Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-9q27g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-21T06:36:14.543Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The first Indo-Pacific common dolphin mass stranding in Iranian waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2014

Nazanin Mohsenian ,
Hamed Moshiri ,
Omid Sedighi Savad Kouhi ,
Shahram Norbakhsh ,
Shokat Heidary ,
Kazem Sharifi Shamili  and
Gillian T. Braulik
Nazanin Mohsenian*
Affiliation:
Plan for the Land Society, PO 1689733767, Tehran, Iran
Hamed Moshiri
Affiliation:
Plan for the Land Society, PO 1689733767, Tehran, Iran
Omid Sedighi Savad Kouhi
Affiliation:
Marine Ecology Unit, Iranian Department of the Environment, Tehran, Iran
Shahram Norbakhsh
Affiliation:
Marine Ecology Unit, Iranian Department of the Environment, Tehran, Iran
Shokat Heidary
Affiliation:
Marine Section Unit, Hormozgan Province Bureau, Iranian Department of the Environment, Iran
Kazem Sharifi Shamili
Affiliation:
Jask Enviromental Office, Hormozgan Province Bureau, Iranian Department of Environment, Iran
Gillian T. Braulik
Affiliation:
Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LB, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: N. Mohsenian, Plan for the Land Society, PO 1689733767, Tehran, Iran email: Mohsenian@plan4land.org
Get access

Abstract

In January 2011, a group of 11 Indo-Pacific common dolphins Delphinus capensis tropicalis stranded in the central estuary of Bandar-e-Jask in Hormozgan Province (near the entrance to the Persian Gulf), Iran. All of them were females and just one is believed to have survived. Two individuals were pregnant. All carcasses were examined for biometry and genetic samples were obtained for subsequent analysis. They all appeared to have been in a good state of health prior to death without any signs of human-related injuries. A comprehensive investigation into the possible causes for mortality could not be conducted. However, the available evidence suggests that the most likely reason for the stranding was the complex topographic and oceanographic conditions, which may have caused the animals to be trapped by the rapidly falling spring tide.

Keywords

Delphinus capensis tropicalisfirst mass strandingJask central estuaryIran
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 7 , 2014 , e64
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

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

REFERENCES

Braulik, G.T., Savadkouhi, O.S., Fadakar, Sh., Mohammadi, H., Brownell, R.L. Jr, Reeves, R.R., Nabavi, M.B. and Fernandez, A. (2007) A retrospective investigation of two dolphin mass mortality events in Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 49, 13–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braulik, G.T., Ranjbar, S.H., Owfi, F., Aminirad, T., Dakhteh, S.M.H., Kamrani, E. and Mohsenizadeh, F. (2010a) Marine mammals records from Iran. Cetacean Research and Management 11, 49–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braulik, G.T., Savadkouhi, O.S., Fadakar, S., Mohammadi, H., Brownell, R.L. Jr, Reeves, R.R., Nabavi, M.B. and Fernandez, A. (2010b) A retrospective investigation of two dolphin mass mortality events in Iran, autumn 2007. Zoology in the Middle East 49, 13–26.Google Scholar
Geraci, J.R. and Lounsbury, V.J. (2005) Marine mammals ashore: a field guide for strandings. 2nd edition. Baltimore, MD: National Aquarium in Baltimore.Google Scholar
Henningsen, T. and Constantine, R. (1992) Cetaceans in the Persian Gulf: after the war. European Research on Cetaceans 6, 108–113.Google Scholar
Jefferson, T.A. and Van Waerbeek, K. (2002) The taxonomic status of the nominal dolphin species Delphinus tropicalis van Bree, 1971. Marine Mammal Science 18, 787–818.Google Scholar
Jefferson, T.A., Webber, M.A. and Pitman, R.L. (2008) Marine mammals of the world: a comprehensive guide to their identification. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Kiani, M.S., Iqbal, P. and Siddiqui, P.J.A. (2011) First confirmation of occurrence of the pan-tropical spotted dolphin, Stenella attenuata, in Pakistani waters through a mass stranding event. Marine Biodiversity Records 4, e60. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1755267211000601.Google Scholar
Sharif Ranjbar, M. (2007) Report: investigating the death of dolphins on the Biahi-Kalirak shores in Jask. Qeshm Island Bureau, Department of the Environment of Iran [In Persian.]Google Scholar