Small scale habitat modeling for Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) in northern Patagonia, Argentina

COSCARELLA, MARIANO ALBERTO; SUEYRO, NICOLÁS; CRESPO, ENRIQUE ALBERTO; PENNINO, MARIA GRAZIA

MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2021 p. 1 - 13

0824-0469

Worldwide, cetacean populations have been facing various threats, including interactions with commercial fisheries, habitat degradation and fragmentation, diseases caused by pollution, and physical and acoustic disturbances as a result of increased nautical traffic, tourism interactions, and offshore oil exploration and exploitation (Au & Green, 2000; Ayres et al., 2012; Bayne et al., 1985; Douglas et al., 2008; Goodall et al., 1995; Olesiuk et al., 2002; Pennino et al., 2016; Reeves et al., 2003; Tanabe et al., 1983). Species with coastal distributions, specifically, are the most exposed to this wide variety of threats (Evans, 2019). The Commerson´s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) is a small cetacean that inhabits shallow coastal waters of Patagonia, between 41300 S and 55S in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, and the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands (Goodall, 1994). Throughout their range, Commerson´s dolphins are incidentally killed in various fishing operations (Crespo et al., 1997; Goodall et al., 1988; Iñíguez et al., 2003). Since the late 1990s, they have been increasingly used as a tourist attraction in at least three locations in Patagonia, with evident short-term effects on their behavior, including an increase in their aerial behavior and a decrease in directional swimming. Nevertheless, the authorsstated that the reaction to the presence of the boat is only elicited when the boat is sailing, and once the boat is drifting dolphins carry out activities that are usually not expected in a stressful situation (e.g., increase of feeding activities; Coscarella et al., 2003).