Dolphin Behavior and Habitat Use
The use of telemetry (radio and satellite) allows individual dolphins to be consistently relocated over time, enabling detailed studies that evaluate habitat usage, behavioral ecology (how dolphins spend their time) and provides insight into dolphin social structure. These same methods in tandem or in addition to photo-identification methods are utilized to monitor dolphins that are treated and released following stranding, rehabilitation or disentanglement. Post-release monitoring of stranded and injured bottlenose dolphins provides critical information regarding the success of intervention efforts and provides data that are critical to determining how best to treat local dolphins in need of assistance.
Selected Publications:
Durden, W.N., O’Corry-Crowe, G., Shippee, S., Jablonski, T., Rodgers, S. Mazzoil, M. Howells, E., Hartel, E., Potgieter, B., Londono, C., Moreland, L., Townsend, F., McCulloch, S. and Bossart, G. 2019. Small-scale movement patterns, activity budgets, and association patterns of radio-tagged Indian River Lagoon bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Aquatic Mammals, 45(1): 66-87. doi: 10.1578/AM.45.1.2019.66
Hartel, L., Durden, W.N., O’Corry-Crowe, G. 2020. Testing satellite telemetry within narrow ecosystems: Nocturnal movements and habitat use of bottlenose dolphins within a convoluted estuarine system. Animal Biotelemetry, 8:13.