Feeding Habits Of Two Sympatric Dolphin Species Off North Patagonia, Argentina

ROMERO, MARIA ALEJANDRA; DANS, SILVANA LAURA; GARCIA, NESTOR ANIBAL; SVENDSEN, GUILLERMO MARTIN; CRESPO, ENRIQUE ALBERTO; GONZÁLEZ, RAÚL ALBERTO

MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2012 vol. 28 p. 364 - 377

0824-0469

fish-ing effort since the 1970s, with the development of several high-sea fisheries that target hake, Merluccius hubbsi, and squid, Ilex argentinus. When the first signs of overexploitation appeared at the end of the 1990s alternative target species like the Argentine anchovy, Engraulis anchoita, started to be explored. Even though the effort was low, the use of mid-water trawls on this target led to the highest probability of dolphin entanglement among all the types of fishing gear. Both common and dusky dolphins were affected suggesting an overlap in time and space of these delphinids, their prey, and the fishery (Crespo et al. 2000). This paper provides an appraisal of the diet and feeding habits of common and dusky dolphins, two sympatric species inhabiting North Patagonia, in order to analyze how these species are using the available food resources.