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The first Indo-Pacific common dolphin mass stranding in Iranian waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2014

Nazanin Mohsenian ,
Hamed Moshiri ,
Omid Sedighi Savad Kouhi ,
Shahram Norbakhsh ,
Shokat Heidary ,
Kazem Sharifi Shamili  and
Gillian T. Braulik
Nazanin Mohsenian*
Affiliation:
Plan for the Land Society, PO 1689733767, Tehran, Iran
Hamed Moshiri
Affiliation:
Plan for the Land Society, PO 1689733767, Tehran, Iran
Omid Sedighi Savad Kouhi
Affiliation:
Marine Ecology Unit, Iranian Department of the Environment, Tehran, Iran
Shahram Norbakhsh
Affiliation:
Marine Ecology Unit, Iranian Department of the Environment, Tehran, Iran
Shokat Heidary
Affiliation:
Marine Section Unit, Hormozgan Province Bureau, Iranian Department of the Environment, Iran
Kazem Sharifi Shamili
Affiliation:
Jask Enviromental Office, Hormozgan Province Bureau, Iranian Department of Environment, Iran
Gillian T. Braulik
Affiliation:
Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LB, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: N. Mohsenian, Plan for the Land Society, PO 1689733767, Tehran, Iran email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In January 2011, a group of 11 Indo-Pacific common dolphins Delphinus capensis tropicalis stranded in the central estuary of Bandar-e-Jask in Hormozgan Province (near the entrance to the Persian Gulf), Iran. All of them were females and just one is believed to have survived. Two individuals were pregnant. All carcasses were examined for biometry and genetic samples were obtained for subsequent analysis. They all appeared to have been in a good state of health prior to death without any signs of human-related injuries. A comprehensive investigation into the possible causes for mortality could not be conducted. However, the available evidence suggests that the most likely reason for the stranding was the complex topographic and oceanographic conditions, which may have caused the animals to be trapped by the rapidly falling spring tide.

Keywords

Delphinus capensis tropicalisfirst mass strandingJask central estuaryIran
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 7 , 2014 , e64
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

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References

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