Journal
MARINE AND FRESHWATER RESEARCH
Volume 60, Issue 6, Pages 584-593Publisher
CSIRO PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1071/MF08279
Keywords
behaviour; conservation; distribution; feeding; habitat; occurrence; photo-identification
Funding
- Ocean Conservation Society
- Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission
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Populations of coastal and offshore bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are considered to differ ecologically, with implications for their protection and management. We assessed occurrence, distribution and behaviour of coastal and offshore populations of dolphins during a photo-identification study in Santa Monica Bay and nearby areas (1997-2007). Bottlenose dolphins occurred year-round and were encountered on 44.2% of all surveys (n=425). We photo-identified 647 individuals; of these, 375 (58.0%) were coastal (<1 km from shore), 241 (37.2%) offshore (1-65 km from shore) and 31 were both (4.8%). Dolphins mostly travel (69.0%) and travel-dive (61.5%), with offshore dolphins socialising more (22.6%) than coastal. There were low re-sighting rates for both coastal and offshore dolphins. Low re-sighting rates of coastal individuals provide little evidence of year-round site fidelity, suggesting their range is greater than the study area. Several individuals were re-sighted between and over 1-year periods, often foraging. This suggests that coastal dolphins: (1) are highly mobile within inshore waters, but spend time foraging in the study area; and (2) range >1 km from shore, contrary to what has been previously reported.
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