A percepção e interpretação da interação de indivíduos e populações com o ambiente e a forma como tal relação condiciona sua distribuição espacial é questão-chave e recorrente em estudos ecológicos. Padrões de uso de área observados para populações emergem em ultima análise da variabilidade entre seus indivíduos em selecionar habitats e interagir com os mesmos. Este estudo teve como foco o uso de área pela população do boto-cinza, Sotalia guianensis, e sua variabilidade individual no estuário de Cananeia, localizado na costa sudeste do Brasil (25°03\' S; 47°55\' W), durante o verão e o inverno de 2015 e o verão de 2016. Parâmetros ambientais e geográficos (distâncias da desembocadura de rios, da entrada do estuário e de áreas urbanas, profundidade, maré e autocorrelação espacial) foram testados para explicar a distribuição da população e de seus indivíduos a partir de funções de probabilidade de seleção de recursos (RSPF) em modelos aditivos generalizados (GAM). Onze indivíduos fotoidentificados com 18 ou mais recapturas foram avaliados com o uso de modelos individuais de ocupação e sua interpretação foi subsidiada por estimativas de áreas domiciliares obtidas a partir de kerneis fixos de densidade. Nas três temporadas a população apresentou densidades de grupos desiguais ao longo do estuário e todas as variáveis, com exceção da distância de áreas urbanas, explicaram as probabilidades de presença observadas. Análises individuais revelaram discrepâncias nos tamanhos e disposição geográfica de áreas domiciliares e diferenças na composição e estimativa dos parâmetros selecionados para cada indivíduo. A variabilidade individual na população deve ter papel fundamental em termos de utilização do espaço e seleção de habitat pelo boto-cinza no estuário local. / Understanding and interpreting the interaction of individuals and populations with the environment and how this relationship outlines their spatial distribution is a key question common in ecological studies. Area use patterns observed for populations are ultimately an outcome from individual variability in habitat selection and their interaction with such environments. Are use and habitat selection by the population of Guiana dolphins, Sotalia guianensis, and its individual variability were accessed in the Cananeia estuary (25°03\' S; 47°55\' W), southeastern Brazil, during the summer and winter of 2015 and the summer of 2016. Environmental and geographic parameters were estimated aiming to explain population distribution and differences within individuals. For this purpose, resource selection probability functions (RSPF) were applied in generalized additive models (GAM). Covariates tested included: distance to river mouths, distance to the estuary entrance, distance to urban areas, depth and tide. Geographic coordinates were used to model spatial autocorrelation. Eleven photo-identified individuals had their occupancy modelled and accessed in relation to their home range obtained from fixed kernel densities estimates. The population exhibited patchy group densities throughout the estuary in all seasons. Except from distance to urban areas all variables were selected in our final model for the population\'s RSPF. Individual analysis revealed discrepancies in size and location of home ranges which lead to remarkable differences in the composition and estimates of parameters selected in the models for each individual.

A percepção e interpretação da interação de indivíduos e populações com o ambiente e a forma como tal relação condiciona sua distribuição espacial é questão-chave e recorrente em estudos ecológicos. Padrões de uso de área observados para populações emergem em ultima análise da variabilidade entre seus indivíduos em selecionar habitats e interagir com os mesmos. Este estudo teve como foco o uso de área pela população do boto-cinza, Sotalia guianensis, e sua variabilidade individual no estuário de Cananeia, localizado na costa sudeste do Brasil (25°03\' S; 47°55\' W), durante o verão e o inverno de 2015 e o verão de 2016. Parâmetros ambientais e geográficos (distâncias da desembocadura de rios, da entrada do estuário e de áreas urbanas, profundidade, maré e autocorrelação espacial) foram testados para explicar a distribuição da população e de seus indivíduos a partir de funções de probabilidade de seleção de recursos (RSPF) em modelos aditivos generalizados (GAM). Onze indivíduos fotoidentificados com 18 ou mais recapturas foram avaliados com o uso de modelos individuais de ocupação e sua interpretação foi subsidiada por estimativas de áreas domiciliares obtidas a partir de kerneis fixos de densidade. Nas três temporadas a população apresentou densidades de grupos desiguais ao longo do estuário e todas as variáveis, com exceção da distância de áreas urbanas, explicaram as probabilidades de presença observadas. Análises individuais revelaram discrepâncias nos tamanhos e disposição geográfica de áreas domiciliares e diferenças na composição e estimativa dos parâmetros selecionados para cada indivíduo. A variabilidade individual na população deve ter papel fundamental em termos de utilização do espaço e seleção de habitat pelo boto-cinza no estuário local. / Understanding and interpreting the interaction of individuals and populations with the environment and how this relationship outlines their spatial distribution is a key question common in ecological studies. Area use patterns observed for populations are ultimately an outcome from individual variability in habitat selection and their interaction with such environments. Are use and habitat selection by the population of Guiana dolphins, Sotalia guianensis, and its individual variability were accessed in the Cananeia estuary (25°03\' S; 47°55\' W), southeastern Brazil, during the summer and winter of 2015 and the summer of 2016. Environmental and geographic parameters were estimated aiming to explain population distribution and differences within individuals. For this purpose, resource selection probability functions (RSPF) were applied in generalized additive models (GAM). Covariates tested included: distance to river mouths, distance to the estuary entrance, distance to urban areas, depth and tide. Geographic coordinates were used to model spatial autocorrelation. Eleven photo-identified individuals had their occupancy modelled and accessed in relation to their home range obtained from fixed kernel densities estimates. The population exhibited patchy group densities throughout the estuary in all seasons. Except from distance to urban areas all variables were selected in our final model for the population\'s RSPF. Individual analysis revealed discrepancies in size and location of home ranges which lead to remarkable differences in the composition and estimates of parameters selected in the models for each individual.

The south coast of South Africa represents the extreme western end of the range of the Indo-Pacific humpback (Sousa chinensis, plumbea type) and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), which are both confirmed to range as far west as False Bay (Jefferson & Karczmarski, 2001; Hammond et al., 2008). Individual ranging behaviour for both species however is not well resolved. Recent genetic analyses suggest that animals currently considered as plumbea type Sousa chinensis (Reeves et al., 2008) may be a separate species, Sousa plumbea (Mendez et al., 2013). In South African waters less than 1000 adult humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis, plumbea type hereafter “humpback dolphin”) may comprise the entire population (Karczmarski, 1996), while all estimates suggest the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus, hereafter “bottlenose dolphins”) population is relatively large, numbering thousands of animals (Cockcroft et al., 1992; Reisinger & Karczmarski, 2010). Both dolphin species are exposed to variable levels of anthropogenic impacts throughout their range including vessel traffic, chemical pollution and habitat degradation associated with coastal development. This thesis describes the results of a study investigating: 1) the environmental and anthropogenic factors which influence the habitat use of humpback and bottlenose dolphins in two adjacent bays on the southern Cape coast, South Africa – Mossel Bay and Vlees Bay; 2) the abundance of humpback dolphins using Mossel Bay and 3) the interaction of these two dolphin species with white sharks, and the influence this has on dolphin group sizes and habitat use in Mossel Bay. Both land-based and boat-based survey platforms were used in this study with land-based data collected during dedicated watch periods at sites in Mossel Bay (n = 6) and Vlees Bay (n = 4) between February 2011 and March 2013, with a focus on humpback and bottlenose dolphins. A surveyor’s theodolite was used at these sites to collect positional data on animals, while behavioural data were collected through direct observation. Boat-based photographic identification surveys were used to collect data on the presence of individual humpback dolphins in Mossel Bay between April 2011 and November 2013. White shark data from Mossel Bay between February 2011 and March 2013 were provided from boat-based chumming surveys for the collection of photo-ID data from the Master’s thesis of Rabi’a Ryklief, based at Oceans Research. Data were analysed using ANOVA’s, Tukey honest significance tests and generalised additive modelling (Wood, 2006) in programme R, while capture histories of humpback dolphins were analysed with RMark (Laake, 2013) using POPAN open population models (Schwarz & Arnason, 1996) and Huggins heterogeneity closed capture models (Huggins, 1989; Chao et al., 1992). Humpback dolphins socialised over sandy beach habitats in both bays, while feeding/foraging occurred over reef systems in Mossel Bay and off fine grained sandy beach habitats in Vlees Bay. Humpback dolphin resting behaviour was observed at a very low frequency and occurred in all of the primary habitat types in Mossel Bay, while in Vlees Bay resting was only observed over reefs. Bottlenose dolphins in both bays preferentially used wave cut rocky platform habitats for feeding/foraging and resting while socialising occurred in the vicinity of estuaries in Mossel Bay and fine grained sandy beach habitats in Vlees Bay. Higher sighting rates were recorded in the control site, Vlees Bay, than in Mossel Bay for both dolphin species. The largest reverse osmosis desalination plant commenced operations in the sheltered corner of Mossel Bay in October 2011 and discharged approximately five million litres (Ml) of effluent per day (between October 2011 and February 2012) and 18 Ml per day in March and April 2012. In Mossel Bay higher sighting rates of humpback dolphins occurred in the period before desalination began while bottlenose dolphin sighting rates were highest after active desalination decreased to once per month (May, 2012). During the period of peak brine discharge in Mossel Bay, sighting rates were highest for both species in Vlees Bay. Even after desalination operations decreased the sighting rate of humpback dolphins remained low. The operation of the desalination plant at full capacity in Mossel Bay may have led to reduced use of this area by both humpback and bottlenose dolphins. Key habitats in Mossel Bay for both dolphin species are shared with great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias hereafter “white sharks”) and focus around the three estuaries and their associated near-shore reef systems. The presence of predatory white sharks may limit the time dolphins spend in a specific habitat and influence the number of animals within groups, with larger humpback dolphin groups at sites with high shark utilisation. Both dolphin species had lower individual sighting rates during periods when white shark abundance peaked. Large group sizes of humpback dolphins at Seal Island, and of bottlenose dolphins at Hartenbos and Tergniet, combined with increased rates of travelling and decreased resting and socializing suggest that these areas may pose the largest threat to dolphins due to the variety of shark size classes’ present, especially larger sharks. Closed capture models generated within year population estimates ranging from 48 to 97 individual humpback dolphins (2011: 97, 95% CI: 46 – 205; 2012: 48, 28 – 81; 2013: 68, 35 – 131) while open population modelling produced a ‘super-population’ estimate of 116 animals (95% CI: 54 – 247) using Mossel Bay. During the study 67 humpback dolphins were individually identified with 94.3 % of the individuals in good quality photographs distinctively marked. Fewer humpback dolphins may be present on the south-east and southern Cape coast, including between Algoa Bay and Mossel Bay, than initially thought (Karczmarski, 1996), as definite links exist between Algoa Bay and Plettenberg Bay (Smith-Goodwin, 1997), and Plettenberg Bay and Mossel Bay (this study). The Gouritz River mouth (21º 53' E; Ross, 1984) and De Hoop (20º 30' E; Findlay et al., 1992) were previous suggested as the western limit of this species, but within the last 20 years knowledge on the extent of their range has been greatly improved, and range extension of this species may be occurring to the west with animals present as far west as False Bay (18º 48' E; Jefferson & Karczmarski, 2001). Due to the vulnerability of this species and their wide ranging behaviour, conservation plans need to be implemented on a wide scale to ensure protection of these animals from human impacts throughout their range. A concerted effort is required to further establish the population links between the various locations on the southern Cape coast that these animals frequent. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Zoology and Entomology / MSc / Unrestricted

In studies of migration and life-history of many large whales, photo-identification has proven a very powerful tool. Unfortunately, photo-identification is not as established and common when it comes to the second largest animal on earth, the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus).Despite the massive size of the creatures many things remain unknown about them, such asmigration patterns, the geographical and temporal locations of wintering and individual seasonal range. This study aimed to investigate when fin whales normally visit Skjálfandi Bay, Iceland, and if they migrate between Skjálfandi Bay and Ireland, using photo-identification. The results showed somewhat that the fin whale visits in Skjálfandi Bay were most common in March and April which could be connected to arrival of schooling fish such as capelin (Mallotus villosus) early spring, and that visits have not changed noticeably over the years, suggesting that the fin whales will keep coming to Skjálfandi Bay. One possible fin whale match was found between Skjálfandi Bay and Ireland, suggesting but not confirming migration between the two locations. Further investigation is needed to understand fin whale migration patterns. Because of typical fin whale behavior, similar dorsal fins and unreliable weather, the photo-identification system was discussed, and improvements suggested. A more established photo-identification system could include fin whale photo-ID catalogues with pictures from dorsal view and from the left and right side. However, the photo-identification methods need further investigating to improve even more and to find the best possible way to identify and photograph fin whales. / Foto-identifiering har visat sig vara ett användbart verktyg för att studera migration men även livshistoria hos många stora valar. Tyvärr är fotoidentifiering inte lika etablerat och vanligt när det gäller det näst största djuret vår jord, sillvalen (Balaenoptera physalus). Trots valens massiva storlek finns det en stor kunskapsbrist kring dess migrationsmönster, de geografiska och tidsmässiga platserna för övervintring och individuellt säsongsutbrednings-område bland annat. Denna studie syftade till att undersöka när sillvalarna normalt kommer till Skjálfandi Bay, Island, och om de migrerar mellan Skjálfandi Bay och Irland, med hjälp av foto-identifiering. Resultaten visade delvis att sillvalarna oftast besöker Skjálfandi Bay i mars och april, vilket kan vara kopplat till att stimfiskar såsom lodda (Mallotus villosus) kommer dit tidig vår, och att besökssiffrorna inte har ändrats mycket över åren vilket tyder på att sillvalarna kommer fortsätta komma till Skjálfandi Bay. En möjlig matching hittades mellan en identifierad sillval i Skjálfandi Bay och en identifierad sillval i irländska vatten, vilket tyder på men inte bekräftar migration mellan de två platserna. På grund av det typiska sillvalbeteendet och derasliknande ryggfenor samt det opålitliga vädret som en faktor, diskuterades fotoidentifieringssystemet och förbättringar föreslogs. Ett mer etablerat fotoidentifieringssystem hade kunnat inkludera fotoidentifieringskataloger med bilder på sillvalar från ovan sida och från båda sidor. Däremot behöver fotoidentifieringsmetoderna vidare undersökning för ytterligare förbättringar och för att hitta det bästa sättet att identifiera och fotografera sillvalar.

Data collected during boat-based and aerial surveys were used to describe population structure, movements, temporal patterns of migration and skin condition of humpback whales in breeding sub-stock C1-S off southern Africa. Results confirmed that the migration route along the south coast of South Africa is linked to the winter ground off Mozambique. A lack of exchange between breeding sub-stocks C1-N and C1-S was found, suggesting that these are independent of each other. Molecular analysis revealed unexpected levels of population structure between the migration route and the winter ground of C1-S, as well as the possibility that this migration route is also utilised by some individuals from breeding sub-stock C3. A skin condition of unknown aetiology that primarily affects humpback whale mother-calf pairs was identified. The first assessment of its prevalence and severity was made, providing a baseline for future monitoring. Humpback whale abundance in an inshore region of Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique was estimated and attempts were also made to use the limited information off Plettenberg Bay/Knysna, South Africa. In addition to improving our understanding of humpback whales from Breeding Stock C, knowledge about another baleen whale species utilising the southwest Indian Ocean was extended. The first evidence of southern right whale presence off the coast of Mozambique since the cessation of whaling was documented. It remains unknown whether this is a remnant sub-stock or the recovering South African sub-stock reoccupying its historical range.