TY - JOUR
T1 - Staying Alive
T2 - Long-Term Success of Bottlenose Dolphin Interventions in Southwest Florida
AU - McHugh, Katherine A.
AU - Barleycorn, Aaron A.
AU - Allen, Jason B.
AU - Bassos-Hull, Kim
AU - Lovewell, Gretchen
AU - Boyd, Denise
AU - Panike, Anna
AU - Cush, Carolyn
AU - Fauquier, Deborah
AU - Mase, Blair
AU - Lacy, Robert C.
AU - Greenfield, Michelle R.
AU - Rubenstein, Daniel I.
AU - Weaver, Ann
AU - Stone, Abby
AU - Oliver, Lisa
AU - Morse, Kent
AU - Wells, Randall S.
N1 - Funding Information:
We sincerely thank the many volunteers, program staff, state and federal agency employees, veterinarians, stranding network partners, and members of the public who reported observations of injured animals, participated in rescue or rehabilitation operations and follow-up monitoring efforts, and without whom none of this work would have been possible. In particular, we are indebted to Larry Fulford whose capture expertise facilitated our rescue operations throughout the region. We also thank Erin Fougères for her input on case inclusion criteria and reviewing the manuscript prior to submission, Krystan Wilkinson for map preparation, and Nathan Crum for helpful comments on the initial draft. Dolphin interventions were authorized by NMFS and conducted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) through 112c agreements or 109h authority, or under NMFS MMPA/Endangered Species Act Permits. The scientific results and conclusions, as well as any views or opinions expressed herein, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA. Funding. This work was funded by a series of grants from the Disney Conservation Fund and NOAA’s John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, as well as support from the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation, the Batchelor Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Save the Manatee Trust Fund, and institutional support for the members of the stranding network involved in the interventions, rehabilitation, and post-release follow-up monitoring, including the Chicago Zoological Society, Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, NOAA’s NMFS, and the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. The Vortex population modeling software is made available by the partners of the Species Conservation Toolkit Initiative (scti.tools).
Funding Information:
This work was funded by a series of grants from the Disney Conservation Fund and NOAA’s John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, as well as support from the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation, the Batchelor Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Save the Manatee Trust Fund, and institutional support for the members of the stranding network involved in the interventions, rehabilitation, and post-release follow-up monitoring, including the Chicago Zoological Society, Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, NOAA’s NMFS, and the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. The Vortex population modeling software is made available by the partners of the Species Conservation Toolkit Initiative (scti.tools).
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 McHugh, Barleycorn, Allen, Bassos-Hull, Lovewell, Boyd, Panike, Cush, Fauquier, Mase, Lacy, Greenfield, Rubenstein, Weaver, Stone, Oliver, Morse and Wells.
PY - 2021/1/18
Y1 - 2021/1/18
N2 - Small cetaceans face persistent threats from fisheries interactions, making effective mitigation a priority for conservation. In southwest Florida, interactions come primarily from small-scale recreational hook and line and trap/pot fisheries, with regional stranding network partners working with federal agency managers to assess and intervene as possible in cases of live animal entanglement. Evaluating success of intervention cases is difficult due to financial and logistical constraints which may preclude detailed follow-up monitoring. Survival over the initial 6 weeks post-release has been used as a marker of short-term success for small-cetacean rescue and/or rehabilitation cases. Early intervention prior to stranding, especially via remote disentanglement or rescue and immediate re-release onsite, can save entangled free-ranging dolphins facing life-threatening anthropogenic injuries. However, given the costs associated with interventions, it is important to understand the benefits of these endeavors not only to save individuals, but also to establish if and how saved individuals contribute to social functioning, survival and reproduction within small, resident populations facing multiple concurrent threats. Here we provide evidence from 27 well-documented common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) intervention cases during 1985–2019 where follow-up monitoring over multiple years sheds light on the longer-term success of these efforts and potential benefits to local populations. Nearly all rescued individuals (92%) survived longer than 6 weeks post-release (mean minimum survival period = 5 years, range 0–35 years), with 13 still observed frequently within their prior resident communities, in good physical health, and engaging in normal behavior. Survivorship rates did not decline substantially between 1 and 5 years post-rescue, meaning survival beyond 1 year may be a useful benchmark of long-term success. Rescued females that reached reproductive maturity (n = 4) have produced 12 post-intervention offspring to date. Social network analysis and demographic modeling applied to cases from the long-term resident community in Sarasota Bay confirmed that animals maintain social connections post-intervention and that interventions result in higher population growth rates. While not every intervention succeeds, this study demonstrates the conservation value of pre-stranding interventions which allow individuals that otherwise would be lost to remain viable and productive members of local populations when prevention of anthropogenic injury is not possible.
AB - Small cetaceans face persistent threats from fisheries interactions, making effective mitigation a priority for conservation. In southwest Florida, interactions come primarily from small-scale recreational hook and line and trap/pot fisheries, with regional stranding network partners working with federal agency managers to assess and intervene as possible in cases of live animal entanglement. Evaluating success of intervention cases is difficult due to financial and logistical constraints which may preclude detailed follow-up monitoring. Survival over the initial 6 weeks post-release has been used as a marker of short-term success for small-cetacean rescue and/or rehabilitation cases. Early intervention prior to stranding, especially via remote disentanglement or rescue and immediate re-release onsite, can save entangled free-ranging dolphins facing life-threatening anthropogenic injuries. However, given the costs associated with interventions, it is important to understand the benefits of these endeavors not only to save individuals, but also to establish if and how saved individuals contribute to social functioning, survival and reproduction within small, resident populations facing multiple concurrent threats. Here we provide evidence from 27 well-documented common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) intervention cases during 1985–2019 where follow-up monitoring over multiple years sheds light on the longer-term success of these efforts and potential benefits to local populations. Nearly all rescued individuals (92%) survived longer than 6 weeks post-release (mean minimum survival period = 5 years, range 0–35 years), with 13 still observed frequently within their prior resident communities, in good physical health, and engaging in normal behavior. Survivorship rates did not decline substantially between 1 and 5 years post-rescue, meaning survival beyond 1 year may be a useful benchmark of long-term success. Rescued females that reached reproductive maturity (n = 4) have produced 12 post-intervention offspring to date. Social network analysis and demographic modeling applied to cases from the long-term resident community in Sarasota Bay confirmed that animals maintain social connections post-intervention and that interventions result in higher population growth rates. While not every intervention succeeds, this study demonstrates the conservation value of pre-stranding interventions which allow individuals that otherwise would be lost to remain viable and productive members of local populations when prevention of anthropogenic injury is not possible.
KW - Tursiops
KW - anthropogenic injury
KW - bottlenose dolphin
KW - case evaluation
KW - entanglement
KW - population modeling
KW - rehabilitation
KW - rescue
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100590195&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85100590195&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fmars.2020.624729
DO - 10.3389/fmars.2020.624729
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85100590195
SN - 2296-7745
VL - 7
JO - Frontiers in Marine Science
JF - Frontiers in Marine Science
M1 - 624729
ER -