La Manna Gabriella, Ronchetti Fabio, Perretti Francesco, Ceccherelli Giulia
National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, Italy.
MareTerra - Environmental Research and Conservation, Alghero, Italy.
PeerJ. 2025 Aug 1;13:e19726. doi: 10.7717/peerj.19726. eCollection 2025.
Growing concerns about the impact of leisure boating on marine ecosystems are particularly relevant for marine mammal species, given their dependence on sound and significant spatial overlap with human activities. Monitoring the effects of leisure boating disturbances on marine ecosystems presents considerable challenges, as it is resource-intensive and may require many years of data collection. However, since species can alter their behavior and daily routines in response to human disturbances, behaviors essential for individual fitness, reproduction, and parental care success-such as acoustic behavior-could serve as bioindicators for assessing the impact of leisure boating. Common bottlenose dolphins () emit acoustic signals, known as signature whistles (SWs), for individual identification, communication, and social bonding. This study aimed to examine how leisure boating influences SW characteristics (, fundamental frequencies, frequency modulation, and duration) and whether these effects remain consistent across different social contexts (, presence of calves), environmental conditions (, seabed habitat type), and behavioral states in a population of bottlenose dolphins inhabiting the northwestern coast of Sardinia (Mediterranean Sea, Italy). The results demonstrate that certain SW characteristics were consistently affected by the presence of boats, regardless of ecological, behavioral, and social differences. These findings suggest that SWs have the potential to serve as reliable bioindicators for boating disturbances. Further research in diverse marine environments and with other dolphin populations is needed to validate and expand upon these findings.
鉴于海洋哺乳动物对声音的依赖以及它们与人类活动在空间上的大量重叠，人们对休闲划船对海洋生态系统的影响日益担忧，这对海洋哺乳动物物种尤为重要。监测休闲划船干扰对海洋生态系统的影响面临着巨大挑战，因为这需要大量资源，且可能需要多年的数据收集。然而，由于物种会因人类干扰而改变其行为和日常活动，对于个体健康、繁殖以及亲代抚育成功至关重要的行为——比如声学行为——可以作为评估休闲划船影响的生物指标。普通宽吻海豚会发出被称为特征性啸叫（SWs）的声学信号，用于个体识别、交流和社会联系。本研究旨在探讨休闲划船如何影响特征性啸叫的特征（如基频、频率调制和持续时间），以及在居住于撒丁岛西北海岸（意大利地中海海域）的宽吻海豚种群中，这些影响在不同社会背景（如幼崽的存在）、环境条件（如海床栖息地类型）和行为状态下是否保持一致。结果表明，无论生态、行为和社会差异如何，某些特征性啸叫的特征始终会受到船只存在的影响。这些发现表明，特征性啸叫有潜力作为划船干扰的可靠生物指标。需要在不同的海洋环境中以及对其他海豚种群进行进一步研究，以验证和扩展这些发现。
