April 4, 2007 - Franciscana Dolphin Range

So...we are going to be posting these maps daily. But you might be wondering what they refer to... You can get a sense of where this place is from the project map below, but what is the area like? Well, Franciscana dolphins live in coastal waters and estuaries---areas where there is influence from rivers, but typically in full seawater. The species is found from Brazil, through Uruguay, to northern Patagonia in Argentina, so the species as a whole experiences a wide range of water temperatures, though more temperate than tropical. This year, we worked near the southern extent of the species’ range, in early autumn waters of about 65 degrees. Where we have worked with them, Franciscans seem to prefer habitats with sandy bottoms and murky waters (from the river influence).