Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce the new publication on sexual segregation of
dolphins in estuaries using GIS data. The paper can be freely accessed on
PLoS ONE using the follow link
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0052987
Citation: Fury CA, Ruckstuhl KE, Harrison
PL (2013) Spatial and Social Sexual Segregation Patterns in Indo-Pacific
Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops
aduncus). PLoS ONE 8(1): e52987.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052987.
Abstract
Sexual
segregation seems to be common in bottlenose dolphins, whereby males and
females live in different pods that mix mainly for mating. Male dolphins
often use aggressive behaviour to mate with females, while females with
calves may have different activity and dietary requirements to males and
different susceptibility to predation. We investigated the degree of
spatial and social sexual segregation in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins
(Tursiops aduncus) in a subtropical estuary in Australia. Based on
surveys completed over three years, dolphin groups were mostly mixed-sex
or female. Mixed-sex groups were found in larger groups in mostly deeper
water, whereas, female groups were foraging across all water depths in
smaller groups. Aggressive coercive
behaviour by
males towards females was high, occurring mainly in deeper water, at
higher tides, and outside the breeding season. Habitat use by female
dolphin groups suggests that shallow tributaries may provide a sanctuary
from aggressive males, access to suitable prey items and density for
mothers and their calves, or a combination of these factors.
Enjoy.
Christine Fury PhD
Ecologist
Kingston, Hobart, TASMANIA 7050
Webpage:
http://independent.academia.edu/CFury/About