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Diet of Bottlenose Dolphins Tursiops Truncatus in the Northwest Panhandle and Foraging Behavior Near Savannah, Georgia

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Diet of Bottlenose Dolphins Tursiops Truncatus in the Northwest Panhandle and Foraging Behavior Near Savannah, Georgia Diet of Bottlenose Dolphins Tursiops truncatus in the Northwest Panhandle and Foraging Behavior Near Savannah, Georgia Item Type thesis Authors Bowen, Sabrina Rose Publisher Savannah State University Download date 29/09/2021 23:15:01 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/26568 DIET OF BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS TURSIOPS TRUNCATUS IN THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND FORAGING BEHAVIOR NEAR SAVANNAH, GEORGIA By SABRINA ROSE BOWEN A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MARINE SCIENCES SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY May 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Tara Cox for letting me research my interests (even if they were stinky dolphin stomachs), reading through so many drafts, and guiding me through my research. I would like to thank my committee members Dr. Mary Carla Curran and Dr. Damon Gannon for their mentoring and support. I would like to thank Robin Perrtree, and the rest of the Savannah State University Dolphin Science (SSUDS) lab for all their help. I am grateful for all the volunteers during the 2009 surveys and the undergrads that assisted with quality control back in the lab. Chapter 2 would not have been possible without the help of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network in the Northwest Florida Panhandle, keep up the good work! Thanks to my mom Sandy Bowen who has always been there for me and to my dad Bill Bowen for always saying that you were proud of me. I would like to thank my grandparents, Doris and Al Smith, for their support early in my career. I am appreciative of my wonderful friends who have helped me in so many ways. Lastly, I am so grateful to have the support of my wonderful fiancé Josh Stevens. iv DIET OF BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS TURSIOPS TRUNCATUS IN THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND FORAGING BEHAVIOR NEAR SAVANNAH, GEORGIA Sabrina Rose Bowen Abstract The foraging ecology of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in the Northwest Florida Panhandle and estuaries in northern Georgia was determined using diet analysis and behavioral surveys. Stomach content analysis was completed on bottlenose dolphins (N = 25) that stranded in the Northwest Florida Panhandle from November 2006 to March 2009. The most abundant prey species were spot Leiostomus xanthurus (20.4%), squid (10.9%), pinfish Lagodon rhombiodes (10.3%), and Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus (8.5%). Dolphins that stranded during months with a red tide Karenia brevis bloom consumed more pinfish, and spot; whereas dolphins that stranded in non-bloom months consumed more squid, Atlantic croaker, and silver perch Bairdiella chrysoura. Differences in diet were also identified for dolphins that stranded inside bays/sound and dolphin that stranded outside of bays along the coast, and male and female dolphins. Surveys were conducted from south of the Savannah River to north of Ossabaw Sound in Georgia where foraging behaviors were classified. Multivariate Generalized Additive Models were used to test correlations of behaviors to dolphin group size, depth, salinity, temperature, creek width, and tide. Sightings with headstands (p = 0.009), hard stops (p = 0.019), chasing (p = 0.004), mudbank whacking (p < 0.001), v herding/circling (p = 0.024), and strand feeding (p = 0.006) were correlated with shallow water or small creeks. Sightings with kerplunking (p = 0.031), mudbank whacking (p = 0.001), strand feeding (p = 0.003), and herding/circling (p = 0.026) were significantly correlated with low tide. The results of the Savannah, Georgia study were the first to characterize foraging behaviors in this area and demonstrate how bottlenose dolphins utilize the salt marsh estuary in terms of foraging. Studies like these are important to determine how dolphins forage efficiently and to provide background information on diet and foraging behavior for use in monitoring future impacts to dolphins in the Northwest Florida Panhandle and near Savannah, Georgia. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii CHAPTERS 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................1 2 Stomach contents of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus from the Northwest Florida Panhandle in relation to a Karenia brevis bloom Abstract ........................................................................................................7 Introduction ..................................................................................................8 Methods......................................................................................................11 Results .......................................................................................................16 Discussion ...............................................................................................24 3 Foraging behaviors of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus near Savannah, Georgia Abstract ......................................................................................................77 Introduction ................................................................................................78 Methods......................................................................................................82 Results ........................................................................................................87 vii Discussion ..................................................................................................93 4 Synthesis ........................................................................................................130 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................138 viii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 2.1: Stranding data of bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus from the Northwest Florida Panhandle from which stomachs were collected for diet analysis ...................................................................................................................39 Table 2.2: Stomachs of bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus collected from the Northwest Florida Panhandle distributed by stranding location and sex ...............41 Table 2.3: Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus stomachs collected from the Northwest Florida Panhandle distributed by location and bloom classification ..........................................................................................................42 Table 2.4: Equations found in literature used to calculate the fish length and weight from otoliths identified in stomachs of bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus collected in the Northwest Florida Panhandle .......................................43 Table 2.5: Paired stomach samples from bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus that stranded in the Northwest Florida Panhandle in the presence and absence of a Karenia brevis bloom ........................................................................44 Table 2.6: Average stomach contents weight including standard deviation and ranges of bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus from the Northwest Florida Panhandle ..................................................................................................45 Table 2.7: Frequency of occurrence, numerical abundance, and percent by mass for prey items ........................................................................................................46 ix Table 2.8: Average fish length and standard deviation calculated with equations from literature using lengths and widths of otoliths found in stomachs of bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus along the Northwest Florida Panhandle ...........................................................................................................48 Table 2.9: Shannon Index of diversity for prey items identified in stomachs of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus ................................................................49 Table 2.10: Averages and standard deviations for prey length (mm) and percent decomposition used to compare diet among bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus that stranded during and in the absence of a Karenia brevis bloom ......50 Table 2.11: Percent of numeric abundance of prey used to compare diet among bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus that stranded during and in the absence of a Karenia brevis bloom ........................................................................51 Table 2.12: Reconstructed percent by mass (%W) calculated for prey identified in stomachs of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus that stranded during and in the absence of a Karenia brevis bloom .......................................................53 Table 2.13: Average fish length and standard deviation calculated for prey identified in stomachs of bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus that stranded during and in the absence of a Karenia brevis bloom .............................54 Table 2.14: Reconstructed percent by mass (%W) calculated for prey identified in stomachs of bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus that stranded
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