New Evidence for Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops spp.) Population Connectivity between Kangaroo Island and South Australian Mainland Waters

• Published in: Open Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Cribb, Nardi, Bartram, Phyll, Bartram, Tony, Seuront, Laurent
• Other Authors: Flinders University Adelaide, Australia, Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 (LOG), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; Kangaroo Island; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02333802; https://doi.org/10.4236/ojms.2018.81003

International audience Limited information still exists on the movements of bottlenose dolphins in South Australian coastal waters. There is, however, a need to overcome this paucity of information for an effective development and implementation of conservation and management initiatives in these waters that are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities. This study infers potential movements of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.) between Kangaroo Island that separate and shelter South Australian coastal waters from the Southern Ocean swell,and the South Australian mainland (The Fleurieu Peninsula and The Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary). Bottlenose dolphins were identified from three separate photo-identification catalogues collated from around the South Australian coastline. Of the 3518, 654 and 181 dolphins sighted in Kangaroo Island, Fleurieu Peninsula and the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary, 233, 74 and 40 individualswere recognizable, respectively. Resighting rates were similar in Kangaroo Island (70.4%) and Fleurieu Peninsula (75.7%), but much lower in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary (35%). Ten individuals were resighted between Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula, whilst no matches were made between these two locations and the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary catalogue. This suggests a longitudinal connectivity between Kangaroo Island and South Australian mainland waters, but a lack of latitudinal connectivity that mayresult from the physical stratification processes that separate northern and southern South Australian waters. Our results also demonstrate the highly mobile nature of this species within South Australian waters as well as establish