Premium
IDENTIFICATION OF GEOGRAPHIC FORMS OF COMMON DOLPHIN ( Delphinus delphis ) FROM AERIAL PHOTOGRAMMETRY
Author(s) -
Perryman Wayne L.,
Lynn Morgan S.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
marine mammal science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.723
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1748-7692
pISSN - 0824-0469
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-7692.1993.tb00438.x
Subject(s) - delphinus delphis , aerial survey , cetacea , life history , biology , photogrammetry , reproduction , geography , fishery , zoology , cartography , ecology , remote sensing
At least four morphologically distinct forms of common dolphins are found in the eastern Pacific, We compared length data for common dolphins photographed from the northern, central and southern regions as defined by Perrin et al. (1985) and found significant differences in average length for adult animals (>150 cm) and for “adult females” defined for our purposes as animals accompanied by calves. Analyses of calculated birth dates for calves demonstrated differences in timing of reproduction between the geographically adjacent forms. Length distributions from aerial photographs and samples collected from the purse seine fishery were strikingly similar. This work demonstrates a new, non‐invasive method for obtaining unbiased life history and morphological data.