UAE Dolphin Project Update Relaunching the Report a Sighting Campaign

FEATURE BRYANA COPE PHOTOGRAPHY DR. ADA NATOLI

The UAE Dolphin Project is back in action with a new year-long survey well under way. With the support of Zayed University, Atlantis the Palm, F3 Marine and Dubai Municipality, the UAE Dolphin Project began a second survey of Dubai waters at the beginning of February. This survey covers more area then the first survey conducted in 2013-2014 and will help support the data collected then, in order to further understand the population of dolphins frequenting Dubai waters.

An Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin preforming a side leap during the second sighting of the year on February 2nd, 2021.

The previous survey covered over 2,000 nm, with a total of 250 hours of navigation, observing 212 dolphins over 20 separate sightings and confirmed the presence of three species. The three species, which are the focus of the project, are the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin and the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise.These species are listed on the IUCN Red List as near threatened, endangered and vulnerable, respectively.

This year’s survey has had 16 outings, with nine dolphin sightings so far, six sightings of bottle nose dolphins and three of finless porpoises, and no sightings of humpback dolphins. With many sightings of other marine wildlife, including sea snakes, Green and Hawksbill turtles, the endemic Socotra Cormorant as well as the Great Cormorant, and multiple species of sharks and rays. With the onset of the second survey, we are relaunching the Report a Sighting Campaign, and we need your help!

Citizen science is increasingly being used in all areas of the scientific community to support research and conservation goals. With the help of the public, large amounts of data can be gathered and then analysed for important information on occurrence, population and distribution of key species. Dr. Ada Natoli, Founder and Director of the UAE Dolphin Project, and Assistant Professor at Zayed University, along with her colleagues, has painstakingly collected and reviewed all the sightings received and compiled a database now counting over 1,300 sightings of whales and dolphins, of which 1,103 had the species confirmed. This data was utilised in 2019, alongside the survey data and data gathered by other authorities to successfully support the identification of Important Marine Mammal Areas in the UAE: www.marinemammalhabitat.org/immas/. Furthermore, the data has now been utilised to assist with the identification of more suitable habitats for the most regular species, and to better understand how they share resources in the UAE waters. They are in process of being published, watch this space for more information!

The rare finless porpoise with a calf, sighted just offshore of the Burj Al Arab during the February 15th, 2021 survey.

Sightings were reported all over the UAE as well as other countries surrounding the Gulf. Not only were the three main species observed, but sightings were reported of rare species, including killer whales, humpback whales, false killer whales, pygmy sperm whale and Bryde’s whale. One thing is certain, citizen science data has proven to be vital to the conservation of dolphins in the UAE.

Knowing how important the data from the public has been, it is crucial that we begin gathering this data again. Reporting your sightings is relatively simple, the hardest part is spotting the dolphins!

You will need to record the date, time, approximate location, and if you can the approximate number of individuals, including the presence of calves. Any photos or videos of the individuals would be a great addition to the report, we can use these to aid in identifying the exact individual you encountered and observe their behaviour. To get the location, you can send a dropped pin on Google Maps, the GPS coordinates or any landmarks that were nearby.

Taken during the sixth sighting on March 4th, 2021.

REPORT YOUR SIGHTINGS

To report your sightings, head over to the website at www.uaedolphinproject. org, message us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or email the information to sighting@uaedolphinproject.org.

We look forward to seeing your sightings and we will keep you updated on our new survey with thanks to the Emirates Diving Association. Thank you to our sponsors for making this survey possible, Zayed University, Atlantis the Palm, F3 Marine and Dubai Municipality.

Photo-identification is used to identify individuals during a sighting. This individual has clear notches that are used to match them with data gathered in the 2013-2014 survey.