Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T12:14:57.508Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bottlenose dolphins at the southern extreme of the south-western Atlantic: local population decline?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2011

Mariano A. Coscarella ,
Silvana L. Dans ,
Mariana Degrati ,
Griselda V. Garaffo  and
Enrique A. Crespo
Mariano A. Coscarella*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Mamíferos Marinos (LAMAMA), Centro Nacional Patagónico, Boulevard Brown 2915-U9120ACF, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
Silvana L. Dans
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Mamíferos Marinos (LAMAMA), Centro Nacional Patagónico, Boulevard Brown 2915-U9120ACF, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
Mariana Degrati
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Mamíferos Marinos (LAMAMA), Centro Nacional Patagónico, Boulevard Brown 2915-U9120ACF, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
Griselda V. Garaffo
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Mamíferos Marinos (LAMAMA), Centro Nacional Patagónico, Boulevard Brown 2915-U9120ACF, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
Enrique A. Crespo
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Mamíferos Marinos (LAMAMA), Centro Nacional Patagónico, Boulevard Brown 2915-U9120ACF, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M.A. Coscarella, Laboratorio de Mamíferos Marinos (LAMAMA), Centro Nacional Patagónico, Boulevard 2915-U9120ACF, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The management scheme of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) includes monitoring protocols but such activities are not always carried out. This is the case for Golfo San José, a MPA in northern Patagonia, Argentina. It was created in 1975 for the protection of the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) breeding grounds. Other components of the system, such as dolphin populations have received little attention. This study is the first attempt to estimate sighting rates, group size and overall abundance of a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) population in Golfo San José and adjacent areas after 30 years. An analysis of the seasonal sighting rates indicates that bottlenose dolphins were present in the study area throughout the year but a decline in group size and abundance and major shift in distribution was detected when compared with previous published reports. The settlement of the MPA failed to secure the persistence of the bottlenose dolphin population within its boundaries. Possible explanations for the detected decline are addressed including increased natural mortality, human induced mortality and disturbance, resources depletion and environmental shift.

Keywords

bottlenose dolphinslocal population declineMarine Protected AreasTursiops truncatus
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 92 , Issue 8: Marine Mammals , December 2012 , pp. 1843 - 1849
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

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

Barham, E.G., Sweeney, J.C., Leatherwood, S., Begs, R.K. and Barham, C.L. (1980) Aerial census of the bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, in a region of the Texas coast. Fishery Bulletin 77, 585–595.Google Scholar
Bastida, R. and Bastida, V. (1986) Capturas incidentales de pequeños cetáceos en el área de Mar del Plata (Prov. de Bs. As., Arg). In Proceedings of the 1° Reunión de Trabajo de Expertos en Mamíferos Acuáticos de América del Sur, 1986, pp. 14–22.Google Scholar
Bastida, R. and Rodríguez, D. (2003) Mamíferos marinos de Patagonia y Antártida. 1st edition. Buenos Aires: Mamíferos Marinos de Patagonia y Antártida.Google Scholar
Bejder, L., Samuels, A., Whitehead, H., Gales, N., Mann, J., Connor, R., Heithaus, M., Watson-Capps, J., Flaherty, C. and Krützen, M. (2006) Decline in relative abundance of bottlenose dolphins exposed to long-term disturbance. Conservation Biology 20, 1971–1798.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bordino, P., Thompson, G. and Iñíguez, M. (1999) Ecology and behaviour of the franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei) in Bahía Anegada, Argentina. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 1, 213–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckland, S.T., Anderson, D.R., Burnham, K.P., Laake, J.L., Borchers, D.L. and Thomas, L. (2001) Introduction to distance sampling. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coscarella, M.A. and Crespo, E.A. (2010) Feeding aggregation and aggressive interaction between bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) and Commerson's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) in Patagonia, Argentina. Journal of Ethology 28, 183–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coscarella, M.A., Dans, S.L., Crespo, E.A. and Pedraza, S.N. (2003) Potential impact of dolphin watching unregulated activities in Patagonia. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 5, 77–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crespo, E.A., García, N.A., Dans, S.L. and Pedraza, S.N. (2008) Mamíferos marinos. In Boltovskoy, D. (ed.) Atlas de sensibilidad ambiental de la costa y el mar Argentino mamíferos marinos. Buenos Aires: Secretaría de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable de la Nación.Google Scholar
Crespo, E.A., Pedraza, S.N., Dans, S.L., Alonso, M.K., Reyes, L.M., García, N.A., Coscarella, M. and Schiavini, A.C.M. (1997) Direct and indirect effects of the highseas fisheries on the marine mammal populations in the northern and central Patagonian coast. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Science 22, 189–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Defran, R.H., Weller, D.W., Kelly, D.L. and Espinosa, M.A. (1999) Range characteristics of the Pacific coast bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the southern California bight. Marine Mammal Science 15, 381–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Degrati, M., Dans, S.L., Pedraza, S.N., Crespo, E.A. and Garaffo, G. (2008) Diurnal behavior of dusky dolphins, Lagenorhynchus obscurus, in Golfo Nuevo, Argentina. Journal of Mammalogy 89, 1241–1247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garaffo, G., Dans, S.L., Pedraza, S.N., Crespo, E.A. and Degrati, M. (2007) Habitat use by dusky dolphin in Patagonia: how predictable is their location? Marine Biology 152, 165–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerber, L.R., Botsford, L.W., Hastings, A., Possingham, H.P., Gaines, S.D., Palumbi, S.R. and Andelman, S. (2003) Population models for marine reserve design: a retrospective and prospective synthesis. Ecological Applications 13, s47–s64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodall, R.N.P., Marchesi, M., Pimper, L., Dellabianca, N., Benegas, L., Torres, M., Riccialdelli, L. (2011) Southernmost records of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus. Polar Biology 34, 1085–1090.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herman, L.M. (1980) Cetacean behavior: mechanisms and functions. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company, 463 pp.Google Scholar
Hoyt, E. (2005) Creating better marine protected areas for cetaceans: steps towards the design, establishment and management of protected areas for cetaceans. In Hoyt, E. (ed.) Marine protected areas for whales, dolphins and porpoises. London: Earthscan, pp. 68–82.Google Scholar
Kelleher, G. (2001) MPA perspective: the development and establishment of coral reef marine protected areas. MPA NEWS 2, 5–6.Google Scholar
Leatherwood, S. and Reeves, R.R. (eds) (1990) The bottlenose dolphin. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, Inc., 653 pp.Google Scholar
Lusseau, D., Slooten, E. and Currey, R.J.C. (2006) Unsustainable dolphin-watching tourism in Fiordland, New Zealand. Tourism in Marine Environments 3, 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, J., Connor, R.C., Tyack, P.L. and Whitehead, H. (2000) Cetacean societies: field studies of dolphins and whales. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 433 pp.Google Scholar
Natoli, A., Peddemors, V.M. and Hoelzel, A.R. (2003) Population structure and speciation in the genus Tursiops based on microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA analyses. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 17, 363–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollock, K.H., Marsh, H.D., Lawler, I.R. and Alldredge, M.W. (2006) Estimating animal abundance in heterogeneous environments: an application to aerial surveys for dugongs. Journal of Wildlife Management 70, 255–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rivarola, M., Campagna, C. and Tagliorette, A. (2001) Demand-driven commercial whalewatching in Península Valdés (Patagonia): conservation implications for right whales. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 2 (Special Issue), 145–151.Google Scholar
Rowntree, V., Payne, R. and Schell, D.M. (2001) Changing patterns of habitat use by southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) on their nursery ground at Península Valdés, Argentina, and their long-range movements. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 2 (Special Issue), 133–144.Google Scholar
Shane, S.H. (1990) Comparison of bottlenose dolphin behavior in Texas and Florida, with a critique of methods for studying dolphin behavior. In Leatherwood, S. and Reeves, R.R. (eds) The bottlenose dolphin. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp. 541–558.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shane, S.H., Wells, R.S. and Würsig, B. (1986) Ecology, behavior and social organization of the bottlenose dolphin: a review. Marine Mammal Science 2, 34–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, L., Laake, J.l., Strindberg, S., Marques, F.F.C., Buckland, S.T., Borchers, D.L., Anderson, D.R., Burnham, K.P., Hedley, S.L., Pollard, J.H., Bishop, J.R.B. and Marques, T.A. (2005) DISTANCE, version 5, btea 5. Research Unit for Wildlife Population Assessment, University of St Andrews, UK (available from www.ruwpa.st-and.ac.uk/distance/).Google Scholar
Torres, L.G., Rosel, P.E., D'Agrosa, C. and Read, A.J. (2003) Improving management of overlapping bottlenose dolphin ecotypes through spatial analysis and genetics. Marine Mammal Science 19, 502–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Venerus, L. (2006) Dinámica espacial del salmón de mar Pseudopercis semifasciata (Cuvier, 1829) (Pinguipedidae)—implicancias para el uso sustentable de los sistemas de arrecifes rocosos. PhD thesis. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires.Google Scholar
Vermeulen, E. and Cammareri, A. (2009) Variation in external morphology of resident bottlenose dolphins in Bahía San Antonio, Patagonia, Argentina. Journal of Marine Animals and Their Ecology 2, 3–6.Google Scholar
Würsig, B. (1978) Occurrence and group organization of Atlantic bottlenose porpoises (Tursiops truncatus) in an Argentine bay. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 154, 348–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Würsig, B. and Harris, G.G. (1990) Site and association fidelity in bottlenose dolphins off Argentina. In Leatherwood, S. and Reeves, R.R. (eds) The bottlenose dolphin. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp. 361–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Würsig, B. and Würsig, M. (1977) The photographic determination of group size, composition and stability of coastal porpoises (Tursiops truncatus). Science 198, 755–756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Würsig, B. and Würsig, M. (1979) Behavior and ecology of the bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, in the South Atlantic. Fishery Bulletin 77, 399–412.Google Scholar