They confirm that bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Cadiz and the … – RTVE

IRIN

The populations of bottlenose dolphin in the Gulf of Cadiz and the Strait of Gibraltar are “ genetically similar” but now “there is no contact between individuals of both communities.”

This was disclosed studies by the Biological Station of Doñana – Higher Council for Scientific Research (EBD-CSIC) and the Association for Conservation, Information and Research on Cetaceans (Circe), with the participation of Cepsa, as reported Circe in a note.

Researchers have found, the photo-identification technique , which identified 332 bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Cadiz and 450 previously identified in the Strait are “ isolated groups among which there is no contact or exchange of individuals .”

The analyzes of the Skin samples obtained by biopsy, also confirm that these individuals feed on different prey

There are two types of dolphins. The deep water and coastal waters

Researchers EBD-CSIC, Manuela G. Forero and Renaud de Stephanis estimate that these data “indicate the existence of two ecotypes of bottlenose dolphins: one plus ocean , which is fed into the central barrel of the Strait of Gibraltar into deep water, and the other in the Gulf of Cadiz, which are in most coastal waters Portuguese waters even moving. “

This geographical segregation between the two populations, in his view, is” striking “and is a result “with implications for management and conservation important “. “We are in front of two distinct management units with different storage potential problems,” says Circe.

Sampling was carried out over three years within the project ‘Abundance Apical distribution of predators in the Gulf of Cadiz ‘, which began in 2011 and have been conducted six campaigns. In them it has been spotted on several occasions groups of bottlenose dolphins between Ayamonte (Huelva) and Tarifa.