Short-beaked common dolphin in the northern Adriatic Sea 2010-2011

Original provider:
Tilen Genov, Morigenos

Dataset credits:
Tilen Genov, Morigenos - marine mammal research & conservation society, Slovenia

Abstract:
This dataset represents a female short-beaked common dolphin (<i>Delphinus delphis</i>) recorded in the northern Adriatic Sea, a region where the species has become extremely rare. The animal was sighted repeatedly in the two locations shown. It was initially sighted with a calf, at the 1st location, in the port of Monfalcone (northern Adriatic Sea). The two dolphins were repeatedly sighted there between June 2010 and January 2011, in an area of 1.2 km2. In February 2011, the calf disappeared, while the adult was subsequently repeatedly sighted between Monfalcone and the city of Trieste until September 2011, when it disappeared as well. A comparison with a catalog of 171 naturally marked short-beaked common dolphins from the Inner Ionian Sea Archipelago, Greece, revealed that the adult was encountered there in August 2008. If moving in a straight line, the animal would have traveled a minimum of 1000 km between the two sites. This is the longest documented movement for any individual of this species, worldwide.