GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The public can assist with a project being conducted on the numbers and movement of dolphins along the Garden Route coast.

The Garden Route Dolphin Research and Acoustic Monitoring Project aims to better understand how these marine top predators use their habitat along South Africa’s coast. It is looking at the role of existing marine protected areas (Goukamma, Robberg and Tsitsikamma) in terms of whether particular marine mammals are of conservation concern and require some form of management intervention.

Information is being gathered regarding population abundance, movement, habitat use and the genetic structure of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin and the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin in the area. It also looks at the connectivity between the marine protected areas in terms of how the dolphins move and utilise the study area and dolphin feeding hotspots. Boat and aerial surveys are being conducted to search for the presence of animals along the coastline.

An identification catalogue of bottlenose and humpback dolphins is being created based on both archived and new photos. Dorsal fin photo-identification allows individual dolphins to be identified by unique patterns and markings (such as fin deformities, unusual fin shapes, nicks, scratches etc.).

Listen to dolphin sounds
Sound from whales and dolphins through hydrophones have been recorded. (Hydrophones are similar to microphones, but detect underwater sound.) You can listen to some of the sounds made by whales and dolphins as collected by the hydrophone at www.conserbio.org.

Report your sightings and help this research via SMS to 078 550 1742.

• Type: dolphin or whale: The most likely species to be seen along the Garden Route are: the Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin, Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin; Long-Beaked Common Dolphin; Humpback whale, Southern right whale; Bryde’s whale.
• Number of dolphins or whales (approximately)
• Location of the animal

Example: Bottlenose dolphin, 30-40 animals, 100m off Sanctuary Beach.
If you are not sure of the species just SMS, e.g: 30-40 dolphins off Sanctuary Beach.

The project coordinator is Dr Alejandra Vargas-Fonseca (ale@earthcollective.net) and the lead institutions are the Department of Environmental Affairs and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.