Vessel traffic influences distribution of Aotearoa New Zealand's endemic dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori)

Cetacean tourism and vessel traffic have grown considerably around the world in recent decades. At Akaroa Harbor, Aotearoa New Zealand, recreational vessel traffic, dolphin tourism, and cruise ship presence increased substantially between 2008 and 2020. We examined the relationship between vessel traffic parameters and the presence of Hector's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori) during the austral summer 2019–2020, using automated vessel tracking and autonomous passive acoustic monitoring. Data were collected between December 2019 and May 2020, including the entirety of the first COVID‐19 nationwide lockdown. Generalized additive models revealed that increasing levels of motor vessel traffic, the presence of cruise ships, and high levels of dolphin tour vessel traffic resulted in decreases in acoustic detections of dolphins. Our findings suggest that Hector's dolphins at Akaroa Harbor were displaced from core habitat in response to each of these vessel traffic parameters. We recommend that managers use immediately actionable tools to reduce the impacts of vessels on these dolphins.

A Quieter Ocean: Experimentally Derived Differences in Attentive Responses of Tursiops truncatus to Anthropogenic Noise Playbacks before and during the COVID-19-Related Anthropause.

The effects of anthropogenic noise continue to threaten marine fauna, yet the impacts of human-produced sound on the broad aspects of cognition in marine mammals remain relatively understudied. The shutdown of non-essential activities due to the COVID-19-related anthropause created an opportunity to determine if reducing levels of oceanic anthropogenic noise on cetaceans affected processes of sensitization and habituation for common human-made sounds in an experimental setting. Dolphins at Dolphin Quest Bermuda were presented with three noises related to human activities (cruise ship, personal watercraft, and Navy low-frequency active sonar) both in 2018 and again during the anthropause in 2021 via an underwater speaker. We found that decreased anthropogenic noise levels altered dolphin responses to noise playbacks. The dolphins spent significantly more time looking towards the playback source, but less time producing burst pulse and echolocation bouts in 2021. The dolphins looked towards the cruise ship sound source significantly more in 2021 than 2018. These data highlight that different sounds may incur different habituation and sensitization profiles and suggest that pauses in anthropogenic noise production may affect future responses to noise stimuli as dolphins dishabituate to sounds over time.

Vessel traffic influences distribution of Aotearoa New Zealand's endemic dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori)

Cetacean tourism and vessel traffic have grown considerably around the world in recent decades. At Akaroa Harbor, Aotearoa New Zealand, recreational vessel traffic, dolphin tourism, and cruise ship presence increased substantially between 2008 and 2020. We examined the relationship between vessel traffic parameters and the presence of Hector's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori) during the austral summer 2019-2020, using automated vessel tracking and autonomous passive acoustic monitoring. Data were collected between December 2019 and May 2020, including the entirety of the first COVID-19 nationwide lockdown. Generalized additive models revealed that increasing levels of motor vessel traffic, the presence of cruise ships, and high levels of dolphin tour vessel traffic resulted in decreases in acoustic detections of dolphins. Our findings suggest that Hector's dolphins at Akaroa Harbor were displaced from core habitat in response to each of these vessel traffic parameters. We recommend that managers use immediately actionable tools to reduce the impacts of vessels on these dolphins.

Play Behavior by a Juvenile Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) with an Inanimate Object (Driftwood) in the Gulf of Tribugá, Colombia

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a cosmopolitan species that often visit inshore waters close to the coast, making it easier to see and study them. Consequently, this baleen whale has been researched the most, particularly in Colombia. In Aug 2020, ongoing cetacean monitoring was performed by a group of trained fishermen from the Gulf of Tribuga as part of a community science program implemented by the R&E Ocean Community Conservation Foundation as a contingency plan for monitoring marine mammals in the area during COVID-19 lockdown. As a result of these observations of play behavior, the scope of knowledge regarding the social dynamics, developmental processes, flexibility, and cognitive abilities of cetaceans has been expanded.

A long‐term shift in the summer distribution of Hector’s dolphins is correlated with an increase in cruise ship tourism

1. Before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, cruise ship tourism had been one of the fastest growing segments of global tourism, presenting a range of potential impacts. At Akaroa Harbour, Aotearoa New Zealand, the number of annual cruise ship visits more than quadrupled following earthquake damage to Otautahi Christchurch's Lyttelton Port in 2011. Akaroa Harbour is an area of core use for endangered and endemic Hector's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori). Dolphins here are exposed to some of the highest levels of cetacean tourism in Aotearoa New Zealand. 2. Relationships were examined between growth in cruise ship visits, as well as tours focused specifically on dolphins, and long-term trends in summer distribution of Hector's dolphins at Akaroa Harbour, from 2000 to 2020. Core use areas for Hector's dolphins within the harbour were quantified via kernel density estimation using data from 2,335 sightings from over 8,000 km of standardized survey effort. Data were allocated into four periods based on varying levels of tourism. 3. Dolphin habitat preference varied over time, with the greatest change occurring between 2005-2011 and 2012-2015. When comparing these periods, the spatial overlap of core habitat was less than 24%. Dolphin distribution shifted towards the outer harbour after 2011 and has remained relatively consistent since. 4. The observed shift in distribution coincided with the more than fourfold increase in annual cruise ship visits to Akaroa Harbour. Several pressures related to cruise ship tourism are likely to have influenced habitat preferences of dolphins. Further investigation into causal factors of the observed shift is warranted. 5. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of cruise ship and wildlife tourism is in flux. Our findings suggest that the future re-development of this industry should follow a precautionary approach, with the onus on industry to provide evidence of sustainability before proceeding.

The case of Lovina, Bali: how dolphin-watching procedures put village hospitality revenue at risk

This article focuses on the current practice of dolphin watching in Lovina, Bali. The current approach, in which tourists can hire a traditional boat with a captain, has been evaluated. The results show that the anthropogenic disturbance caused by dolphin watching in Lovina is severe. The future of the dolphin-watching industry and the dolphin population, though habituated, is at risk, creating a threat for the tourism and hospitality industry of Lovina. The triple bottom line framework of Cavagnaro and Curiel provided a theoretical framework for recommendations that are focused on a balance between “care for you and me”. The “you” in this point of view is the local spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) population, where the organisational focus on people, leading to social value, a balance between environmental and economic values can be made, leading to a humanitarian, sustainable form of dolphin watching. Recommendations include the need for a sufficient code of conduct for dolphin watching, control of this code of conduct (including sanctions), restriction of the daily fleet and increasing the boatmen’s caring capacity. When the number of dolphin-watching boats remains low and an economic incentive can be reached for captains to undertake dolphin watching less frequently, a more sustainable model for the future of tourism and hospitality in Lovina can be shaped. The current low number of tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic can create a window of opportunity to create change.

Natural Barrier Feeding Technique in Megaptera novaeangliae in Central Coastal Area of Golfo San Jorge, Patagonia, Argentina

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are cosmopolitan and highly migratory animals. They are found in all ocean basins and annually migrate between low-latitude waters, where they breed and calve during the winter and spring, and high-latitude waters, where they feed during the summer and autumn. Commercial whaling resulted in a considerable reduction in all humpback whale populations. In the Southern Hemisphere alone, more than 200,000 whales were caught. Most populations, including the Western South Atlantic Ocean Breeding Stock "A" (BSA), have shown signs of recovery after the International Whaling Commission (IWC) enacted a moratorium in the late 1960s.

Live from Walt Disney World It's STLE 2022!

The STLE 2022 Annual Meeting & Exhibition will be held on May 15-19 at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort in Orlando FL. This conference will showcase more than 400 technical presentations, lubrication-specific education courses, a professional exhibitor trade show, commercial marketing forum, networking opportunities and more--all valuable in-person content that can't be replicated outside of the live event. Here, Salek discusses the advantages of virtual meetings.

Mega festivals like MahaKumbh, a largest mass congregation, facilitated the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans and endangered animals via contaminated water.

Our surrounding environment has been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The second wave of COVID-19 in India has proven to be more devastating and aggressive than the first wave of the pandemic, which led to recognizing India as one of the world's topmost worst-hit nations considering >4000 fatalities reported in a single day in May 2021. Such "resurgence and acceleration" of COVID-19 transmission has been fuelled by the MahaKumbh festival and political mass gathering (elections rallies) events, where the COVID-19 protocols have been ignored by millions of pilgrims/followers. The present review discusses only the consequences of this year's MahaKumbh festivals, the largest religious mass gathering on earth, which was held during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, and its impact on both the spread of SARS-CoV-2 among participants and their families and its influence on the quality of the river Ganga. This article tries to give readers outside of India an overview of how much impact of any such single large gathering of any relgion in any part of the world can drive coronavirus infections and effectively commence the second/third wave outbreak with this case study. Furthermore, the religious large scale celebration are widely accepted through out the world that have played a significant role in the spread of the pandemic into remote villages and towns all over the subcontinent/world, thus affecting many areas with insufficient healthcare facilities that have been relatively spared. This review also highlights the potential risk of transmission from infected humans into the aquatic environment of the river Ganga. Besides the obvious relevance of SARS-CoV-2, a large variety of other water-related disease vectors (bacteria, viruses, and protozoa) stemming from visitors to the religious congregation were introduced into the upstream regions of the Ganga river. Their sheer number is assumed to have had a severe influence on its delicate ecosystem, including endangered mammals such as the river Dolphins. The detailed epidemiological and clinical study on transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 is the need of the hour to understand the pathogenesis of RNA virus infection and prevent the massive spreading of such infectious respiratory diseases. An interdisciplinary approach, rooted in evidence-based efficient learning, contextual strategies, and a streamlined unified approach should be adopted to help in the development of a proactive prevention model during future MahaKumbh festival (and similar religious gatherings) instead of just "picking up the pieces" in a conventional post-event model.

A Gulf in lockdown: How an enforced ban on recreational vessels increased dolphin and fish communication ranges.

From midnight of 26 March 2020, New Zealand became one of the first countries to enter a strict lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown banned all non-essential services and travel both on land and sea. Overnight, the country's busiest coastal waterway, the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, became devoid of almost all recreational and non-essential commercial vessels. An almost instant change in the marine soundscape ensued, with ambient sound levels in busy channels dropping nearly threefold the first 12 h. This sudden drop led fish and dolphins to experience an immediate increase in their communication ranges by up to an estimated 65%. Very low vessel activity during the lockdown (indicated by the presence of vessel noise over the day) revealed new insights into cumulative noise effects from vessels on auditory masking. For example, at sites nearer Auckland City, communication ranges increased approximately 18 m (22%) or 50 m (11%) for every 10% decrease in vessel activity for fish and dolphins, respectively. However, further from the city and in deeper water, these communication ranges were increased by approximately 13 m (31%) or 510 m (20%). These new data demonstrate how noise from small vessels can impact underwater soundscapes and how marine animals will have to adapt to ever-growing noise pollution.