by Tess Gridley:
The
!Anichab had some gearbox problems a few weeks ago (before we left for Cape Town) and unfortunately it's still not fixed..
So while she's out of action, we’ve had a few weeks to process data
and produce some preliminary results from the initial NIMPA surveys. It's great to see the data taking shape. Over 13 days and 5 nights out on the seas, we’ve had almost 200 sightings, of which
the majority are dusky and Heaviside’s dolphins, as well as plenty of African
penguins! On the more unusual list, we’ve had several out of season humpback whales
spotted, along with minke whale and sei whales.
The hydrophone has been doing us well, with 36% more dolphin detections
made possible by surveying at night and 12% from surveying in poor weather.
Considering that we try not to go out in poor weather, this is pretty good
going.
This is a long term project, so
we’re hoping over time that the maps will build up and we will get a good idea
of where animals are, how many there are and seasonal differences in
distribution. I’m also interested in
using the recordings to look at dolphin communication so we are now carefully
analysing the files in details finding dusky dolphin burst pulses and whistles
(so far only a handful) which may be used in communication or feeding contexts... As always, watch this space for
updates on our findings!
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