CZS Sarasota Dolphin Program

Friday, October 12, 2007

Betty - October 12

Betty has continued to the SW, roughly paralleling the 200 m contour, but remaining in more than 3,000 m of water. About 92% of her dives are to less than 50 m, and 97% are to less than 100 m. Today, she continues moving to the west, toward Mexico. I am on the road for the next few days, with variable access to the internet, so the timing of daily reports may not be regular.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

September 15, 2007

Here is today's map. Yaana continues to spend time in deeper waters just off the mouth of the bay. Pablo indicates that tides are not extreme at this time, the
reason for this pattern remains unclear.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

September 12, 2007

Yaana is in deeper water today than we have seen her previously, off the mouth of the bay.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

September 11, 2007

Yaana is using the entrance channel and the waters immediately outside the bay.

Monday, September 10, 2007

September 10, 2007

Yaana continues the pattern that typfied her movements following her original tagging six months ago. Saturay marked the half-year point for tracking Yaana (not bad for a 2-month battery). It was only fitting that she centered her movements around the original capture and tagging site on that day... Today Yaana continues the pattern that has typfied her movements over the last six months.

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.