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- Title
OFFSHORE BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS (TURSIOPS TRUNCATUS): MOVEMENT AND DIVE BEHAVIOR NEAR THE BERMUDA PEDESTAL.
- Authors
Klatsky, Leigh J.; Wells, Randall S.; Sweeney, Jay C.
- Abstract
The behavior of offshore bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in deep water and near oceanic islands is not well known. Using satellite-linked, time-depth recorders, we investigated the movements and dive behavior of offshore bottlenose dolphins in the deep waters surrounding the Bermuda Pedestal. Three dolphins were tracked from 5 to 45 days and traveled a mean distance of 28.3 km/day where mean water depth was 1,402.0 m ± 1,120.7 SD. Regular dives during the night (2100-0259 h local time) to depths greater than 450 m (8.9% of total dives), 46.4% of night dives lasting longer than 5 min, and high hematocrit values reveal the deep-diving capabilities of offshore bottlenose dolphins. During the day (09013-1459 h local time), dives tended to be shallow, with 96% of dives within 50 m of the surface, and of short durations, with 52.7% lasting less than 1 minp-diving capabilities of offshore bottlenose dolphins. During the day (09013-1459 h local time), dives tended to be. At dusk (1500-2059 h local time), the number of dives increased (X̄ = 72.4 ± 19.6), indicating a diel dive cycle. The dive patterns of bottlenose dolphins in Bermuda waters correlate with the reported nightly vertical migrations of mesopelagic prey along the steep-sided Bermuda Pedestal.
- Subjects
BERMUDA Islands; BOTTLENOSE dolphin; ANIMAL mechanics; ANIMAL behavior; BEHAVIOR
- Publication
Journal of Mammalogy, 2007, Vol 88, Issue 1, p59
- ISSN
0022-2372
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1644/05-MAMM-A-365R1.1