Reports of strandings and sightings of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in northeastern Brazil and Brazilian oceanic islands
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5597/00227Keywords:
Strandings, Sightings, Bottlenose dolphinAbstract
This study revises and updates information on bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatusstrandings and sightings in northeastern Brazil. A total of 72 strandings were recorded from 1992 to 2010, and 51 sightings were recorded from 1988 to 2010 along the states from Ceará to Bahia, including Fernando de Noronha and São Pedro and São Paulo archipelagos, Rocas Atoll and Abrolhos Bank. Most strandings were recorded in the states of Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio Grande do Norte. The number of reports was higher during summer, but no statistically significant difference was found between summer and other seasons. The majority of the stranded animals were adults (70.6%). Stranded calves were not observed. Total body length ranged from 138 to 321cm: 138 to 310cm for males; and 168 to 288cm for females. The average adult body length was 281cm (SD = 0.22). For stranding events where sex was determined (n = 29), a highly statistically significant difference was found between the number of males (n = 21) and females (n = 8). A total of six animals (8.3%) showed evidence of fisheries interactions such as net marks or removal of meat, blubber and eyes. Twenty-two sightings were recorded in the northeastern region, mostly in small islands and Rocas Atoll. This finding shows that the bottlenose dolphin is mainly an oceanic species in the region. More efforts are needed to improve our understanding of the populations and conservation status of bottlenose dolphins in this region.
References
Ayres, M., Ayres Júnior, M., Ayres, D.L. and Santos, A.A. (2007) BIOESTAT Aplicações estatísticas nas áreas das ciências biológicas e médicas. Sociedade Civil Mamirauá, Belém, Brazil. 364 pp.
Baracho, C., Cipolotti, S., Marcovaldi, E., Apolinário, M. and Silva, M.B. (2008) The occurrence of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the biological reserve of Atol das Rocas in north-eastern Brazil. Marine Biodiversity Journal 1: e75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1755267207007920
Barreto, A.S., Moraes, C.G., Sperb, R.M. and Bughi, C.H. (2004) Using GIS to manage cetacean strandings. Journal of Coastal Research 39: 1643-1645.
Castello, H. and Pinedo, C. (1977) Botos na Lagoa dos Patos. Natureza em Revista12: 46-49.
Fernandez, S.P. (1992) Composicion de edad y sexo parametros del ciclo de vida de toninas (Tursiops truncatus) varadas en el noroeste del Golfo de Mexico. M.Sc. Thesis. Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. Guaymas, Mexico. 109 pp.
Hammond, P.S., Bearzi, G., Bjørge, A., Forney, K.A., Karkzmarski, L., Kasuya, T., Perrin, W.F., Scott, M.D., Wang, J.Y., Wells, R.S. and Wilson, B. (2012) Tursiops truncatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T22563A17347397
IBAMA (2003) Lista de Espécies da Fauna Silvestre Ameaçadas de Extinção. Available at http://www.ibama.gov.br/documentos/listas-de-especies-da-fauna-e-floraameacadas-de-extincao. Consulted on 05 July 2013.
Fruet, P.F. (2008) Abundância, mortalidade em atividades pesqueiras e viabilidade da população de botos (Tursiops truncatus)do estuário da Lagoa dos Patos, RS, Brasil. M.Sc. Thesis. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande. Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 192 pp.
Kenny, R.D. (1990) Bottlenose dolphins off the northeastern United States. Pages 369-386 in Leatherwood, S. and Reeves, R.R. (Eds) The bottlenose dolphin. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, USA.
Leatherwood, S. and Reeves, R.R. (1982) Bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, and other toothed cetaceans. Pages 369–414 in Chapman, J.A. and Feldhamer, G.A. (Eds) Wild mammals of North America, biology, management, and economics. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Maldini D., Mazzuca, L. and Atkinson, S. (2005) Odontocete stranding patterns in the main Hawaiian Islands (1937–2002): how do they compare with live animal surveys? Pacific Science 59: 55–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/psc.2005.0009
Mattson, M.C., Mullin, K.D., Ingram-Jr., G.W. and Hoggard, W. (2006) Age structure and growth of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) from strandings in the Mississippi Sound region of the north-central Gulf of Mexico from 1986 to 2003. Marine Mammal Science 22(3): 654–666.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00057.x
Mead, J.G. and Potter, C.W. (1995) Recognizing two populations of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) off the Atlantic coast of North America: morphologic and ecologic considerations. IBI Reports (International Marine Biological Research Institute, Kamogawa, Japan) 5: 31–44.
Meirelles, A.C.O., Monteiro-Neto, C., Martins, A.M.A., Costa, A.F., Barros, H.M.D.R. and Alves, M.D.O. (2009) Cetacean strandings in Ceará coast, north-eastern Brazil (1992-2005). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 89(5): 1083-1090.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0025315409002215
Meirelles, A.C.O., Ribeiro, A.C., Silva, C.P.N. and SoaresFilho, A.A. (2010) Records of marine tucuxi dolphin, Sotalia guianensis, in the state of Ceará, northeastern Brazil. Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals 8 (1-2): 97-102. http://dx.doi.org/10.5597/lajam00157
Mignucci-Giannoni, A., Pinto-Rodriguez, B., VelascoEscudeiro, M., Montoya-Ospina, R.A., Jimenez-Marrero, N.M., Rodriguez-Lopez, M.A., Williams Jr, E.H. and Odell, D.K. (1999) Cetacean strandings in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 1: 191–198.
MMA (2014) Portaria no. 444, de 17 de Novembro de 2014. Lista Nacional Oficial de Espécies da Fauna Ameaçadas de Extinção.
Monteiro-Neto, C., Alves-Júnior, T.T., Ávila, F.J.C., Campos, A.A., Costa, A.F., Silva, C.P.N. and Furtado-Neto, M.A.A. (2000) Impact of fisheries on the tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) and rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis) populations off Ceará state, northeastern Brazil. Aquatic Mammals 26: 49–56.
Norris, K.S. (1961) Standardized methods for measuring and recording data on the smaller cetaceans. Journal of Mammalogy 42(4): 471-476. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1377364
Ott, P.H., Tavares, M., Moreno, I.B., Oliveira, L.R. and Danilewicz, D. (2009) Os cetáceos do Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo, Brasil. Pages 283-300 in Mohr, L.V., Castro, J.W.A., Costa, P.M.S. and Alves, R.J.V. (Eds) Ilhas Oceânicas Brasileiras: da pesquisa ao manejo. v.2. Ministério do Meio Ambiente/Secretaria de Biodiversidade e Florestas,
Brasília, Brazil.
Parente, C.L. (2005) Monitoramento de mamíferos marinhos durante estudos sísmicos no nordeste do Brasil. M.Sc. Thesis. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. Recife, PE, Brazil. 88 pp.
Reynolds, J.E., Wells, R.S. and Eide, S.D. (2000) The bottlenose dolphin: Biology and conservation. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. 289 pp.
Rocha-Campos, C.C., Câmara, I.G. and Pretto, D.J. (2011) Plano de Ação Nacional para a conservação dos mamíferos aquáticos: pequenos cetáceos. Série Espécies Ameaçadas, 18. Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade, Brasília, Brazil.
Shane, S. (1990) Comparison of bottlenose dolphin behavior in Texas and Florida, with a critique of methods for studying dolphin behavior. Page 541-558 in Leatherwood, S. and Reeves, R.R. (Eds) The bottlenose dolphin. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, USA.
Siciliano, S., Emin-Lima, N.R., Costa, A.F., Rodrigues, A.L.F., Magalhães, F.A., Tosi, C.H., Garri, R.G., Silva, C.R. and Silva-Junior, J.S. (2008) Revisão do conhecimento sobre os mamíferos aquáticos da costa norte do Brasil. Arquivos do Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro 66(2): 381-401.
Silva-Jr, J.M. (2010) The spinner of Noronha. Pages 93-159 in Silva-Jr, J.M. (Ed.) The Dolphins of Noronha, Bambu, São Paulo, Brazil.
Simões-Lopes, P.C. and Fabian, M.E. (1999) Residence patterns and site fidelity in bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus (Montagu) (Cetacea, Delphinidae) off Southern Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 16(4): 1017-1024. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0101-81751999000400012
Tosi, C.H., Magalhães A.F. and Garri, R.G. (2007) Can the estuarine dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) be classified as vulnerable species in Maranhão coast, northeastern Brazil? Whales Alive7: 1–3.
Wedekin, L.L., Daura-Jorge, F.G., Rossi-Santos, M.R. and Simões-Lopes, P.C. (2008) Notas sobre a distribuição, tamanho de grupo e comportamento do golfinho Tursiops truncatus (Cetacea, Delphinidae) na Ilha de Santa Catarina, sul do Brasil. Biota Neotropica 8(4): 225-229.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1676-06032008000400023
Wells, R.S. and Scott, M.D. (1999) Bottlenose dolphin - Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) Pages 137-182 in Ridgway, S.H. and Harrison, S.R. (Eds) Handbook of marine mammals Vol. 6: The second book of dolphins and porpoises. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, USA.
Wells, R.S. and Scott, M.D. (2009) Common bottlenose dolphin - Tursiops truncatus. Pages 249-255 in Perrin, W.F., Würsig, B. and Thewissen, J.G.M. (Eds) Encyclopedia of marine mammals. 2.ed. Academic Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
World Conservation Union (2008) 2008 IUCN Red list of threatened species. Available at www.iucnredlist. Consulted on 08 August 2013.
Worthy, G.A.J. (1998) Patterns of bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, strandings in Texas. Pages 47-55 in Zimmerman, R. (Ed.) Characteristics and causes of Texas marine strandings. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical Report National Marine Fisheries Science series of the Fishery Bulletin 143: 85 pp.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
