Abstract
In this study, we investigate association patterns of 249 bottlenose dolphin feeding groups off Sardinia Island (Italy) from January 2000–May 2007 and describe how their association behaviour is related to their response to food patches created by a marine fin fish farm. We also tested the hypothesis that dolphins have different social structures with different feeding activities: Associations should decrease during opportunistic feeding behaviours as it is easier to capture prey, and cooperation is not as necessary. Sixteen individually identified bottlenose dolphins were observed participating in both opportunistic and not opportunistic feeding activities, with a mean of 30 ± 8 times and 9.6 ± 1 times, respectively. Bottlenose dolphins show non-random social behaviour during feeding and this behaviour differs depending on their specific foraging activity. Dolphin associations during feeding can be divided into three categories: acquaintances, affiliates, and feeding associates. Association behaviour during fish farm feeding is consistent with our hypothesis that during opportunistic behaviours, benefits from cooperation decrease, as it is easier to capture prey. Group size homogeneity in both feeding activities demonstrates that the number of dolphins engaging in foraging is not necessarily related with cooperation levels. Moreover, an adult dolphin may prefer to associate with a specific individual, independent of the sex, who shares the same foraging priorities. This study is the first to show how aquaculture is not only directly affecting marine predators but could also indirectly affect their social structure and behaviour.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anthony LL, Blumstein DT (2000) Integrating behaviour into wildlife conservation: the multiple ways that behaviour can reduce Ne. Biol Conserv 95:303–315
Altmann SA (1974) Baboons, space, time, and energy. Am Zool 14:221–248
Beddington JR, Beverton RJ, Lavigne DM (1985) Marine Mammals and Fisheries. George Allen and Unwin, London
Bejder L, Fletcher D, Brager S (1998) A method of testing association patterns of social animals. Anim Behav 56:719–725
Bel’kovich VM, Ivanova EE, Yefremenkova OV, Kozarovitsky LB, Kharitonov SP (1991) Searching and hunting behavior in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Black Sea. In: Pryor K, Norris KS (eds) Dolphin societies: Discoveries and puzzles. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 38–67
Boesch C (1996) Social grouping in Tai chimpanzees. In: McGrew WC, Marchant LF, Nishida T (eds) Great Ape Societies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 101–113
Brown JL (1983) Cooperation—a biologist dilemma. Adv Stud Behav 13:1–37
Cairns SJ, Schwager SJ (1987) A comparison of association indices. Anim Behav 35:1454–1469
Clutton-Brock TH, Harvey PH (1977) Primate ecology and social organization. J Zool 183:1–39
Connor RC (1995) The benefits of mutualism: a conceptual framework. Biol Rev 70:427–457
Connor RC, Smolker RA, Richards AF (1992) Two levels of alliance formation among male bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.). Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89:987–990
Connor RC, Mann J, Tyack PL, Whitehead H (1998) Social evolution in toothed whales. Trends Ecol Evol 13:228–232
Connor RC, Wells RS, Mann J, Read AJ (2000) The bottlenose dolphin: social relationships in a fission–fusion society. In: Cetacean societies: field studies of dolphins and whales. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 91–126
de Waal FBM, Luttrell LM (1986) The similarity principle underlying social bonding among female rhesus monkeys. Folia Primatol 46:215–234
Díaz López B (2006a) Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) predation on a marine fin fish farm: some underwater observations. Aquatic Mammals 32:305–310 DOI 10.1578/AM.32.3.2006.305
Díaz López B (2006b) Interactions between Mediterranean bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and gillnets off Sardinia, Italy. ICES J Mar Sci 63:946–951 DOI 10.1016/j.icesjms.2005.06.012
Díaz López B, Bernal Shirai JA (2007) Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) presence and incidental capture in a marine fish farm on the north-eastern coast of Sardinia (Italy). J Mar Biol Assoc UK 87:113–117 DOI 10.1017/S0025315407054215
Díaz López B, Marini L, Polo F (2005) The impact of a fish farm on a bottlenose dolphin population in the Mediterranean Sea. Thalassas 21:53–58
Durrell JL, Sneddon IA, O’Connell NE, Whitehead H (2004) Do pigs form preferential associations. Appl Anim Behav Sci 89:41–52
Dunbar RM (1992) Time: a hidden constraint on the behavioural ecology of baboons. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 31:35–49
Fertl D, Leatherwood S (1997) Cetacean interactions with trawls: a preliminary review. J Northw Atl Fish Sci 22:219–248
FAO (2007) The state of world fisheries and aquaculture 2006. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations, Rome, 2007
Gazda SJ, Connor RC, Edgar RK, Cox F (2005) A division of labour with role specialization in group-hunting bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) off Cedar Key, Florida. Proc R Soc B 272:135–140
Gero S, Bejder H, Whitehead J, Mann J, Connor RC (2005) Behaviourally specific preferred associations in bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops spp. Can J Zool 83:1566–1573 DOI 10.1139/Z05–155
Hammer Ø, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) PAST: Paleontological Statistics Software Package for Education and Data Analysis. Palaeo Electronica 4:1–9
Hinde RA (1976) Interactions, relationships and social structure. Man (London) 11:1–17
Kerth G, König B (1999) Fission, fusion and non-random associations in female Bechstein’s bats (Myotis bechsteinii). Behaviour 136:1187–1202
Leatherwood S (1975) Some observations of feeding behaviour of bottle-nosed dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and (Tursiops cf. T. gilli) off southern California, Baja California and Nayarit, Mexico. Mar Fisheries Review 37(9):10–16
Lusseau D (2003) The emergent propierties of a dolphin social network. Proc R Soc Lond B 270(Suppl 2):S186–S188 DOI 10.1098/rsbl.2003.0057
Lusseau D, Schneider K, Boisseau OJ, Haase P, Slooten E, Dawson SM (2003) The bottlenose dolphin community of Doubtful Sound features a large proportion of long-lasting associations: can geographic isolation explain this unique trait. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 54:396–405
Mann J (1999) Behavioral sampling methods for cetaceans: a review and critique. Mar Mamm Sci 15:102–122
Mann J, Smuts BB (1999) Behavioural development in wild bottlenose dolphin newborns (Tursiops sp.). Behaviour, 136:529–566
McComb K, Moss C, Durant SM, Baker L, Sayialel S (2001) Matriarchs as repositories of social knowledge in African elephants. Science 292:491–494
McDonald DB, Potts WK (1994) Cooperative displays and relatedness among males in a lek-mating bird. Science (Washington, D.C.) 266(5187):1030–1032
Mitani JC, Watts DP (1999) Demographic influences on the hunting behavior of chimpanzees. Am J Phys Anthropol 109:439–454
Mitani JC, Watts DP, Muller MN (2002) Recent developments in the study of wild chimpanzee behaviour. Evol Anthropol 11:9–25
Myers JP (1983) Space, time, and the pattern of individual associations in a groups-living species: sanderlings have no friends. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 12:129–134
Ribeiro S, Viddi FA, Cordeiro JL, Freitas TO (2007) Fine-scale habitat selection of Chilean dolphins (Cephalorhynchus eutropia): interactions with aquaculture activities in southern Chiloé Island, Chile. J Mar Biol Ass UK 87:119–128 DOI 10.1017/S0025315407051594
Smolker RS, Richards AF, Connor RC, Pepper JW (1992) Sex differences in patterns of association among Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins. Behaviour 123(1–2):38–69
Schnell GD, Watt DJ, Douglas ME (1985) Statistical comparison of proximity matrices: applications in animal behaviour. Anim Behav 33:239–253
Takahata Y, Suzuki S, Okayasu N, Hill D (1994) Troop extinction and fusion in wild Japanese macaques of Yakushima Island, Japan. Am J Primatol 33:317–322
van Schaik CP (1999) The socioecology of fission–fusion sociality in orangutans. Primates 40:69–86
Watson-Capps JJ, Mann J (2005) The effects of aquaculture on bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops sp.) ranging in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Biol Conserv 124:519–526
Whitehead H (1995) Investigating structure and temporal scale in social organizations using identified individuals. Behav Ecol 6:199–208
Whitehead H (1997) Analyzing animal social structure. Anim Behav 53:1053–1067
Whitehead H (1999) Testing association patterns of social animals. Anim Behav 57:F26–F29
Whitehead H (2006) Compiled version of SOCPROG 2.3 [computer program]. Available from http://myweb.dal.ca~hwhitehe/social.htm/
Whitehead H, Dufault S (1999) Techniques for analyzing vertebrate social structure using identified individuals: review and recommendations. Adv Stud Behav 28:33–74
Whitehead H, Bejder L, Ottensmayer A (2005) Testing association patterns: issues arising and extensions. Anim Behav 69:e1–e6
Wrangham RW (1982) Mutualism, kinship and social evolution. In: Current problems in sociobiology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 269–289
Wittemyer G, Douglas-Hamilton I, Getz WM (2005) The socioecology of elephants: analysis of the processes creating multitiered social structures. Anim Behav 69:1357–1371 DOI 10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.08.018
Würsig B (1986) Delphinid foraging strategies. In: Schusterman RJ, Thomas JA, Wood FG (eds) Dolphin cognition and behaviour: A comparative approach Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hillsdale, NJ, pp 347–359
Würsig B, Gailey GA (2002) Marine mammals and aquaculture: conflicts and potential resolutions. In: Stickney RR, McVay P (eds) Responsible marine aquaculture. CAP International Press, New York, pp 45–59
Würsig B, Jefferson RA (1990) Methods of photo-identification for small cetaceans. Report of the International Whale Commission, Special Issue no 12:43–52
Acknowledgement
Funding for this research came from the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute—BDRI—and private donations. We give thanks to numerous friends, colleagues and volunteers at the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute for their assistance and support with data collection. The English grammar was improved by Collette Thogerson. We would also like to thank Jens Krause and one anonymous referee who provided valuable comments and critiques at various stages of this study. Data collection complies with the current laws of the country in which it was performed.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by J. Krause
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Díaz López, B., Shirai, J.A.B. Marine aquaculture and bottlenose dolphins’ (Tursiops truncatus) social structure. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62, 887–894 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-007-0512-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-007-0512-1