Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T08:11:56.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Behavioural changes and potential consequences of cetacean exposure to purse seine vessels in the Istanbul Strait, Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2020

Cristóbal Olaya Meza Open the ORCID record for Cristóbal Olaya Meza [Opens in a new window] ,
Aylin Akkaya ,
Flavio Affinito Open the ORCID record for Flavio Affinito [Opens in a new window] ,
Bayram Öztürk  and
Ayaka Amaha Öztürk
Cristóbal Olaya Meza*
Affiliation:
Marine Mammals Research Association, Kuskavagi Mah, 543 Sok. No.6/D, 07070, Antalya, Turkey
Aylin Akkaya
Affiliation:
Marine Mammals Research Association, Kuskavagi Mah, 543 Sok. No.6/D, 07070, Antalya, Turkey Istanbul University, Faculty of Fisheries, 34452 Beyazit, Istanbul, Turkey Turkish Marine Research Foundation, PO Box 10, Beykoz, Istanbul, 34820, Turkey
Flavio Affinito
Affiliation:
Marine Mammals Research Association, Kuskavagi Mah, 543 Sok. No.6/D, 07070, Antalya, Turkey
Bayram Öztürk
Affiliation:
Istanbul University, Faculty of Fisheries, 34452 Beyazit, Istanbul, Turkey Turkish Marine Research Foundation, PO Box 10, Beykoz, Istanbul, 34820, Turkey
Ayaka Amaha Öztürk
Affiliation:
Istanbul University, Faculty of Fisheries, 34452 Beyazit, Istanbul, Turkey Turkish Marine Research Foundation, PO Box 10, Beykoz, Istanbul, 34820, Turkey
*
Author for correspondence: Cristóbal Olaya Meza, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Marine traffic has both short- and long-term effects on cetacean behaviour, yet fishing vessels present a unique situation as they disturb cetaceans whilst potentially offering alternative foraging opportunities. The Istanbul Strait is a key area for the study of anthropogenic disturbance on cetaceans due to heavy human pressure in a narrow space where at least three cetacean species are regularly encountered. The present study investigated changes in behaviour of bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins and harbour porpoises in relation to the presence of purse seiners using Markov chains analysis. The results revealed increased foraging in bottlenose and common dolphins' behavioural budgets and a decrease in the time spent foraging by harbour porpoises. Moreover, a loglinear model was used to analyse the effect of possible confounding variables on observed behaviours. The only variables found to be affecting behaviour were the previous recorded behaviour, seiner presence and marine traffic density. Consequently, the presence of purse seine vessels leads bottlenose and common dolphins to change their behaviour and are related with a decrease of energy intake in porpoises. The results of this study reveal that there is an effect of purse seine vessel presence on the cetaceans found in the Istanbul Strait with potentially significant impacts on their behaviour, therefore we suggest more research is needed in the area to identify the long-term impacts of these observed behavioural changes.

Keywords

Anthropogenic disturbancebehavioural budgetbottlenose dolphincommon dolphinfishing pressureharbour porpoisemarine trafficMarkov chain
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 100 , Issue 5 , August 2020 , pp. 847 - 856
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, SJ, Pollock, KH, Bouchet, PJ, Kobryn, HT, McElligott, DB, Nicholson, KE, Smith, JN and Loneragan, NR (2017) Preliminary estimates of the abundance and fidelity of dolphins associating with a demersal trawl fishery. Scientific Reports 7, 4995.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Altmann, J (1974) Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour 49, 227–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailey, H, Senior, B, Simmons, D, Rusin, J, Picken, G and Thompson, PM (2010). Assessing underwater noise levels during pile-driving at an offshore windfarm and its potential effects on marine mammals. Marine Pollution Bulletin 60, 888–897.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baş, AA, Christiansen, F, Öztürk, AA, Öztürk, B and McIntosh, C (2017 a) The effects of marine traffic on the behaviour of Black Sea harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena relicta) within the Istanbul Strait, Turkey. PLoS ONE 12, e0172970.Google Scholar
Baş, AA, Christiansen, F, Öztürk, B, Öztürk, AA, Erdogan, MA and Watson, L (2017 b) Marine vessels alter the behaviour of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in the Istanbul Strait, Turkey. Endangered Species Research 34, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bearzi, G (2003) Delphinus delphis (Mediterranean subpopulation). In The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at http://www.iucnredlist.org.Google Scholar
Bearzi, G, Fortuna, C and Reeves, R (2012) Tursiops truncatus (Mediterranean subpopulation). In The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at http://www.iucnredlist.org.Google Scholar
Bejder, L, Samuels, A, Whitehead, H, Gales, N, Mann, J, Connor, R, Heithaus, M, Watson-Capps, J, Flaherty, C and Krützen, M (2006) Decline in relative abundance of bottlenose dolphins exposed to long-term disturbance. Conservation Biology 20, 1791–1798.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Birkun, A (2008) Delphinus delphis ssp. ponticus. In The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at http://www.iucnredlist.org.Google Scholar
Birkun, A (2012) Tursiops truncatus ssp. ponticus. In The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at http://www.iucnredlist.org.Google Scholar
Birkun, A and Frantzis, A (2008) Phocoena phocoena ssp. relicta. In The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at http://www.iucnredlist.org.Google Scholar
Birkun, A, Northridge, SP, Willsteed, EA, James, FA, Kilgour, C, Lander, M and Fitzgerald, GD (2014) Studies for Carrying Out the Common Fisheries Policy: Adverse Fisheries Impacts on Cetacean Populations in the Black Sea. Final report to the European Commission, Brussels.Google Scholar
Brotons, JM, Grau, AM and Rendell, L (2008) Estimating the impact of interactions between bottlenose dolphins and artisanal fisheries around the Balearic Islands. Marine Mammal Science 24, 112–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cecchetti, A, Stockin, KA, Gordon, J and Azevedo, JM (2017) Short-term effects of tourism on the behaviour of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in the Azores. Journal of the Marine Biology Association of the United Kingdom 98, 1187–1196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chilvers, BL and Corkeron, PJ (2001) Trawlers and bottlenose dolphins’ social structure. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 268, 1901–1905.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chilvers, BL, Corkeron, PJ and Puotinen, ML (2003) Influence of trawling on the behaviour and spatial distribution of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Moreton Bay, Australia. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81, 1947–1955.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christiansen, F and Lusseau, D (2015) Linking behavior to vital rates to measure the effects of non-lethal disturbance on wildlife. Conservation Letters 8, 424–431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christiansen, F, Lusseau, D, Stensland, E and Berggren, P (2010) Effects of tourist boats on the behaviour of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins off the south coast of Zanzibar. Endangered Species Research 11, 91–99.Google Scholar
Christiansen, F, McHugh, KA, Bejder, L, Eilidh, M, Siegal, EM, Lusseau, D, McCabe, EB, Lovewell, G and Wells, RS (2016) Food provisioning increases the risk of injury in a long-lived marine top predator. Royal Society of Open Science 3, 160560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constantine, R, Brunton, DH and Dennis, T (2004) Dolphin-watching tour boats change bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) behaviour. Biological Conservation 117, 299–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Boer, MN, Saulino, JT, Leopold, MT, Reijnders, PJ and Simmonds, MP (2012) Interactions between short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and the winter pelagic pair-trawl fishery off southwest England (UK). International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation 4, 481–499.Google Scholar
Dede, A, Öztürk, AA, Akamatsu, T, Tonay, AM and Öztürk, B (2014) Long-term passive acoustic monitoring revealed seasonal and diel patterns of cetacean presence in the Istanbul Strait. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 94, 1195–1202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
di Sciara, GN (2002) Cetacean species occurring in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. In Notarbartolo di Sciara G (ed.), Cetaceans of the Mediterranean and Black Seas: State of Knowledge and Conservation Strategies. A report to the ACCOBAMS Secretariat, Monaco, February 2002.Google Scholar
di Sciara, GN and Birkun, Jr (2010) Conserving whales, dolphins and porpoises in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. An ACCOBAMS status report, 2010.Google Scholar
Dyndo, M, Wisniewska, DM, Rojano-Doñate, L and Madsen, PT (2015) Harbour porpoises react to low levels of high frequency vessel noise. Scientific Reports 5, 11083.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Escalle, L, Capietto, A, Chavance, P, Dubroca, L, De Molina A, Delgado, Murua, H, Gaertner, D, Romanov, E, Spitz, J, Kiszka, J, Floch, L, Damiano, A and Merigot, B (2015) Cetaceans and tuna purse seine fisheries in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans: interactions but few mortalities. Marine Ecology Progress Series 522, 255–268.Google Scholar
Fleiss, JL (1981). The measurement of interrater agreement. In Fleis, JL (ed.), Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 212–236.Google Scholar
Hamer, DJ, Ward, T M and McGarvey, R (2008) Measurement, management and mitigation of operational interactions between the South Australian sardine fishery and short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). Biological Conservation 141, 2865–2878.Google Scholar
Jaiteh, VF, Allen, SJ, Meeuwig, JJ and Loneragan, NR (2013) Subsurface behavior of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) interacting with fish trawl nets in northwestern Australia: implications for bycatch mitigation. Marine Mammals Science 29, E266–E281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kara, EG (2016) Risk assessment in the Istanbul Strait using Black Sea MOU port state control inspections. Sustainability 8, 4.Google Scholar
La Manna, G, Manghi, M, Pavan, G, Lo Mascolo, F and Sara, G (2013) Behavioural strategy of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in response to different kinds of boats in the waters of Lampedusa Island (Italy). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 23, 745–757.Google Scholar
Lennert-Cody, CE, Minami, M and Hall, M (2004) Incidental mortality of dolphins in the eastern Pacific Ocean purse-seine fishery: correlates and their spatial association. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 6, 151–163.Google Scholar
Lerczak, JA and Hobbs, RC (1998) Calculating sighting distances from angular readings during shipboard, aerial and shore based marine mammal surveys. Marine Mammals Science 14, 590–599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lotze, HK, Lenihan, HS, Bourque, BJ, Bradbury, RH, Cooke, RG, Kay, MC, Kidwell, SM, Kirby, MX, Peterson, CH and Jackson, JB (2006) Depletion, degradation, and recovery potential of estuaries and coastal seas. Science 312, 1806–1809.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lusseau, D (2003 a) Effects of tour boats on the behavior of bottlenose dolphins: using Markov Chains to model anthropogenic impacts. Conservation Biology 17, 1785–1793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lusseau, D (2003 b) Male and female bottlenose dolphins Tursiops spp. have different strategies to avoid interactions with tour boats in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. Marine Ecology Progress Series 257, 267–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lusseau, D (2004) The hidden cost of tourism: detecting long-term effects of tourism using behavioral information. Ecology and Society 9, 2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lusseau, D and Bejder, L (2007) The long-term consequences of short-term responses to disturbance experiences from whale-watching impact assessment. International Journal of Comparative Psychology 20, 228–236.Google Scholar
Marçalo, A, Katara, I, Feijó, D, Araujo, H, Oliveira, I, Santos, J, Ferreira, M, Monteiro, S, Pierce, GJ, Silva, A and Vingada, J (2015) Quantification of interactions between the Portuguese sardine purse-seine fishery and cetaceans. ICES Journal of Marine Science 72, 2438–2449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mattson, MC, Thomas, JA and St Aubin, D (2005) Effects of boat activity on the behavior of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in waters surrounding Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Aquatic Mammals 31, 133–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meissner, AM, Christiansen, F, Martinez, E, Pawley, MD, Orams, MB and Stockin, KA (2015) Behavioural effects of tourism on oceanic common dolphins, Delphinus sp., in New Zealand: the effects of Markov analysis variations and current tour operator compliance with regulations. PLoS ONE 10, e0116962.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neumann, D and Orams, M (2006) Impacts of ecotourism on short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in Mercury Bay, New Zealand. Aquatic Mammals 32, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oakley, JA, Williams, AT and Thomas, T (2017) Reactions of harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) to vessel traffic in the coastal waters of south West Wales, UK. Ocean and Coastal Management 138, 158–169.Google Scholar
Öztürk, B (2013) Some remarks of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in Turkish part of the Black Sea. Journal of the Black Sea/Mediterranean Environment 19, 256–267.Google Scholar
Öztürk, B and Öztürk, AA (1996) On the biology of the Turkish straits system. Bulletin de l’Institut Oceanographique Special issue 17, 205–221.Google Scholar
Öztürk, B and Öztürk, AA (2002) Marine mammals in Turkey. Fisheries Science 68, 282–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Öztürk, AA, Karakulak, S and Öztürk, B (2002) Fishing activities in the Istanbul Strait. In Öztürk, B and Ozkan, T (eds), Proceedings of the Symposium on the Straits Used for International Navigation, 16–17 November 2002. Publication Number 11. Istanbul: Turkish Marine Research Foundation, pp. 174–185.Google Scholar
Parsons, E, Baulch, S, Bechshoft, T, Bellazzi, G, Bouchet, P, Cosentino, AM, Godard-Codding, CAJ, Gulland, F, Hoffmann-Kuhnt, M, Hoyt, E, Livermore, S, MacLeod, CD, Matrai, E, Munger, L, Ochiai, M, Peyman, A, Recalde-Salas, A, Regnery, R, Rojas-Bracho, L, Salgado-Kent, CP, Slooten, E, Wang, JY, Wilson, SC, Wright, AJ, Young, S, Zwamborn, E and Sutherland, WJ (2015) Key research questions of global importance for cetacean conservation. Endangered Species Research 27, 113–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennino, MG, Roda, MAP, Pierce, GJ and Rotta, A (2016) Effects of vessel traffic on relative abundance and behaviour of cetaceans: the case of the bottlenose dolphins in the archipelago de la Maddalena, north-western Mediterranean sea. Hydrobiologia 776, 237–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pirotta, E, Booth, CG, Costa, DP, Fleishman, E, Kraus, SD, Lusseau, D, Moretti D, New LF, Schick RS, Schwarz LK, SimmonsSE, Thomas L, Tyack PL, Weise MJ, Wells RS and Harwood J SE, Thomas L, Tyack PL, Weise MJ, Wells RS and Harwood J (2018) Understanding the population consequences of disturbance. Ecology and Evolution 8, 9934–9946.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Read, AJ (2008) The looming crisis: interactions between marine mammals and fisheries. Journal of Mammalogy 89, 541–548.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samuels, A, Bejder, L and Heinrich, S (2000) A Review of the Literature Pertaining to Swimming with Wild Dolphins. Report to the Marine Mammal Commission. Marine Mammal Commission.Google Scholar
Siegel, J, Detweiler, K, Breeden, S, West, A, Clark, J and Kirby, A (2015) Preliminary study of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) foraging behavior associated with shrimp trawls and by-catch disposal in the Mississippi Sound. Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Science 60, 305–307.Google Scholar
Stensland, E and Berggren, P (2007) Behavioural changes in female Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in response to boat-based tourism. Marine Ecology Progress Series 332, 225–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stockin, KA, Lusseau, D, Binedell, V, Wiseman, N and Orams, MB (2008) Tourism affects the behavioural budget of the common dolphin Delphinus sp. in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. Marine Ecology Progress Series 355, 287–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, PM, Lusseau, D, Barton, T, Simmons, D, Rusin, J and Bailey, H (2010) Assessing the responses of coastal cetaceans to the construction of offshore wind turbines. Marine Pollution Bulletin 60, 1200–1208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tonay, AM (2016) Estimates of cetacean by-catch in the turbot fishery on the Turkish Western Black Sea Coast in 2007 and 2008. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 96, 993–998.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turkish Statistical Institute (2018) Turkish Fishery Statistics 2017. Available at https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=97&locale=tr.Google Scholar
Wise, L, Silva, A, Ferreira, M, Silva, MA and Sequeira, M (2007) Interactions between small cetaceans and the purse-seine fishery in western Portuguese waters. Scientia Marina 71, 405–412.Google Scholar
Wright, AJ, Soto, NA, Baldwin, AL, Bateson, M, Beale, CM, Clark, C, Deak, T, Edwards, EF, Fernandez, A, Godinho, A, Hatch, L, Kakuschke, A, Lusseau, D, Martineau, D, Romero, M, Weilgart, LS, Wintle, B, Notarbartolo-di-Sciara, G and Martin, V (2007) Do marine mammals experience stress related to anthropogenic noise? International Journal of Comparative Psychology 20, 274–316.Google Scholar
Würsig, B, Cipriano, F and Würsig, M (1991) Dolphin movement patterns (information from radio and theodolite tracking studies). In Pryor, K and Norris, K (eds), Dolphin Societies – Discoveries and Puzzles. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pp. 78–90.Google Scholar