[MARMAM] New paper on odontocete stranding records in southern Brazil

[Carolina Loch Silva]

Dear MARMAM subscribers,


We are pleased to announce the publication of the following paper in the
current issue of Zoologia:


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

Thaís dos S. Vianna, Carolina Loch, Pedro V. de Castilho, Morgana C.
Gaidzinski, Marta J. Cremer & Paulo C. Simões-Lopes


doi:  10.1590/S1984-4689zool-20160089


ABSTRACT

Marine mammal strandings provide valuable insights into local biodiversity.
Strandings can be caused by both natural and anthropogenic factors.  In
Santa Catarina state, 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 *(n= 173), bottlenose dolphin *Tursiops truncatus *(n= 100) and
Guiana dolphin *Sotalia guianensis* (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 understanding 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.


Keywords: bycatch, marine mammals, *Pontoporia blainvillei, Sotalia
guianensis, Tursiops truncatus.*



Full text is available at:
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/zool/v33n5/1984-4689-zool-33-05-e20160089.pdf

Or alternatively, a *pdf* can be requested at: carolina.loch at otago.ac.nz



Kind regards,

_______________________________________

Carolina Loch Silva, PhD

Research Fellow

Sir John Walsh Research Institute

Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago

Dunedin 9054, New Zealand

Phone: +(64) 03 479-7093

&

Research Collaborator

Geology Department, University of Otago

and

Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos UFSC

Florianópolis, SC - Brasil



http://www.otago.ac.nz/sjwri/people/craniofacial-biomechanics/otago054438.html
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