Since we are down to one of the four tagged dolphins, I am thinking a bit about the project's history and future.
Pablo Bordino (that's him on the left with a local fisherman named Luis) initiated his franciscana research program in 1992. We have assisted him since 2003, and we will continue to work with him for as long as we can be of benefit to his program, and support can be found. The specific project for next year is currently being defined. Among the questions that should be addressed in the next few years are:- Do franciscanas in other parts of the species' range cover long distances in their movements, or do they show site fidelity comparable to what we have found in Bahia Samborombon and Bahia San Blas to date? (Do all franciscanas hang out in one area like these folks.)
- What are the ranging patterns of adult males?
- How do franciscanas use their habitat? How much time do they spend near the sea floor as opposed to near the surface or in mid-water-column? How much time do they spend in shallows vs. deep channels? This information has important implications for how they might be caught in fishing nets. Small time-depth recording transmitters (same size as satellite-linked tags used to date) could address this question.
- Where franciscanas have been shown to exhibit site fidelity, is this year-round or long-term? (photo-identification research and tagging can address this)
- Are social associations short- or long-term? (this could be explored by tagging individuals caught together with tags with the same duty cycles)
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