CZS Sarasota Dolphin Program: 5/4/08

Friday, May 9, 2008

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #67

All four dolphins are in the mouth of Bahia San Blas. Kure/Tunken remain together, but the others are separate. All three of the TDR tags are nearing the expected total number of transmissions, but their batteries still indicate good strength.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #65

Kure/Tunken have returned to Bahia San Blas. Kona/Nahuel do not appear to be together.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #64

Kure/Tunken have returned southward to Canal de Culebra, while Kona and Nahuel appear to be spending less time together in Bahia San Blas.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #63

Kure/Tunken have turned back toward the south from the Rio Colorado. Kona and Nahuel are in Bahia San Blas, but they may have separated again.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #62

Kure/Tunken remain just south of the Rio Colorado, at the north end of Bahia Anegada, in about 10-15 meters of water, while Kona/Nahuel have moved back into Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #61

Kure/Tunken have moved northward to a point off the mouth of the Rio Colorado, farther north than any of our previous tracking in this area. Kona/Nahuel remain together at the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

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