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1 February 2007 OFFSHORE BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS (TURSIOPS TRUNCATUS): MOVEMENT AND DIVE BEHAVIOR NEAR THE BERMUDA PEDESTAL
Leigh J. Klatsky, Randall S. Wells, Jay C. Sweeney
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Abstract

The behavior of offshore bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in deep water and near oceanic islands is not well known. Using satellite-linked, time–depth recorders, we investigated the movements and dive behavior of offshore bottlenose dolphins in the deep waters surrounding the Bermuda Pedestal. Three dolphins were tracked from 5 to 45 days and traveled a mean distance of 28.3 km/day where mean water depth was −1,402.0 m ± 1,120.7 SD. Regular dives during the night (2100–0259 h local time) to depths greater than 450 m (8.9% of total dives), 46.4% of night dives lasting longer than 5 min, and high hematocrit values reveal the deep-diving capabilities of offshore bottlenose dolphins. During the day (0900–1459 h local time), dives tended to be shallow, with 96% of dives within 50 m of the surface, and of short durations, with 52.7% lasting less than 1 min. At dusk (1500–2059 h local time), the number of dives increased ( = 72.4 ± 19.6), indicating a diel dive cycle. The dive patterns of bottlenose dolphins in Bermuda waters correlate with the reported nightly vertical migrations of mesopelagic prey along the steep-sided Bermuda Pedestal.

Leigh J. Klatsky, Randall S. Wells, and Jay C. Sweeney "OFFSHORE BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS (TURSIOPS TRUNCATUS): MOVEMENT AND DIVE BEHAVIOR NEAR THE BERMUDA PEDESTAL," Journal of Mammalogy 88(1), 59-66, (1 February 2007). https://doi.org/10.1644/05-MAMM-A-365R1.1
Accepted: 1 July 2006; Published: 1 February 2007
KEYWORDS
Bermuda
Bottlenose dolphin
dive behavior
movements
Offshore
Tursiops truncatus
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