Research completed at Beaufort, North Carolina with Keith Rittmaster and Victoria Thaye

Lima, Faculty Advisor, Gail

O\u27Neill, Peggy

English

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Illinois Wesleyan UniversityDigital Commons @ IWUJohn Wesley Powell Student ResearchConference 1991, 2nd Annual JWP ConferenceApr 27th, 12:00 PM - 4:30 PMEvaluating the Use of Photo-Identification to VerifyResights and Determine Site Fidelity of BottlenoseDolphins, Tursiops Truncatus, in Beaufort, NorthCarolinaPeggy O'NeillIllinois Wesleyan UniversityGail Lima, Faculty AdvisorIllinois Wesleyan UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprcThis Event is brought to you for free and open access by The Ames Library, the Andrew W. Mellon Center for Curricular and FacultyDevelopment, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Commons @ IWU bythe faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@iwu.edu.©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.O'Neill, Peggy and Lima, Faculty Advisor, Gail, "Evaluating the Use of Photo-Identification to Verify Resights andDetermine Site Fidelity of Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops Truncatus, in Beaufort, North Carolina" (1991). John WesleyPowell Student Research Conference. 17.http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprc/1991/posters/17EVALUATING THE USE OF PHOTO-IDENTIFICATION TO VERIFY RESIGHTS AND DETERMINE SITE FIDELITY OF BOITLENOSE DOLPHINS, TURSIOPS TRUNCATUS, IN BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA Peggy O'Neill, Dept. of Biology, IWU, Gail Lima* Research completed at Beaufort, North Carolina with Keith Rittmaster and Victoria Thayer Little is known about the residency and migration patterns, also known as site fidelity, of many species of cetaceans. Photographic identification of individual animals allows researchers to gain knowledge about their migration. The dorsal fin morphology of various species of dolphins can be used to identify individuals photographically. The shape of the dorsal fin, and its distinctive scrapes, notches and wound marks, can be used to identify individual bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus. In this study, photo-identification was used to investigate the site fidelity of individual bottlenose dolphins in the waters surrounding Beaufort, North Carolina. Photographs were taken with single lens reflex motor drive 35 mm cameras using a 70-200 mm lens. Black and white prints of the dorsal fins were made and used to identify and compare individual dolphins. The photographs were catalogued according to the date the dolphin was first seen and given the next number in sequence for ease of reference. The fins were then grouped, according to the location of their most predominant notches, into one of ten categories. The efficiency of this method for photo-identification was also evaluated. One hundred ninety-nine of the 435 fins photographed from January 1986 through August 1990 were catalogued and categorized. Only twenty dolphins were sighted more than once in the Beaufort area during this time. These twenty dolphins followed no discern able pattern of site fidelity . The photo­identification method used, that is categorization by notch location, greatly decreased the search time needed for verifying individual resights. More data needs to be obtained before significant conclusions can be made concerning the site fidelity of the bottlenose dolphins in the Beaufort area. The information gained in this study will facilitate future research in the area of photo­identification. 

Evaluating the Use of Photo-Identification to Verify Resights and Determine Site Fidelity of Bottlenose Dolphins, \u3cem\u3eTursiops Truncatus\u3c/em\u3e, in Beaufort, North Carolina

https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&amp;context=jwprc

Evaluating the Use of Photo-Identification to Verify Resights and Determine Site Fidelity of Bottlenose Dolphins, \u3cem\u3eTursiops Truncatus\u3c/em\u3e, in Beaufort, North Carolina

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