
Affiliation:
Tethys Research Institute, Viale G.B. Gadio 2, 20121 Milano, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Giuseppe Notarbartolo-di-Sciara, Tethys Research Institute, Viale G.B. Gadio 2, 20121 Milano, Italy email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The daily presence of spinner dolphins, Stenella longirostris, inside a small reef offshore the Red Sea coast of southern Egypt was monitored from January 2004 to January 2006. Observations indicated marked seasonal and daily variations in the use of the reef as a resting and socializing area by the dolphins, consistent during the two years of monitoring. Overall, the mean number of dolphins present in the reef at any day was 39.2 (SD = 39.34, range 0–210), with the lowest presence in February to April and the highest in June. Similar to other populations of this species in other oceans, dolphins entered the reef between daybreak and mid-morning, and started exiting during the afternoon hours. Although calves were seen in all seasons, a sharp peak was observed in June. Monitoring data provided indications relevant to governmental management efforts, which were implemented in 2004 to ensure that the dolphins could continue using the reef for their resting needs while a sustainable, respectful tourist activity is allowed in a designated zone of the reef adjacent to the dolphins' core habitat.

Keywords

spinner dolphinsStenella longirostrisecologybehaviourRed SeaMPAmanagementtourism
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 211 - 216
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

Arnold, P.W. and Birtles, R.A. (1999) Towards sustainable management of the developing dwarf minke whale tourism industry in northern Queensland. CRC Reef Research Centre Technical Report No. 27. Townsville; CRC Reef Research Centre, 30 pp.Google Scholar
Baldwin, R., Gallagher, M. and Van Waerebeek, K. (1998) A review of cetaceans from waters off the Arabian peninsula. In Fisher, M., Ghazanfar, S.A. and Spalton, A. (eds) The natural history of Oman: a Festschrift for Michael Gallagher. Leiden: Backhuys Publishers, pp. 161–189.Google Scholar
Barradell, M.G. and Ritter, F. (2007) Swim-with-dolphin activities in the Azores—steps towards sustainability. International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee Document SC/59/WW12, 7 pp.Google Scholar
Benoit-Bird, K.J. and Au, W.W.L. (2003) Prey dynamics affect foraging by a pelagic predator (Stenella longirostris) over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 53, 364–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constantine, R. (2001) Increased avoidance of swimmers by wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) due to long-term exposure to swim-with-dolphin tourism. Marine Mammal Science 17, 689–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constantine, R., Brunton, D.H. and Dennis, T. (2004) Dolphin-watching tour boats change bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) behaviour. Biological Conservation 117, 299–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courbis, S. (2007) Effect of spinner dolphin presence on level of swimmer and vessel activity in Hawai'ian bays. Tourism in Marine Environments 4, 1–14.Google Scholar
Danil, K., Maldini, D. and Marten, K. (2005) Patterns of use of Maku'a Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i, by spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) and potential effects of swimmers on their behavior. Aquatic Mammals 31, 403–412.Google Scholar
Gannier, A. and Petiau, E. (2006) Environmental variables affecting the residence of spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) in a bay of Tahiti (French Polynesia). Aquatic Mammals 32, 202–211.Google Scholar
Gill, J.A., Norris, K. and Sutherland, W.J. (2001) Why behavioural responses may not reflect the population consequences of human disturbance. Biological Conservation 97, 265–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoyt, E. (2001) Whale watching 2001. Worldwide tourism numbers, expenditures and expanding socioeconomic benefits. A special report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, 165 pp.Google Scholar
Janik, V.M. and Thompson, P.M. (1996) Changes in surfacing patterns of bottlenose dolphins in response to boat traffic. Marine Mammal Science 12, 597–602.Google Scholar
Karczmarski, L., Würsig, B., Gailey, G., Larson, K.W. and Vanderlip, C. (2005) Spinner dolphins in a remote Hawaiian atoll: social grouping and population structure. Behavioral Ecology 16, 675–685.Google Scholar
Lammers, M.O. (2004) Occurrence and behavior of Hawaiian spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) along Oahu's leeward and south shores. Aquatic Mammals 30, 237–250.Google Scholar
Lück, M. (2003) Education on marine mammal tours as agent for conservation—but do tourists want to be educated? Ocean and Coastal Management 46, 943–956.Google Scholar
Neumann, D.R. and Orams, M.B. (2006) Impacts of ecotourism on short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in Mercury Bay, New Zealand. Aquatic Mammals 32, 1–9.Google Scholar
Norris, K.S. and Dohl, T.P. (1980) Behavior of the Hawaiian spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris. Fishery Bulletin 77, 821–849.Google Scholar
Norris, K.S., Würsig, B., Wells, R.S. and Würsig, M. (1994) The Hawaiian spinner dolphin. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. (2003) Samadai Dolphin House: considerations on a tourist impact mitigation plan. Report to the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Nature Conservation Sector, Cairo, 13 pp.Google Scholar
Notarbartolo-di-Sciara, G., Addink, M., Baldwin, R.H., Rudolph, P. and Smeenk, C. (2007) A review of cetaceans from the Red Sea. Abstracts, 21st Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, San Sebastian, Spain, 23–25 April 2007.Google Scholar
Perrin, W.F. (1998) Stenella longirostris. Mammalian Species 599, 1–7.Google Scholar
Samuels, A. and Bejder, L. (2004) Chronic interaction between humans and free-ranging bottlenose dolphins near Panama City Beach, Florida, USA. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 6, 69–77.Google Scholar
Samuels, A. and Spradlin, T.R. (1995) Quantitative behavioral study of bottlenose dolphins in Swim-With-Dolphin programs in the United States. Marine Mammal Science 11, 520–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarhan, M.I., Hanafy, M.H. and Fouda, M.M. (2004) Economics and sustainable use of Samadai Reef ‘Dolphin House’, Marsa Alam, Red Sea, Egypt. Sixth International Bioecon Conference on Economics and the Analysis of Biology and Biodiversity. King's College, Cambridge, 2–3 September 2004, 13 pp.Google Scholar
Scarpaci, C., Dayanthi, N. and Corkeron, P.J. (2003) Compliance with regulations by ‘swim-with-dolphins’ operations in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia. Environmental Management 31, 342–347.Google Scholar
Silva, J.M. Jr., Silva, F.J.L. and Sazima, I. (2005) Rest, nurture, sex, release, and play: diurnal underwater behaviour of the spinner dolphin at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, SW Atlantic. Journal of Ichthyology and Aquatic Biology 9, 161–176.Google Scholar
Valentine, P.S., Birtles, A., Curnock, M., Arnold, P. and Dunstan, A. (2004) Getting closer to whales: passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef. Tourism Management 25, 647–655.Google Scholar