CZS Sarasota Dolphin Program

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #180-Final

2008-09-03T11:03:00.001-05:00

Final Update
Six months into tracking, the battery strength of Kona's transmitter has dropped below the level where we should expect further signals. She provided more than 44,500 transmissions, nearly 20,000 more than expected. Her last transmission was within several km of where she was originally tagged almost 6 months ago.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #179

2008-08-29T10:38:00.006-05:00

Kona is at the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #178

2008-08-29T10:38:00.005-05:00

Kona is south of the mouth of Bahia San Blas. CLS/Argos is having some
technical difficulties this morning.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #177

2008-08-27T09:43:00.001-05:00

Kona continues to move through the waters at the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #176

2008-08-26T15:07:00.002-05:00

Kona remains on the sandbanks south of the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #173-174

2008-08-26T15:06:00.000-05:00

Kona has spent the past two days outside the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #172

2008-08-26T15:05:00.000-05:00

Kona is outside the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #171

2008-08-26T15:04:00.000-05:00

Kona remains near the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #170

2008-08-20T20:50:00.002-05:00

Kona is using the entrance channel and mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #169

2008-08-19T10:24:00.003-05:00

Kona is back inside the bay.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #168

2008-08-18T11:43:00.004-05:00

Kona is back inside the bay.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #167

2008-08-18T11:42:00.001-05:00

Kona has moved out of the bay, a bit offshore.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #166

2008-08-18T11:41:00.000-05:00

Kona has moved deep inside Bahia San Blas, near her capture site.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #165

2008-08-18T11:40:00.000-05:00

Kona is just off the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #164

2008-08-18T11:37:00.001-05:00

Kona is inside the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #163

2008-08-13T08:47:00.002-05:00

Kona is back inside Bahia San Blas, not far from her original capture site.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #162

2008-08-13T08:45:00.003-05:00

Kona is at the sandbanks south of the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #161

2008-08-13T08:44:00.000-05:00

Kona is a bit to the south of the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #160

2008-08-13T08:43:00.000-05:00

Kona has moved a bit farther offshore of the mouth of Bahia San Blas, into waters 20 m deep.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #159

2008-08-13T08:39:00.001-05:00

Kona is over the sandbanks just to the south of the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #158

2008-08-08T10:27:00.001-05:00

Kona remains offshore of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #157

2008-08-08T10:25:00.001-05:00

Kona remains just offshore of the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #156

2008-08-06T09:46:00.001-05:00

Kona continues to spend time outside the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #155

2008-08-05T14:08:00.003-05:00

Kona remains off the mouth of the bay.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #154

2008-08-04T09:41:00.004-05:00

Kona has moved to the sandbanks to the north of the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracknig Day #153

2008-08-04T09:41:00.001-05:00

Kona is outside of the mouth to Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracknig Day #152

2008-08-04T09:40:00.000-05:00

Kona remains in or near the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracknig Day #150

2008-07-31T11:00:00.002-05:00

Five months into the tracking, Kona is back inside the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #149

2008-07-30T12:08:00.001-05:00

Kona moved into the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #148

2008-07-29T13:34:00.003-05:00

Kona has returned to the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #147

2008-07-28T09:36:00.002-05:00

Kona is near Punta Rasa.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #146

2008-07-28T09:35:00.001-05:00

Kona remain to the south of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #145

2008-07-28T09:34:00.000-05:00

Kona remains between the Rio Negro and Punta Rasa.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #144

2008-07-28T09:30:00.001-05:00

Kona has moved well to the south, toward the Rio Negro. The pattern that is emerging from tracking this year is somewhat different from that from last year. The animals are anchored in Bahia San Blas, returning to it and spending time there, but they have ranged much farther along the coast to the north or south than what we saw last year, moving as far as the next major river in either direction.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #143

2008-07-25T10:09:00.004-05:00

Kona remains to the south of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #142

2008-07-23T09:31:00.003-05:00

Kona is south of Punta Rasa. Intern Nacho Bruno returns to Argentina today after participating in training for the past three months in Sarasota.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #141

2008-07-22T09:19:00.002-05:00

Kona remains near Punta Rasa.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #140

2008-07-21T10:24:00.005-05:00

Kona is near Punta Rasa.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #139

2008-07-21T10:24:00.001-05:00

Kona has moved back south to the area off Punta Rasa.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #138

2008-07-21T10:23:00.000-05:00

Kona has moved back to the south a bit. The battery strength of her tag continues to be good.

Franciscan Dolphins - Tracking Day #136

2008-07-21T10:21:00.001-05:00

Kona is moving back inside Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #135

2008-07-16T16:35:00.003-05:00

Kona remains at the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #134

2008-07-15T12:26:00.002-05:00

Kona has moved into shallower water near the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #133

2008-07-14T09:53:00.002-05:00

Kona remains near the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #132

2008-07-14T09:52:00.002-05:00

Kona is in the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #131

2008-07-14T09:52:00.001-05:00

Kona is at the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #130

2008-07-14T09:51:00.000-05:00

Kona is off the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #129

2008-07-11T10:27:00.003-05:00

Kona has returned to the area off the mouth of Bahia San Blas, but she remains in deeper waters than she was earlier in the tracking.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #128

2008-07-09T10:32:00.003-05:00

Kona has moved back toward Bahia San Blas. Although the sample size is small, Pablo suggests that her movements might exemplify one reason why abundance estimates have been consistently lower in Bahia San Blas in winter.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #127

2008-07-08T09:19:00.003-05:00

Kona has moved to the south, farther from Bahia San Blas than previously recorded. As Pablo suggests, perhaps she has found a new boyfriend...

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #125

2008-07-07T09:35:00.006-05:00

Kona remains in the vicinity of the lighthouse and Punta Rasa.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #126

2008-07-07T09:35:00.005-05:00

Kona has moved a bit south of the lighthouse this morning.

Franciscana Dolphins Tracking Day #124

2008-07-07T09:34:00.000-05:00

Kona remains in the vicinity of the lighthouse.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #123

2008-07-07T09:33:00.000-05:00

Kona has moved a bit to the north, back inside the Protected Area.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #122

2008-07-03T09:25:00.003-05:00

Kona remains near Punta Rasa.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #121

2008-07-02T09:55:00.003-05:00

Kona remains south of Bahia San Blas, moving between Punta Rasa and Punta Rubia, near the 20 m contour.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #120

2008-07-01T13:14:00.003-05:00

Four months into the tracking, Kona is heading back toward Bahia San Blas, moving along the 20 m contour.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #119

2008-06-30T11:34:00.003-05:00

Kona remains south of Bahia San Blas. Relaxing the location quality criteria, we can see that Tunken was near the mouth of Bahia San Blas yesterday, but no more recent data are available.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #118

2008-06-30T11:32:00.003-05:00

Signal Fading After 45,000 Transmissions
Tunken is still transmitting, but after 45,000 transmissions (only 25,000 were expected for this transmitter), battery strength has declined to the point where the signals are not sufficiently strong to provide good locations (hence, no updated location on today's map) or dive data, and we expect to lose contact with him soon. Kona has made 30,000 transmissions, and is beginning to show some decline in battery strength. She remains to the south of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #117

2008-06-30T11:32:00.002-05:00

Kona remains to the south of the bay, while Tunken remains in the vicinity of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #116

2008-06-27T12:43:00.003-05:00

Kona continues to the south, farther than she has been tracked previously, while Tunken remains near Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #115

2008-06-26T11:16:00.005-05:00

Genetic Analyses: New Hypothesis About Franciscana Mating Associations
Kona has continued moving to the south, while Tunken remains at the mouth of the bay. Martin Mendez has performed genetic analyses on the dolphins captured and tagged this year, and determined that the two males (Tunken and Nahuel) are not related to the females (Kure and Kona, respectively) with whom they were caught and subsequently interacted repeatedly, or for an extended period of time. The hypothesis that they were mothers with their older male calves can now be rejected, leaving in place the even-more-interesting alternative hypothesis that the adult females were spending extensive periods of time with young adult males (based on length), probably for mating purposes.

Extended associations between an adult female and a single, unrelated adult male are quite unusual among the odontocete cetaceans. If extended mating associations are the norm for Franciscana reproduction, then it raises new questions about the impacts of losses of a pair member from fishing nets.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #114

2008-06-25T13:07:00.004-05:00

Kona has moved to the south, while Tunken remains in the bay.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #113

2008-06-25T13:07:00.001-05:00

Kona remains outside the mouth of the bay while Tunken is inside,

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #112

2008-06-23T09:30:00.002-05:00

Tunken has moved deep into Bahia San Blas while Kona remains outside the mouth.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Days #110-111

2008-06-23T09:29:00.000-05:00

Kona remains offshore while Tunken is using the main, deep channel off San Blas.

Fanciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #109

2008-06-20T09:36:00.003-05:00

Tunken is deep inside Bahia San Blas, while Kona remains outside the mouth of the bay.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #108

2008-06-19T09:37:00.000-05:00

CLS-Argos is having technical difficulties this morning, so maps are not available, but both dolphins have been transmitting over the past day.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #107

2008-06-18T09:42:00.002-05:00

Tunken is inside Bahia San Blas, while Kona remains outside the mouth.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #106

2008-06-17T09:16:00.003-05:00

Both dolphins remain near the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #105

2008-06-16T09:43:00.002-05:00

Both dolphins are near the sandbanks south of the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #104

2008-06-16T09:42:00.002-05:00

Kona has returned from the south of Bahia San Blas, while Tunken remains in the bay.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #103

2008-06-16T09:42:00.001-05:00

Tunken remains at the entrance to Bahia San Blas while Kona is to the south.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #102

2008-06-13T10:35:00.003-05:00

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

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #101

2008-06-13T10:34:00.002-05:00

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

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #100

2008-06-11T10:25:00.002-05:00

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

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #99

2008-06-10T12:41:00.003-05:00

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

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #98

2008-06-09T09:39:00.002-05:00

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

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #97

2008-06-09T09:38:00.002-05:00

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

2008-06-09T09:38:00.001-05:00

Tunken remains inside the bay while Kona remains just outside.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #95

2008-06-06T09:45:00.003-05:00

Tunken is inside the bay, while Kona is near the mouth of the bay.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #94

2008-06-05T10:54:00.003-05:00

Tunken is deep inside Bahia San Blas, while Kona remains near the mouth.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #93

2008-06-04T09:53:00.003-05:00

Kona remains outside the mouth of Bahia San Blas, while Tunken has moved inside.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #92

2008-06-04T09:52:00.000-05:00

Both dolphins are outside the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #91

2008-06-02T10:24:00.004-05:00

Tunken has moved to the mouth of Bahia San Blas, where Kona remains.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #90

2008-06-02T10:24:00.001-05:00

At the three-month point in tracking, Tunken has moved inside Bahia San Blas, while Kona remains at the mouth.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #89

2008-06-02T10:23:00.001-05:00

Tunken and Kona are both at the mouth of Bahia San Blas. Nahuel's battery level dropped below the threshold for transmission after more than 30,000 transmissions, so we do not expect to hear from him again.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #88

2008-06-02T10:22:00.001-05:00

Tunken and Nahuel are at the mouth of Canal de Culebra, while Kona remains just outside Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #87

2008-05-29T13:38:00.002-05:00

Tunken is to the north, near Banco Culebra, Nahuel in between, and Kona off the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #86

2008-05-28T10:23:00.003-05:00

Tunken is headed toward Canal de Culebra, while Nahuel remains there and Kona remains at the mouth of Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #85

2008-05-28T10:22:00.001-05:00

Pattern remains comparable to previous days over the past week: Tunken in Bahia San Blas, Kona just outside, and Nahuel near Canal de Culebra.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #84

2008-05-28T10:20:00.000-05:00

The pattern of the past few days remains unchanged: Kure/Tunken in Bahia San Blas, Kona near the mouth, and Nahuel near Canal de Culebra.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #82

2008-05-28T10:19:00.000-05:00

The pattern is unchanged from the past few days. Nahuel is to the north, and the others remain in Bahia San Blas.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #81

2008-05-23T10:15:00.002-05:00

Kure/Tunken remain in Bahia San Blas, with Kona at the mouth, and Nahuel apparently returning from the north.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #80

2008-05-22T14:06:00.004-05:00

The pattern of the past few days continues, with Kure/Tunken deep inside Bahia San Blas, Kona outside the mouth,and Nahuel to the north.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #79

2008-05-22T14:06:00.001-05:00

A similar pattern to the past few days. Kure/Tunken are deep inside Bahia San Blas, Kona is near the mouth, and Nahuel remains in the vicinity of Canal de Culebra. If all goes as planned, Leo Berninsone and Carpi Echezaretta will go to Bahia San Blas for much-needed photo-ID work next week, and hopefully document the condition of the tags.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #78

2008-05-20T12:56:00.003-05:00

Nahuel remains north of Banco Culebra, while Kona is inside Bahia San Blas and Kure/Tunken are near the mouth of Bahia San Blas. Pablo is summarizing the results of the three years of satellite tracking in a paper to be presented at the International Whaling Commission's annual scientific meeting in Chile later this month.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #77

2008-05-19T09:32:00.002-05:00

Yesterday's pattern continues, with Nahuel still to the north of the others.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #76

2008-05-19T09:31:00.002-05:00

Nahuel is now north of Banco Culebra, farther north than we have tracked him to date, but still south the the northernmost extent of the track of Kure/Tunken. Kure and Tunken remain inside Bahia San Blas, while Kona is at the mouth.

Franciscana Dolphins - Tracking Day #75

2008-05-19T09:31:00.001-05:00

Three of the dolphins are in Bahia San Blas, while Nahuel remains in the vicinity of Canal de Culebra.