Marine Mammal and Marine Bioacoustics Laboratory, Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Integr Zool. 2021 Jul;16(4):462-476. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12540. Epub 2021 Apr 16.
Scientific information is vital to the conservation of cetaceans and the management of whale-watching activities. The southern coastal waters of Sri Lanka are near a narrow continental shelf and biologically abundant in cetacean species. Although the occurrence of cetaceans has been investigated in certain waters of Sri Lanka, few surveys have been conducted along the southern coast. To fill this gap, we conducted boat-based surveys from January to May 2017 to investigate the occurrence, diversity, and behavior of cetaceans in the waters off Mirissa, covering a survey area of 788.9 km . During 55 survey days, we recorded a total of 242 cetacean sightings and identified at least 9 species (3 mysticetes and 6 odontocetes). The blue whale was the most common mysticete species (167 of 174 mysticete encounters), followed by the Omura's whale (4 of 174) and Bryde's whale (3 of 174). The spinner dolphin was the most common odontocete species (28 of 68 odontocete encounters), followed by the sperm whale (18 of 68), common bottlenose dolphin (13 of 68), short-finned pilot whale (5 of 68), melon-headed whale (2 of 68), and killer whale. Blue whales and sperm whales exhibited a clear preference for outer shelf and high slope areas, and blue whales were observed feeding along these waters. The present study provides near-baseline information on cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off southern Sri Lanka, and highlights the urgent need for proper management strategies for whale-watching activities.
科学信息对于保护鲸目动物和管理观鲸活动至关重要。斯里兰卡南部沿海水域靠近狭窄的大陆架，鲸目动物物种丰富。尽管在斯里兰卡的某些水域已经调查了鲸目动物的出现情况，但在南部沿海地区进行的调查很少。为了填补这一空白，我们于 2017 年 1 月至 5 月在米里萨（Mirissa）附近海域进行了基于船只的调查，调查了覆盖面积为 788.9 公里的海域，以调查鲸目动物的出现、多样性和行为。在 55 个调查日中，我们总共记录了 242 次鲸目动物目击事件，确定了至少 9 个物种（3 种须鲸和 6 种齿鲸）。蓝鲸是最常见的须鲸物种（174 次须鲸目击事件中有 167 次），其次是鳁鲸（174 次中有 4 次）和大村鲸（174 次中有 3 次）。飞旋海豚是最常见的齿鲸物种（68 次齿鲸目击事件中有 28 次），其次是抹香鲸（68 次中有 18 次）、宽吻海豚（68 次中有 13 次）、短肢领航鲸（68 次中有 5 次）、瓜头鲸（68 次中有 2 次）和虎鲸。蓝鲸和抹香鲸对外陆架和高坡地区表现出明显的偏好，并且在这些水域观察到蓝鲸觅食。本研究提供了斯里兰卡南部观鲸水域鲸目动物出现和多样性的基线信息，并强调了迫切需要制定适当的观鲸活动管理策略。
