Bottlenose dolphins really can jump

This is another image of a high jump. It dates back to 1988 and it was taken in the early days of a study of bottlenose dolphins around the island of Losinj (back then Yugoslavia, now Croatia).

I can't remember whether this photo was taken by me or by my colleague Benedetta Cavalloni. We both had cameras and we were shooting at unison from the inflatable. I suspect this one is hers.

Digital cameras did not exist, and it was all manual settings. One had to wait for a long time before seeing the slides printed, hoping they were good. And the slides themselves tended to fade and accumulate scratches, as shown by this image. So much simplier today!

Bottlenose dolphins can jump

Photos taken in the Northern Gulf of Evia, Greece.

Scale bars are approximated. Total body size (lower right image) based on average size of adult individuals stranded in the eastern Mediterranean. Maximum height reached during this jump may be between 4 and 5 m.

While bottlenose dolphins can jump higher, this looks like a remarkable performance.

Oceans in trouble, more than ever

Oceans are facing increasingly serious threats, from overfishing to pollution. This stunning infographic shows why oceans are important and visualizes the threats they face.

See the full image HERE.

Cruel dolphin killing method used in Taiji, Japan

The article below has been published recently.

Butterworth A., Brakes P., Vailc C.S., Reiss D. 2013. A veterinary and behavioral analysis of dolphin killing methods currently used in the “drive hunt” in Taiji, Japan. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 16(2):184-204.

ABSTRACT — Annually in Japanese waters, small cetaceans are killed in “drive hunts” with quotas set by the government of Japan. The Taiji Fishing Cooperative in Japan has published the details of a new killing method that involves cutting (transecting) the spinal cord and purports to reduce time to death. The method involves the repeated insertion of a metal rod followed by the plugging of the wound to prevent blood loss into the water. To date, a paucity of data exists regarding these methods utilized in the drive hunts. Our veterinary and behavioral analysis of video documentation of this method indicates that it does not immediately lead to death and that the time to death data provided in the description of the method, based on termination of breathing and movement, is not supported by the available video data. The method employed causes damage to the vertebral blood vessels and the vascular rete from insertion of the rod that will lead to significant hemorrhage, but this alone would not produce a rapid death in a large mammal of this type. The method induces paraplegia (paralysis of the body) and death through trauma and gradual blood loss. This killing method does not conform to the recognized requirement for “immediate insensibility” and would not be tolerated or permitted in any regulated slaughterhouse process in the developed world.
 
A pdf of this article can be downloaded HERE.

You may also want to read this ARTICLE appeared in The New York Times.

Entangled nature

Sometimes we succeed disentangling animals found trapped in ghost fishing gear, or with pieces of longline protruding from their beaks and mouths. With sea turtles it is often possible to act and quickly release the animal. With dolphins, it is way more difficult.

This bottlenose dolphin was seen in the Northern Evoikos Gulf in 2011, dragging a 3m-long rope that was wrapped around his caudal peduncle. The animal even came to bowride, but one could tell that he was swimming with some difficulty.

Silvia and I tried hard to catch the rope with our boat hook, but that proved impossible. The sea soon became wavy, frustrating our efforts to release the animal. We soon lost sight of the whole group, and that individual was never seen again.

Close-up photos showed that rope friction had started to cut through the tissues. In the long run, such process may result in amputation of the fluke, or death of the animal because of the difficulty of swimming and foraging.

Encounters Among Waves

An interactive digital booklet with animations and videos, featuring some of the amazing animals we see when we are out at sea.

Mostly Mediterranean stories (Greece, Italy), with a bit of... Texas.

The booklet is a Flash file and it can be downloaded HERE.

Marine finfish aquaculture and its "fishy" appeal to bottlenose dolphins

Bottlenose dolphins in the Mediterranean are increasingly attracted by marine finfish aquaculture facilities. Increased availability of prey near fish farms may help the dolphins survive in areas that have been intensively overfished. However, foraging near fish farms may expose the animals to pollution and anthropogenic noise.

Dolphin Biology People: Nina

Nina Santostasi first joined our small team in 2011, when she came to Galaxidi to study dolphins as a research assistant.

She soon became an important component of the group, and in 2012 she worked with us for several months, this time in the context of her M.Sc. in Eco-Biology at ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome, Italy. Her thesis project focuses on the use of individual photo-identification as a tool to obtain estimates of dolphin population size in the Gulf of Corinth.

Her previous experience includes participating in bottlenose dolphin research around the Italian island of Lampedusa, in the ‘Isole Pelagie’ Marine Protected Area. In 2011 she was awarded a fellowship by North Carolina State University, USA, where she integrated her curriculum with Statistics and Conservation Biology courses. In 2012 Nina joined us in the Argolikos Gulf, Greece, and helped collect data on dolphin-fisheries interactions.

Along the way, Nina has become an expert in the use of Program MARK, and we hope that she will find her professional path in the tough microcosm of cetacean science. 

Presentations at Galaxidi schools - 2

Today we made our second presentation at the Galaxidi theatre. The audience included approximately 130 school children with their teachers. These children were great, correctly answering questions about dolphin identity (from dorsal fin markings) and being very excited. They were all given a copy of the dolphin booklet in Greek (see our previous post).

A photo album of this experience can be viewed HERE.

Children booklets in Greek

Thanks to OceanCare, we printed 500 children booklets in Greek, and they came out really nice.

They will be distributed during presentations at local schools.

The booklet can be viewed and downloaded as a pdf from THIS LINK, in ten different languages.

Presentations at Galaxidi schools - 1

Silvia made a presentation for High School (Lykeo) and Classical School (Gymnasio) kids. There were more that 100 students, and it was a success.

Everybody was nice and helpful, and Silvia was asked to do more presentations in other towns and schools next year.

Free-ranging bottlenose dolphin show

A small group of bottlenose dolphins put on a remarkable show today, after having fed in the proximity of Galaxidi's fish farms. They socialized intensively for about an hour, for the joy of people who were watching them from shore. Then they left and moved on to their next favourite feeding spot.

Movements of bottlenose dolphins in and out of the Gulf of Corinth have been described in the article that can be downloaded HERE.

The one Risso's dolphin in the Gulf of Corinth

Today we encountered again the one and possibly only Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus left in the Gulf of Corinth. As usual, this female was seen swimming in a large group of striped (predominantly) and common dolphins.

The smaller dolphins seem to like the Risso's a lot – some individuals even engaging in frequent physical contact.

We normally encounter this animal once or twice a year. Sighting positions can be seen in the map available HERE, for this and other species found in the Gulf.

Striped dolphins and jellyfish

Favorite dolphin play with jellyfish include rubbing their body – rostrum to flukes – or hitting Mediterranean jellies with their rostrum to make them 'explode' as if they were targets (and these circular invertebrates actually do look a bit like targets, with their orange spot in the middle).

Caretta caretta feeding on Cotylorhiza tuberculata

Today we sighted a young loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta intently feeding on a Mediterranean jelly Cotylorhiza tuberculata.

A few images captured during the banquet can be seen HERE.

Tractor wheel at sea

During today's navigation we spotted a semi-submersed tractor wheel. It was enormous, and barely visible from the surface.

Because we thought it could be a threat for speedboats, we tried dragging it to the nearest shore with our inflatable, but it was so heavy that it just wouldn't move. We therefore decided to put a pole and a flag on top of the wheel, to mark its position.

Our friend Nicola is shown here while riding the tractor wheel and setting up the flag – a task that took about an hour. When we eventually left, the white flag was highly visible, hopefully preventing collisions with boats.

Fin whale mortality in the Adriatic

In this scientific article, Nino Pierantonio and I contributed an updated list of fin whale mortality events in the Adriatic Sea, together with an account on the killing of a fin whale in 1960.

The paper can be downloaded HERE.

Galaxidi rockers

Last week a remarkable couple came to visit us in Galaxidi: two members of the rock band Shide.

While Renata and Stefano may not look like rockers in this photo, see what they can do when armed with microphone and electric guitar:

Shide - Anguish (from YouTube)

Golden jackal visiting

Last night we were sitting in our patio in Galaxidi when a juvenile golden jackal came to eat figs from the fig tree a few metres from us, staying there for several minutes: an amazing encounter! It was the first animal of this species we have ever seen in this area.

Because I did not want to use a flash, the photo was shot at 1600 ISO and 1/80th of second - it came out completely dark and it was then overexposed, offering a glimpse of the beauty of this endangered wild animal.

Information on the status of golden jackals Canis aureus in Europe can be found in THIS ARTICLE.

Cotylorhiza invasion

The whole Gulf of Corinth has been invaded by these beauties. We took several videos and photos to document their amazing high density. This image was taken by Silvia yesterday.

Apparently, Cotylorhiza tubercolata (as well as Salpa maxima) are regularly blooming in the Gulf. There was a similar phenomenon in 2010, albeit of smaller proportions. This year's bloom is just unbelievable.

A photo album can bee seen HERE.

Striped dolphin newborn

Yesterday sighted lots of dolphins, including a group of over 100 striped dolphins, with a dozen of newborns all in the same subgroup.

This image shows a particularly cute newborn jumping besides its presumed mother.

Gardening

We have done a fair bit of gardening together with our friend and landlord Christos. Most plants had to be planted by digging holes into the bare rock, because the whole garden was basically just rocks and stones.

We hope that the plants will grow, and next year we expect our garden to be nice and green!

A tentative Zen garden is shown below :-)

Tuna feeding at the surface

This year we are seeing lots of tuna schools feeding at the surface. It often makes a spectacular sight, especially when these large streamlined animals clear the water in an attempt to catch a fish, and seagulls or shearwaters all around try to benefit.

The positions of our encounters with tuna in the Gulf of Corinths can be seein in THIS MAP. However, it should be mentioned that the map does not reflect the actual distribution in any given year. Survey effort and sea state must be taken into account.

Unexpected encounter with a leatherback sea turtle

Today we made a rather extraordinary encounter: a leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea about 2-2.5m long was breathing at the surface, on a completely flat sea.

The sighting was extraordinary in three respects. First, leatherback sea turtles are classified as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and therefore make a rare encounter anywhere. Second, the Gulf of Corinth is a semi-enclosed basin separated from open Mediterranean waters by a narrow (2-km wide) and shallow strait, crossed by a bridge. Third, historically there is only one other report of a leatherback sea turtle in the Gulf of Corinth. It dates back to 1982 (that is 30 years ago) and it refers to an animal caught in a net and killed by a fishermen, as reported by sea turtle expert Dimitris Margaritoulis in his Journal of Ethology note of 1986.

Additionally, in my 25 years of experience as a dolphin biologist I never had a chance of encountering one of these magnificent animals.

This particular turtle let our small boat approach close enough to take a few photographs and videos. It was a breathtaking experience!

(Photo by G. Bearzi, August 2012)

Striped dolphin Olympic Games

The winner of the Striped Dolphin Olympic Games, in the "Jellyfish" specialty, is the animal portrayed in the two photos above.

One full centre and one hit in only 2 seconds.

An underwater video of this performance can be watched HERE.