Social and spatial boundaries can shape behavioural transmission of mud-ring feeding among bottlenose dolphins

GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Paper Citation[To be added] 2. Brief abstractThis dataset contains behavioural, spatial, and photo-identification data of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) collected in Florida Bay, USA, during summers (June-August) from 2002-2005. The data supports research on social transmission of specialized foraging behaviours, specifically mud-ring feeding, and examines how spatial and social factors jointly influence behavioural transmission in marine mammal populations. 3. OriginatorsJoão Valle-Pereira, Mauricio Cantor and Leigh Torres 4. Contact [e-mail] 5. Date of data collectionJune-August 2002-2005 6. Geographic location of data collectionFlorida Bay, USASix survey zones: Atlantic, Central, Eastern, Western, Flamingo, and Gulf 7. Information about funding sources that supported the collection and curation of the dataFunding and support for fieldwork were provided by the NOAA/Coastal Ocean Program, the Dolphin Ecology Project, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and the Duke University Marine Lab. DATA FILES AND VARIABLES 1. anonymized_data_MRF.txtR data file containing 217 observations of bottlenose dolphin sightings with behavioural, spatial, and identification data. Data were collected through boat-based surveys using randomized distance sampling approaches and established tracklines. Focal follows were conducted on distinctive individuals with behavioral and location data recorded at 90-second intervals. - date: Date of dolphin sighting (POSIXct format: YYYY-MM-DD) - daily_sighting: Number of dolphins sighted on that date/location (integer) - foraging: Foraging behavior observed (character; values: "No", "Prob", "Yes" indicating whether dolphins were engaged in foraging activities) - tactic: Specific foraging tactic observed (character; values: "DD" = deep diving feeding, "MRF" = mud-ring feeding specialized cooperative foraging tactic, NA = no specific tactic observed) - zone: Survey zone within Florida Bay (character; values: "Atlantic", "Central", "Eastern", "Western", "Flamingo", "Gulf" representing distinct habitat areas with different ecological characteristics) - lat: Latitude coordinates in decimal degrees (numeric) - long: Longitude coordinates in decimal degrees (numeric) - IDs: Space-separated list of individual dolphin identification numbers (character; each ID represents a unique anonymized photo-identified individual; multiple IDs per row indicate group sightings)