Mikac, A.: Occurence and distribution of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Croatian part of central Adriatic sea. MSc Thesis. University of Split. Split, 2013

Abstract

This thesis presents the results of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821)) research performed in the Croatian part of central Adriatic Sea during ten-year period (April 2002 – December 2012). Fieldwrk results were obtained through the efforts of staff and students of Faculty of veterinary sciences (University of Zagreb), with the participation of the author of this thesis. During 136 days of field work there were 128 sightings and it was possible to photoidentify 250 individuals of bottlenose dolphin. Complete data about the sightings is available at crodolphin.vef.hr/crodolphin/ webpage. The current number of bottlenose dolphins in the research area is estimated to be around 200. Average number of individuals in a group was 5,78. Encounters of a single individual and a couple were the most common, but the biggest encountered group consisted of 23 individuals. Many individuals were encountered two or more years, and several individuals were encountered during the whole ten-year research period. Encounters often happened near the aquaculture sites. Additionally during this research there were occasional encounters of Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus (G. Cuvier, 1812)) and striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833)).