Kahlia Gonzales

I am a Junior Biological Science major with a minor in Animal Science.  The title of my research is: Female Productivity and Calf Survivorship of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Bocas, Panama.  I am using photo identification, which is matching a photographed animal to the catalogue of dolphins we have, in order to track who was where, and when.  From there, I look at mothers with calves and juveniles and record the year of the calf’s birth, how many times it was seen with its mother, and if it lived past the two years of age (which means it survived to be a juvenile).  

We are using data from 2004 to 2014 to infer dolphin female reproductivity and calf mortality rates.  A total of 35 females were identified from 140 dolphins in the current catalogue.  Twenty-three have Dolphin Bay as a key part of their home range where they regularly interact with dolphin-watching boats.  The resident bottlenose dolphins of the Archipelago of Bocas del Toro are regularly exposed to intense interactions with dolphin-watching boats.  The high calf mortality rate is of great concern for the Bocas population, which poses the need for increased monitoring of Dolphin Bay.  Increased boat activity, especially tourism, has created detrimental effects to mother-calf pairs.  Increased stress caused by net entanglement, avoidance of areas, and increased injury have all been seen since the boat activity has increased in Bocas.  We propose that Dolphin Bay of Bocas del Toro should have Governmental enforcement of the whale watching guidelines from 8 AM-5 PM every day in Dolphin Bay to ensure the health of mothers and their calves.

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