Simulations of Dolphin Behaviour and Motivations in Response to Disturbance

These data sets are the results of simulations exploring dolphins’ potential response to disturbance caused by whale watching vessels and record individual group membership, behaviour (Traveling [1], Resting [2], Feeding [3] and Socialising [4]) and motivations (Hunger [1], Fear [2], Social needs [3] and body condition [4]). The first part of the file name refers to the population being simulated: “DS” refers to a population of 61 dolphins in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand that is closed and food limited, “DSA” refers to a population of 350 individuals from Durban Bay, South Africa that is open and not food limited, “JB” refers to a population of 108 individuals from Jervis Bay, Australia that is open and food limited, and “SB” refers to a population of 160 dolphins from Sarasota Bay, USA that is closed and not food limited. The second part of the file name refers to the type of data recorded: “GB” means the file contains the records for group membership and behaviour, and “Mot” means the file contains the records for the individual motivations. The number at the end of the file name references the level of disturbance used in the simulation: “0” for no change of disturbance, “1” for a 10% chance of disturbance, “25” for a 25% chance of disturbance and “5” for a 50% chance of disturbance. For all populations, the simulations were run 100 times, and the length of each simulation was 365 days.