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Using blubber biopsies to provide ecological information about bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) around the Azores

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2007

M.J. Walton
Affiliation:
Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 8LB, Scotland
M.A. Silva
Affiliation:
Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 8LB, Scotland Departamento de Oceanografia e Pesca (DOP), Universidade dos Açores, 9901-862 Horta, Açores, Portugal
S.M. Magalhães
Affiliation:
Departamento de Oceanografia e Pesca (DOP), Universidade dos Açores, 9901-862 Horta, Açores, Portugal
R. Prieto
Affiliation:
Departamento de Oceanografia e Pesca (DOP), Universidade dos Açores, 9901-862 Horta, Açores, Portugal
R.S. Santos
Affiliation:
Departamento de Oceanografia e Pesca (DOP), Universidade dos Açores, 9901-862 Horta, Açores, Portugal

Abstract

Fatty acid profiles were used to investigate aspects of bottlenose dolphin populations around the Azores archipelago. Biopsy samples were obtained from 70 dolphins during the period 2002–2004. No statistically significant differences in profiles were found between different island groups, between sexes or between year of sampling. Thus no evidence was seen for island group fidelity, in contrast to bottlenose dolphins found around similar island groups such as the Hawaiian archipelago or the Bahamas. The findings are consistent with concurrent genetic and photo-identification studies on dolphins in the Azores.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2007 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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