engleski

A preliminary study of Cetacean presence and abundance in the archipelago of the Kornati national park (Croatia)

Little is known about the occurrence and distribution of cetaceans in the Central Adriatic Sea, with data available only from a long-term study of bottlenose dolphins in the Kvarnerić. The aim of this preliminary survey was to better understand the occurrence and distribution of cetaceans in the Kornati National Park and its adjacent waters, in order to identify the ideal area for conducting a long term study. A total of 17 surveys were conducted between July and August 2002, data was collected on a daily basis from a sailing boat, with identification of individuals based on standard identification procedures. Bottlenose dolphins were the only cetacean species encountered with all sightings occurring outside the boundaries of the National Park. In total they were observed six times in positive weather conditions for a total of 528.56 km surveyed. The encounter rate of 0.011 sightings/km was lower than that recorded in the Kvarnerić during the same year (0.016 sightings/km). From the photo-identification data collected 14 dolphins have been classified. Every dolphin classified was re-sighted two or more times: among these re-sighted dolphins two mothers and calves were identified. Comparisons with the 160-catalogued dolphins of the Kvarnerić area did not show any match. The long-term aim of the Kornati Dolphin Project is to identify the relevance of this geographic area to cetaceans, the potential benefits that the National Park can provide to these species and the benefits that the presence of cetaceans may provide to the National Park.

cetacea; dolphins; distribution; Kornati; Adriatic

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