Abundance of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) along the south coast of South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Coastally distributed dolphin species are vulnerable to a variety of anthropogenic pressures, yet a lack of abundance data often prevents data-driven conservation management strategies from being implemented. We investigated the abundance of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) along the south coast of South Africa, from the Goukamma Marine Protected Area (MPA) to the Tsitsikamma MPA, between 2014 and 2016. During this period, 662.3h of boat-based photo-identification survey effort was carried out during 189 surveys. The sighting histories of 817 identified individuals were used to estimate abundance using capture-recapture modelling. Using open population (POPAN) models, we estimated that 2,155 individuals (95% CI: 1,873-2,479) occurred in the study area, although many indi

SUBMITTER: Vargas-Fonseca OA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7549814 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature