IMIS - Marine Research Groups

Bahía San Antonio is home for bottlenose dolphins (whole year long) and southern right whales (winter months). Both species face a need of urgent increase in conservation management policies. On one side, the bottlenose dolphin population is declining in almost the entire country due to human induced factors as over fishing, pollution and habitat destruction. On the other side, the southern right whales are being under increasing pressure of tourism activities (whale-watching and swimming with whales) which are being executed without regulations. Our studies aim to gain information and knowledge on these species, to be able to implement urgent management strategies. Boat-based observations are made in Bahía San Antonio, Patagonia, Argentina, in order to study residency patterns, abundance, and social composition of local bottlenose dolphins, and to study the behavioral response of southern right whales to human approaches.