Abstract:
This study estimates the population size of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in
the Algoa Bay region on the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa. Mark-recapture analyses were
performed on photo-identification data collected on 54 occasions during a three-year study
period. Using a photographic dataset of over 10,000 ID-images, 1,569 individuals were identified,
131 of which were photographed on more than one occasion. Using the POPAN formulation in
the software program MARK, a total population of approximately 28,482 individuals (95% CI =
16,220 - 40,744; CV = 0.220), was estimated (estimate corrected for the proportion of distinctive
individuals in the population). This is the largest population estimate to date for this species
along the South African coast, suggesting that the bottlenose dolphins inhabiting the Algoa Bay
region represent part of a substantially larger population that ranges along a considerable length
of the South African coast.
