Bottlenose dolphins in Slovenian and adjacent waters in 2002-2008
Tilen Genov, Morigenos

Tilen Genov, Morigenos - marine mammal research and conservation society, Slovenia

This dataset comprises the work carried out by Morigenos in Slovenian and adjacent waters of the north Adriatic Sea, between 2002 and 2008. A local population of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Slovenian and adjacent waters was studied using boat-based surveys, land-based surveys and standard photo-identification procedures. A total of 120 sightings were recorded and 101 well-marked dolphins photo-identified. Resighting rates within and between years showed a relatively high rate of site fidelity for some individuals. The group size ranged from 1 to 43. Offspring were present in 53.3% of the groups. Annual mark-recapture density estimates of 0.069 dolphins/km2 seem to be good baseline information for conservation management.

Research in the territorial sea of the Republic of Slovenia has been carried out by Morigenos under the permit issued by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia, numbers 35701-2/2004 and 35701-67/2004. Research in the territorial sea of the Republic of Croatia has been carried out by Morigenos, in cooperation with the Blue World Institute of Marine Research and Conservation, under the permit issued by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, numbers UP/I 612-07/04-33/247, UP/I-612-07/06-33/984 and UP/I-612-07/08-33/024.

Morigenos - marine mammal research and conservation society is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental organization, dedicated to the research and protection of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and conservation of the marine environment. The organization was founded in 2001 and is carrying out several projects in the field of scientific research, education, public awareness and conservation. Slovenian Dolphin Project - the research and conservation of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Slovenian and adjacent waters - is the main project of Morigenos. Morigenos has been studying and following these dolphins since 2002. As a result, a previously unknown local resident population of bottlenose dolphins in the area was identified and documented.

The day part of the observation date is masked, replaced with 01. Accuracy of the group size differs row by row. The accuracy is found in count_acc field, which may be obtained upon permission from the provider. If the group size is not available (NA), the size is shown as a 0.

Overview

Attributes described below represent those in the original dataset provided by the provider.
Only minimum required attributes are visible and downlodable online. Other attributes may be obtained upon provider's permission unless otherwise noteded below.

This section explains attributes included in the original dataset. OBIS-SEAMAP restricts the attributes available to the public to date/time, lat/lon and species names/counts only. Should you need other attributes described here, you are encouraged to contact the data provider.

Attributes in dataset provided

Attribute (table column)	Description
oid	Unique ID number (generated by SEAMAP)
row_id	Row ID
latitude	Latitude in decimal degrees
longitude	Longitude in decimal degrees
obs_date	date of observation. The day part is masked, replaced with 01.
obs_count	Group size. See count_acc field for the count accuracy.
count_acc	Group size estimation accuracy. 1: highly accurate and/or confirmed through photo-ID; 0: best estimate, but not necessarily very accurate.
sp_obs	Species name
sp_tsn	ITIS taxonomic serial number. This field added by OBIS-SEAMAP
data_owner	Data owner
org	Organization