Dolphin Presence Increased During COVID19 Lockdown in Dolphin Bay, Panama
Kelliher, Liam Murray, Julia Keefe, Liam
Kelliher, Liam
Murray, Julia
Keefe, Liam
Citations
Altmetric:
License
0
License
DOI
Abstract
Previous research has described the habitat of bottlenose dolphins in Dolphin Bay, Panama as stressful. Dolphins are targeted by multiple tour-boats consistently on a daily basis. Bottlenose dolphins rely on sound to communicate, localize prey, and navigate. Previous work has shown the impact of tour-boats and associated noise on their communication. In this research, we study dolphin acoustic presence before and during COVID-19 lockdowns. We generated a presence-absence matrix of dolphin and boat detections for data collected using autonomous underwater recorders in 2018 and 2020. We hypothesize that a decrease in boat traffic following COVID-19 regulations will directly lead to an increase in dolphin frequency in Dolphin Bay. This research will provide marine ecologists with a better understanding of the impact that unregulated boat traffic has on dolphin populations and inform ongoing conservation efforts.
Description
Undergraduate
Date
2021-01-01