Review of thirty-two years of toothed whale strandings in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil (Cetacea: Odontoceti)

ABSTRACT Marine mammal strandings provide valuable insights into local biodiversity. Strandings can be caused by both natural and anthropogenic factors. In the state of Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil, organized marine mammal collections started in the 1980s through opportunistic and non-systematic...

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Main Authors: Thaís dos S. Vianna, Carolina Loch, Pedro V. de Castilho, Morgana C. Gaidzinski, Marta J. Cremer, Paulo C. Simões-Lopes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia
Series:Zoologia (Curitiba)
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-46702016000500601&lng=en&tlng=en
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author Thaís dos S. Vianna
Carolina Loch
Pedro V. de Castilho
Morgana C. Gaidzinski
Marta J. Cremer
Paulo C. Simões-Lopes
author_facet Thaís dos S. Vianna
Carolina Loch
Pedro V. de Castilho
Morgana C. Gaidzinski
Marta J. Cremer
Paulo C. Simões-Lopes
author_sort Thaís dos S. Vianna
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Marine mammal strandings provide valuable insights into local biodiversity. Strandings can be caused by both natural and anthropogenic factors. In the state of Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil, organized marine mammal collections started in the 1980s through opportunistic and non-systematic collection efforts, representing a record of over 30 years of marine biodiversity. This study aimed to perform a preliminary review of 32 years of stranding records within this region. The secondary aim was to elucidate the stranding dynamics of the three most commonly recorded species. A total of 460 records were obtained, representing 17 species of odontocetes. The species registered most frequently were the franciscana, Pontoporia blainvillei (Gervais & d' Orbigny, 1844) (n = 173), bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) (n = 100), and Guiana dolphin Sotalia guianensis (Van Bénéden, 1864) (n = 97). Most of the stranding records were observed in the second half of the year during the austral winter and spring. The apparent causes of death could not be determined for most of the specimens due to carcass decomposition. For the specimens in which the apparent cause of death could be determined, 27% of the strandings were compatible with anthropogenic interactions. While the focus of this study was a preliminary assessment of stranding data obtained through opportunistic collection, it is evident that future systematic monitoring efforts and stable networks of collaborators will generate more reliable coastal biodiversity inventories and will allow the knowledge of population dynamics of marine mammal species. In particular, for threatened and vulnerable species, or species with poor natural history data, strandings are a fundamental tool for the understanding of marine biodiversity. Ideally, future more refined analyses of stranding data should be used to inform conservation and management policies and to elucidate the biology and ecology of marine and coastal ecosystems within this region.
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spelling doaj.art-e36c311b47c44683824bb2e753e13e022023-01-02T10:29:10ZengSociedade Brasileira de ZoologiaZoologia (Curitiba)1984-468933510.1590/S1984-4689zool-20160089S1984-46702016000500601Review of thirty-two years of toothed whale strandings in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil (Cetacea: Odontoceti)Thaís dos S. ViannaCarolina LochPedro V. de CastilhoMorgana C. GaidzinskiMarta J. CremerPaulo C. Simões-LopesABSTRACT Marine mammal strandings provide valuable insights into local biodiversity. Strandings can be caused by both natural and anthropogenic factors. In the state of Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil, organized marine mammal collections started in the 1980s through opportunistic and non-systematic collection efforts, representing a record of over 30 years of marine biodiversity. This study aimed to perform a preliminary review of 32 years of stranding records within this region. The secondary aim was to elucidate the stranding dynamics of the three most commonly recorded species. A total of 460 records were obtained, representing 17 species of odontocetes. The species registered most frequently were the franciscana, Pontoporia blainvillei (Gervais & d' Orbigny, 1844) (n = 173), bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) (n = 100), and Guiana dolphin Sotalia guianensis (Van Bénéden, 1864) (n = 97). Most of the stranding records were observed in the second half of the year during the austral winter and spring. The apparent causes of death could not be determined for most of the specimens due to carcass decomposition. For the specimens in which the apparent cause of death could be determined, 27% of the strandings were compatible with anthropogenic interactions. While the focus of this study was a preliminary assessment of stranding data obtained through opportunistic collection, it is evident that future systematic monitoring efforts and stable networks of collaborators will generate more reliable coastal biodiversity inventories and will allow the knowledge of population dynamics of marine mammal species. In particular, for threatened and vulnerable species, or species with poor natural history data, strandings are a fundamental tool for the understanding of marine biodiversity. Ideally, future more refined analyses of stranding data should be used to inform conservation and management policies and to elucidate the biology and ecology of marine and coastal ecosystems within this region.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-46702016000500601&lng=en&tlng=enBycatchmarine mammalsPontoporia blainvilleiSotalia guianensisTursiops truncatus
spellingShingle Thaís dos S. Vianna
Carolina Loch
Pedro V. de Castilho
Morgana C. Gaidzinski
Marta J. Cremer
Paulo C. Simões-Lopes
Review of thirty-two years of toothed whale strandings in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil (Cetacea: Odontoceti)
Zoologia (Curitiba)
Bycatch
marine mammals
Pontoporia blainvillei
Sotalia guianensis
Tursiops truncatus
title Review of thirty-two years of toothed whale strandings in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil (Cetacea: Odontoceti)
title_full Review of thirty-two years of toothed whale strandings in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil (Cetacea: Odontoceti)
title_fullStr Review of thirty-two years of toothed whale strandings in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil (Cetacea: Odontoceti)
title_full_unstemmed Review of thirty-two years of toothed whale strandings in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil (Cetacea: Odontoceti)
title_short Review of thirty-two years of toothed whale strandings in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil (Cetacea: Odontoceti)
title_sort review of thirty two years of toothed whale strandings in santa catarina southern brazil cetacea odontoceti
topic Bycatch
marine mammals
Pontoporia blainvillei
Sotalia guianensis
Tursiops truncatus
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-46702016000500601&lng=en&tlng=en
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