Author Interview: Large-scale movements of common bottlenose dolphins in the Atlantic: dolphins with an international courtyard

Bottlenose dolphins. A.Sambolino Copyright OOM

PeerJ spoke to Ana Dinis about the recently published article Large-scale movements of common bottlenose dolphins in the Atlantic: dolphins with an international courtyard. Ana is a post-doctoral fellow at MARE-Madeira, located in Funchal, Portugal.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your area of research?

Ana Dinis – R.Ferreira Copyright OOM

My name is Ana Dinis and I’m a post-doctoral fellow at MARE-Madeira, located in Funchal, Portugal. My main research interests focus on the ecology of large marine vertebrates, particularly cetaceans occurring in insular oceanic environments.

Can you briefly explain the research in your latest PeerJ publication Large-scale movements of common bottlenose dolphins in the Atlantic: dolphins with an international courtyard

This study shows the first inter-archipelago movements of bottlenose dolphins in the Macaronesia region, emphasizing the high mobility of this species. Main findings show that there are some individuals moving between archipelagos, covering large distances and that this must be taken into consideration when attributing residency patterns for these oceanic dolphins. This study also denotes the need to review the boundaries of the marine protected areas established for each archipelago, involving two countries, as dolphins inhabit not only more than one archipelago but also the offshore waters between them.

What do you hope people take away from this research?

This study emphasizes the importance of the collaboration of international institutions, as well as of research institutes with private tourism companies. By collaborating and exchanging data we were able to determine that these oceanic populations have a much wider range when compared to some coastal populations.

What is next for your research?

I’m always involved in several projects but, following this range assessment research, we are now deploying satellite tags in other cetacean species to investigate if there are preferential routes, stop-overs, etc., and asking why do these individuals perform these wide-range movements in this area of the NE Atlantic.

Would you recommend PeerJ to your colleagues?

Yes, definitely. It has a short time period until the first decision, and all the reviewing process was very easy to follow and address.

Bottlenose dolphin A. Dinis Copyright OOM

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