CZS Sarasota Dolphin Program: April 10, 2007

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

April 10, 2007 - Getting Photos

Here is today's map. From left to right: Roberto, Yaana, Lea. The positions continue to show the dolphins spending a great deal of time on or near the shallows surrounding the deeper channels in the area.

Pablo will return to San Blas tomorrow, and hopefully will return with photos of the tagged dolphins. That sounds easy, but these dolphins are very small and secretive. Rough seas make work unsafe, and make it nearly impossible to see the dolphins. This was a huge problem in the exposed waters of Bahia Samborombon; we hope it will be less of a problem in the more protected waters of our current site near Bahia San Blas. Unfortunately, Bahia San Blas is much farther away from the base of operations for AquaMarina (Pablo Bordino’s organization), so it will be more challenging to get into the field regularly. Hopefully, we'll get some good photos on this trip.

Science as it Happens!

Ranging Patterns and Habitat Use of Franciscana Dolphins off Argentina: 2008

In March 2008, Chicago Zoological Society conservation scientists Randall Wells, Jason Allen, and Aaron Barleycorn returned to Bahia San Blas, Argentina, to work with Pablo Bordino and his dedicated team of students, colleagues, and fishermen, and a veterinary team from Disney’s Animal Programs, to conduct additional satellite-linked tagging of franciscana dolphins. Building on the tagging and tracking work during 2007 that indicated a high degree of residency to Bahia San Blas over periods as long as six months, the next phase of the project was designed to address specific questions about:

1) what part of the water column the dolphins use – if the dolphins show preference for water of particular depths, then fishermen might be able to set their nets at different depths in order to avoid the dolphins. Up to three satellite-linked transmitters with time-depth recorders (TDRs) will provide information on the depths of dives as well as locations.

2) developing correction factors for aerial and boat surveys for dolphin abundance that take into account the dive patterns of the animals – the TDRs provide information on dive durations and time spent at specific depths where the animals might be visible to scientists.

3) social patterns – deploying tags with identical duty cycles, it is possible to determine if the animals exhibit a stable or fluid pattern of social associations, through examination of their location data to see if they remain together or separate. In addition to the location data from the TDR tags, as many as 5 location-only tags may be deployed. Genetic samples collected during the tagging process will allow determination of relatedness of dolphins caught together.

The first two transmitters, both TDRs, were deployed on a juvenile male (#42483) and an adult female (#42485) on March 4, 2008. As data are received from these and subsequent transmitters, they will be displayed on this site, as maps showing dolphin locations.

The radio transmitter ("tag") was specially designed for dolphins and weighs only 15 grams. The expected battery life is approximately four weeks, and the tag naturally falls off some time later.

Major support for this project was provided by the Chicago Zoological Society and Disney’s Animal Programs, with tags and tag data processing assistance provided by Dolphin Quest.

CZS Sarasota Dolphin Program

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

April 10, 2007 - Getting Photos

Science as it Happens!

grampus

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