Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T10:56:57.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Occurrence and distribution of cetaceans in São Tomé and Príncipe tropical archipelago and their relation to environmental variables

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2009

C. Picanço ,
I. Carvalho  and
C. Brito
C. Picanço*
Affiliation:
UBC—Unidade de Biologia da Conservação, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Valverde, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal Projecto Delfim—Centro Português de Estudos dos Mamíferos Marinhos, Rua Alto do Dugue, 45, 1400-009, Lisboa, Portugal
I. Carvalho
Affiliation:
Projecto Delfim—Centro Português de Estudos dos Mamíferos Marinhos, Rua Alto do Dugue, 45, 1400-009, Lisboa, Portugal Faculdade de Ciências do Mar e Ambiente—Universidade do Algarve, Campus Gambelas, 8000-139 Faro, Portugal Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
C. Brito
Affiliation:
Escola de Mar, Rua Actriz Virgínia, 17 C, 1900-026 Lisboa, Portugal
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: C. Picanço, Projecto Delfim, Rua Alto do Duque, 45, 1400-009 Lisboa, Portugal email: cristina.picanco@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

São Tomé and Príncipe is an archipelago located in the Gulf of Guinea. This archipelago seems to be an important area for cetaceans, probably due to large concentrations of prey, as well as the existence of several small bays and shallow water that constitute preferred rest areas. In comparison to other areas of the world, little is known about cetacean communities in this archipelago. Boat-based surveys to record sightings of cetaceans were conducted between 2002 and 2005, which represents the first approach to study the occurrence of whales and dolphins in this tropical region. Sightings of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata), killer whales (Orcinus orca), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and pilot whales (Globicephala melas) were recorded. Cetaceans were found throughout a range of sea surface temperature between 24 and 29°C and a wide range of depths. Significant differences were found regarding the occurrence of some species. Humpback whales showed a preference for shallower waters between 20 and 100 m. Bottlenose dolphins occurred most commonly along the continental shelf (20 to 100 m) and pantropical spotted dolphins occurred in deep slope waters (>1000 m).

Keywords

occurrencedistributioncetaceansSão ToméPríncipeenvironmental variables
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Special Issue 5: Cetaceans , August 2009 , pp. 1071 - 1076
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aguilar, A. (1985) Aboriginal whaling off Pagalu (Equatorial Guinea). Report of the International Whaling Commission 35, 385–386.Google Scholar
Budker, P. and Collignon, J. (1952) Trois campagnes balenières au Gabon: 1949–1950–1951. Bulletin de l'Institut d'Etudes Centrafricaines 3, 75–100.Google Scholar
Carvalho, I. (2004) Ocorrências e comportamentos das baleias corcundas (Megaptera novaeangliae, Borowski, 1781), no sul de S. Tomé e Príncipe. Masters thesis in etology. ISPA. Lisbon, 80 pp.Google Scholar
Estabrook, C.B. and Estabrook, G.F. (1989) ACTUS: a solution to the problem of small samples in the analysis of two-way contingency tables. Historical Methods 22, 5–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ersts, P.J. and Rosenbaum, H.C. (2003) Habitat preference reflects social organization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) on a wintering ground. Journal of Zoology, London 260, 337–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Figueiredo, M. (1958) Pescarias de baleias nas províncias africanas portuguesas. V Congresso Nacional de Pesca. 9 pp.Google Scholar
Hooker, S.K., Whitehead, H. and Gowans, S. (1999) Marine protected area design and the spatial and temporal distribution of cetaceans in a submarine canyon. Conservation Biology 13, 592–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoyt, E. (2005) Marine Protected Areas for whales, dolphins and porpoises—a world handbook for cetacean habitat conservation. London: Earthscan, 492 pp.Google Scholar
Longhurst, A.R. and Pauly, D. (1987) Ecology of tropical oceans. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
MacLeod, C.D. and Bennett, E. (2007) Pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) and other cetaceans around St Helena in the tropical south-eastern Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 87, 339–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maze-Foley, K. and Mullin, K.D. (2006) Cetaceans of the oceanic northern Gulf of Mexico: distributions, group sizes and interspecific associations. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 8, 203–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reiner, F., Dos Santos, M. and Wenzel, F. (1996) Cetaceans of the Cape Verde Archipelago. Marine Mammal Science 12, 434–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selzer, L.A. and Payne, P.M. (1988) The distribution of white-sided (Lagenorhynchus acutus) and common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) vs. environmental features of the continental shelf of the northeastern United States. Marine Mammal Science 4, 141–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silva, M.A., Prieto, R., Magalhães, S., Cabecinhas, R., Cruz, A., Gonçalves, J.M. and Santos, R.S. (2003) Occurrence and distribution of cetaceans in the waters around the Azores (Portugal), summer and autumn 1999–2000. Aquatic Mammals 29, 77–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walsh, P., Fay, M., Gulick, S. and Sounguet, G. (2001) Humpback whale activity near Cap Lopez, Gabon. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 2, 63–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar