Discrete or not so discrete: Long distance movements by coastal bottlenose dolphins in UK and Irish waters

Kevin P. Robinson; Joanne M. O'Brien; Simon Berrow; Barbara Jean Cheney; Marina Costa; Sonja M. Eisfeld; Damien Haberlin; Laura Mandleberg; Mairead O'Donovan; Machiel G. Oudejans; Conor Ryan; Peter T. Stevick; Paul Michael Thompson; Padraig Whooley

Discrete or not so discrete: Long distance movements by coastal bottlenose dolphins in UK and Irish waters

Kevin P. Robinson, Joanne M. O'Brien, Simon Berrow, Barbara Jean Cheney, Marina Costa, Sonja M. Eisfeld, Damien Haberlin, Laura Mandleberg, Mairead O'Donovan, Machiel G. Oudejans, Conor Ryan, Peter T. Stevick, Paul Michael Thompson, Padraig Whooley

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The potential for long distance movements in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from six UK and Irish study sites was examined using photographs of natural markings. Here we provide the first evidence for long-term re-sightings between the Moray Firth, Inner Hebrides and across international borders to the Republic of Ireland as determined for eight individuals over a ten year period from 2001 to 2010. Minimum dispersal distances of up to 1,277km were resolved providing a new distance record for the species in European waters. Although none of the sightings were made within protected areas, several were made in waters used by animals from a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) revealing some evidence for connectivity between areas previously regarded as discrete. Our findings highlight the need to mitigate broader-scale anthropogenic impacts affecting these dolphins across multiple sites throughout their coastal range. Accordingly, we underline the importance of developing wider conservation measures for this species in UK and Irish waters, but particularly in prospective corridor areas potentially linking SACs in the Moray Firth, Cardigan Bay and Shannon Estuary.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	365-371
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Cetacean Research and Management
Volume	12
Issue number	3
Publication status	Published - 2012

Bibliographical note

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
Thanks to all the consenting institutions, without whose cooperation this investigation would not have been possible. Many people were involved in the collation of the respective
long-term datasets and images and we would like to thank all individuals, organisational members and respective funding bodies who contributed to the photographic archives and
opportunistic sightings underpinning this study. JO’B would like to thank the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government for funding in 2007. Additional thanks to Gareth Duguid for facilitating the initial communications between KR and JO’B and to Pia Anderwald, in her role as project manager with CMRC, for cooperation with the Broadhaven bottlenose dataset. Finally thanks to Colin MacLeod and Mark Simmonds for constructive comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable input and suggestions resulting in the final paper.

Keywords

Common bottlenose dolphin
movements
photo-ID
monitoring
management procedure
conservation

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Robinson, K. P., O'Brien, J. M., Berrow, S., Cheney, B. J., Costa, M., Eisfeld, S. M., Haberlin, D., Mandleberg, L., O'Donovan, M., Oudejans, M. G., Ryan, C., Stevick, P. T., Thompson, P. M., & Whooley, P. (2012). Discrete or not so discrete: Long distance movements by coastal bottlenose dolphins in UK and Irish waters. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 12(3), 365-371. https://archive.iwc.int/pages/search.php?search=%21collection15&k=#

Robinson, KP, O'Brien, JM, Berrow, S, Cheney, BJ, Costa, M, Eisfeld, SM, Haberlin, D, Mandleberg, L, O'Donovan, M, Oudejans, MG, Ryan, C, Stevick, PT, Thompson, PM & Whooley, P 2012, 'Discrete or not so discrete: Long distance movements by coastal bottlenose dolphins in UK and Irish waters', Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 365-371. <https://archive.iwc.int/pages/search.php?search=%21collection15&k=#>

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abstract = "The potential for long distance movements in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from six UK and Irish study sites was examined using photographs of natural markings. Here we provide the first evidence for long-term re-sightings between the Moray Firth, Inner Hebrides and across international borders to the Republic of Ireland as determined for eight individuals over a ten year period from 2001 to 2010. Minimum dispersal distances of up to 1,277km were resolved providing a new distance record for the species in European waters. Although none of the sightings were made within protected areas, several were made in waters used by animals from a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) revealing some evidence for connectivity between areas previously regarded as discrete. Our findings highlight the need to mitigate broader-scale anthropogenic impacts affecting these dolphins across multiple sites throughout their coastal range. Accordingly, we underline the importance of developing wider conservation measures for this species in UK and Irish waters, but particularly in prospective corridor areas potentially linking SACs in the Moray Firth, Cardigan Bay and Shannon Estuary.",

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note = "ACKNOWLEGEMENTS Thanks to all the consenting institutions, without whose cooperation this investigation would not have been possible. Many people were involved in the collation of the respective long-term datasets and images and we would like to thank all individuals, organisational members and respective funding bodies who contributed to the photographic archives and opportunistic sightings underpinning this study. JO{\textquoteright}B would like to thank the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government for funding in 2007. Additional thanks to Gareth Duguid for facilitating the initial communications between KR and JO{\textquoteright}B and to Pia Anderwald, in her role as project manager with CMRC, for cooperation with the Broadhaven bottlenose dataset. Finally thanks to Colin MacLeod and Mark Simmonds for constructive comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable input and suggestions resulting in the final paper.",

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ER -

Discrete or not so discrete: Long distance movements by coastal bottlenose dolphins in UK and Irish waters

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Cite this