Little is known about belugas in managed care. Previous studies evaluated socio-sexual behavior in belugas across multiple facilities, but little data has been collected on their spatial use within a habitat (i.e., Hill, et al., 2015)

Berni, Teresina

Deamico, Melissa V.

King, Hailey

Marottolo, Kailey L.

English

Sacred Heart University: DigitalCommons@SHU

Delphinapterus	Leucas'	Spatial	Use	and	Social	Behavior	in	a	Managed	Care	EnvironmentHailey	King,	Teresina	Berni,	Kailey	Marottolo & Melissa	DeamicoMentored	by:	Dr.	Deirdre	Yeater,	Psychology	DepartmentResults:• An	activity	budget	was	calculated	for	behavior and	habitat	location. Refer	to	both Figure	2	and Figure	3.• The	majority	of time	for	these	three	adults	was spent	in	solo	swimming.Discussion:• Females	tended	to	behave	more	independently,	while	the	male	interacted	at	the	underwater	viewing	window	with	aquarium	guests.	Lilley,	et.	al,	(2020)	also	found	that	adult	females	behaved	independently.• Mixed	age	and	sex	groups	tends	to	diversity	behavior	of	belugas	in	aquariums	(Hill	et	al.,	2015)	.	The	current	research	supports	this	welfare	application.• Social	group	composition,	complexity	of	the	environment,	habitat	configuration,	and enrichment	are	important	to	consider	for	welfare	assessments	in	managed	care	settings.	(Hill	&	Nollens,	2019).• These	findings	may	benefit	both	captive	and	wild	populations	through	a	greater	understanding	of	beluga	behavior	(Hill	et	al,	2021).Introduction:• Little	is	known	about	belugas	in	managed	care. Previous	studies	evaluated	socio-sexual	behavior in	belugas	across	multiple	facilities,	but little data	has	been	collected on	their	spatial	use	within	a habitat	(i.e.,	Hill,	et	al.,	2015).• In	previous	studies (i.e.,	Hill,	et	a.,	2019) females	spent	more	time	alone, whereas	the	males	were	much	more engaged with each	other.	High	rates	of	male	locomotor	play	activities	were	also	found	in	previous	research	(Hill,	et	al.,	2021).• This	longitudinal	study	of	social	behaviors	evaluated the	social	interactions	between	three	belugas	 by	studying	their	swim patterns	and	spatial	use	of	their	habitat	in	a managed	care environment.Method:• Subjects:	Housed	at	Mystic	Aquarium	in	Mystic, Connecticut• Male	A	(AM)	– 18-year-old• Female	A	(AF1)– Estimated	40-year-old• Female	B	(AF2)– Estimated	40-year-old• Video	data	were	recording	using	continuous	sampling (Altman,	et.,	1974).• 16	videos	were	coded for	behavior	and	location• Each	video	was	approximately 27 min.• Videos	were recorded April	-September 2021• Videos	were	coded	by	Independent	raters	(over	90%	reliability)• Starting	and	ending location for	each	behavior	was	coded	if	the	individual	moved locations	(See	Fig.	1.)References:Figure	1:	Habitat	SectionsFigure	2:	Percentage	of	Time	per	LocationFigure	4: Image	of	Male	AFigure	3:	Percentage	of	Time	per	Behavior1King et al.: Delphinapt rus Leucas' Spatial Use and Social Beh vior: The StudyPublished by DigitalCommons@SHU, 2022

Delphinapterus Leucas\u27 Spatial Use and Social Behavior: The Study of a Managed Care Environment

https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1922&amp;context=acadfest

Delphinapterus Leucas\u27 Spatial Use and Social Behavior: The Study of a Managed Care Environment

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