Intertidal habitat use of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Bahía San Antonio, Argentina

Abstract

Very little information is available on bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) habitat use in the Southwestern

Bottlenose dolphins share fish farm areas while maintaining sexual segregation: Investigating group memberships through spatially and temporally explicit parameters

“…The association index (mean HWI 0.28) is moderately high compared with most other worldwide studies of Tursiops . The value is similar to that observed in common bottlenose dolphins in the Aeolian Archipelago, Italy (Blasi & Boitani, 2014) and in Bahía San Antonio, Argentina (Vermeulen, 2018), but lower than that observed in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (Lusseau et al, 2003). In the Gulf of Corinth, associations were non‐random and there were clear structuring patterns, although a relatively low modularity (0.15) indicates this structuring may be relatively weak.…”

“…The association index (mean HWI 0.28) is moderately high compared with most other worldwide studies of Tursiops. The value is similar to that observed in common bottlenose dolphins in the Aeolian Archipelago, Italy (Blasi & Boitani, 2014) and in Bahía San Antonio, Argentina (Vermeulen, 2018), but lower than that observed in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (Lusseau et al, 2003) Möller, 2010;Wiszniewski, Brown & Möller, 2012;Johnston et al, 2017;Baker et al, 2018). A recent study on sexual segregation in Australian humpback dolphins Sousa sahulensis in western Australia also reported a low modularity (0.04; Hunt et al, 2019).…”

Where land meets sea: Intertidal areas as key‐habitats for sharks and rays

“…For instance, migratory wading birds use intertidal flats as stop‐over sites between wintering and breeding grounds along their migratory flyways as feeding areas to profit from the high availability of benthic prey species (Piersma et al, 1993; Zwarts & Piersma, 1990). Marine mammals such as small cetaceans and pinnipeds use intertidal habitats for feeding (Vermeulen, 2018) and for resting (Wilson & Jones, 2018), whereas terrestrial mammals benefit from the extra feeding opportunities that intertidal habitats provide (Carlton & Hodder, 2003). During high tide, marine species such as teleost fishes use intertidal habitats for feeding, refuge and as a nursery habitat (Gibson, 1986; Gibson & Yoshiyama, 1999).…”

“…The value of intertidal habitats has been recognized for species groups such as migratory wading birds (Deppe, 1999;Piersma et al, 1993), marine mammals (Vermeulen, 2018;Wilson & Jones, 2018), teleost fishes (Deppe, 1999;Gibson & Yoshiyama, 1999) and even for some terrestrial mammals (Carlton & Hodder, 2003). For instance, migratory wading birds use intertidal flats as stop-over sites between wintering and breeding grounds along their migratory flyways as feeding areas to profit from the high availability of benthic prey species (Piersma et al, 1993;Zwarts & Piersma, 1990).…”

Testing satellite telemetry within narrow ecosystems: nocturnal movements and habitat use of bottlenose dolphins within a convoluted estuarine system

“…are among the most coastal of all cetaceans, with a number of populations occupying habitats such as shallow, brackish waters [12][13][14], embayments [15,16], and areas in close proximity to centers of human populations [17]. Much has been learned about diurnal foraging ecology [16,18], habitat use [19][20][21], and ranging patterns [15,22,23] of coastal and estuarine populations, which can vary widely based upon location [24], season [25], and sex [16,26]. Many of these populations face numerous direct and indirect anthropogenic threats, including contaminants [27,28], human disturbance [29][30][31][32], and injury (e.g., vessel strikes [33,34] and entanglement [35][36][37]).…”