CZS Sarasota Dolphin Program: 6/8/08

Friday, June 13, 2008

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #102

Kona has moved a bit farther to the south, while Tunken remains in the vicinity of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #101

Tunken is to the north of the mouth of the bay, while Kona is relatively far offshore to the south.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #100

Similar to yesterday, Tunken is in the channel near San Blas, and Kona is just outside the bay.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #99

Tunken is near the mouth of Bahia San Blas, while Kona has moved a bit to the south.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #98

Tunken remains inside the bay while Kona is in fairly deep water outside the mouth.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #97

Argos is having difficulties this morning - no maps are available, but data indicate that both animals have transmitted over the past day.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #96

Tunken remains inside the bay while Kona remains just outside.

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