Abstract
This paper describes a study of the ranging and diving behaviour of two 'offshore' bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops sp., in the waters off south-cast Queensland, determined using satellite-linked time-depth recorders attached to two animals. Animal 1's tag transmitted for 30 days, Animal 2's for 143 days. Immediately after tagging, Animal I swam south, reaching a point 146km south of the point of tagging, then swam generally northwards until the tag ceased working. Animal 2's observed range covered 778 km(2), with a core area of 86 km(2). The greatest north-south distance between all locations for Animal 2 was 43km. The manner in which maximum dive depth was related to dive duration was analysed using constrained principal curves. These analyses indicated that for both animals, short dives were to less than 5m, and there was no clear relationship between dives of greater duration and depth. These dolphins appear to behave differently from 'offshore' bottlenose dolphins studied elsewhere.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 465-468 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom |
| Volume | 84 |
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2004 |