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Showing 3 results for Van Waerebeek

Mohammad Amin Tollab, Mohsen Rezaie-Atagholipour, Haleh Ali Abedi, Majid Askari Hesni, . Ehsan Abedi, Farideh Ahmadi, Koen van Waerebeek,
Volume 5, Issue 1 (3-2023)
Abstract

The world's second-largest dugong, Dugong dugon (Müller), population after that of Australia forages among rich seagrass meadows along the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf; however, the relatively seagrass-poor Iranian coast is considered an exceptional habitat for the species. The last modern dugong records along the Iranian Persian Gulf occurred two decades ago, which, however, are unsupported. Here we present two new documented records of D. dugon from an area in the Iranian coastal waters of Bushehr Province, near the Mond River estuary (Mond Protected Area), northeastern Persian Gulf. These include one individual, probably female, of ca. 2.5–3 m body length found floating, in moderate decomposition, in offshore waters of the Motaf fishing ground on 30 April 2021, and one ca. 3 m female encountered entangled in a set gillnet in inshore waters of the same area on 29 December 2022, and which was successfully released alive. The potential of the area as a possible historical habitat for dugongs, and further implications, are discussed.

 


Abdellahi Samba Bilal, Moulaye Mohamed Wagne, Abdoulaye Wagué, Abdoul Dia, Koen van Waerebeek,
Volume 5, Issue 1 (3-2023)
Abstract

The exact number of cetacean species present in Mauritanian waters is unknown. A first overview was published only in 1980, the latest in 1998. Yet, published information remains modest compared to, e.g., neighboring Senegal (first review in 1947). The complex oceanography of Mauritanian waters permits a mixed assemblage of cetacean fauna, with the distribution of both cool temperate and (sub) tropical species. In this review, we use our own observations from strandings, bycatches and vessel-based surveys, as well as published and grey literature, to support an updated inventory of cetaceans of Mauritania. This checklist includes two new authenticated species records: Kogia sima (Owen) (Kogiidae) and Lagenodelphis hosei Fraser (Delphinidae). Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen) (Delphinidae) is verifiably documented for the first time. Further, a first specimen record of Stenella longirostris (Gray) (Delphinidae) is described, as well as second specimen records of Mesoplodon europaeus (Gervais) (Ziphiidae), Steno bredanensis (G. Cuvier) (Delphinidae) and Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski) (Balaenopteridae). Of 30 reported species, 27 (of six families) are fully supported, while three species lack (accessible) voucher material though probably (P) occur in Mauritania: Balaenopteridae: Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski), Balaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus), B. borealis Lesson, B. omurai Wada, Oishi and Yamada, B. acutorostrata Lacépède, B. physalus (Linnaeus) and B. brydei Olsen (P); Physeteridae: Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus; Kogiidae: Kogia sima (Owen) and K. breviceps (Blainville); Delphinidae: Sousa teuszii (Kükenthal), Tursiops truncatus (Montague), Delphinus delphis Linnaeus, Stenella frontalis (G. Cuvier), Stenella attenuata (Gray), Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen), Stenella longirostris (Gray), Stenella clymene (Gray), Steno bredanensis (G. Cuvier), Peponocephala electra (Gray) (P), Lagenodelphis hosei (Fraser), Grampus griseus (G. Cuvier), Globicephala macrorhynchus Gray, Globicephala melas (Traill) (P), Orcinus orca (Linnaeus) and Pseudorca crassidens (Owen); Ziphiidae: Ziphius cavirostris G. Cuvier, Mesoplodon europaeus and Mesoplodon densirostris (de Blainville); Phocoenidae: Phocoena phocoena (Linnaeus). Finally, we report the first case for continental northwest Africa of tattoo skin disease in a stranded D. delphis.

Samuel Mbungu Ndamba, Albert Maba Ngaka, Serge Nzinga, Jérémie Sambu Banganga, Hong-Yu Lai, Koen van Waerebeek,
Volume 5, Issue 3 (10-2023)
Abstract

The first inventory of cetacean diversity in coastal waters of the Congo River Estuary, Democratic Republic of the Congo, was obtained between May 2021 and April 2022, through incidental sightings (n=17) reported mainly by artisanal fishers and direct observations of bycatches at fish landing sites. Confirmed records include five odontocete species: four Delphinidae: Delphinus capensis Gray, Pseudorca crassidens (Owen), Stenella frontalis (G. Cuvier), Tursiops truncatus (Montagu); one Kogiidae: Kogia sima (Owen). There was one mysticete, Balaenopteridae: Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski). Of six small cetaceans documented landed for use as aquatic bushmeat, four (66.7%) were T. truncatus. Megaptera novaeangliae was the most frequently sighted cetacean (47.1% of reported sightings), registered between 17 May3 September 2021, with a seasonality (austral winter) consistent with the SE Atlantic breeding stock (‘B-Stock’). All information was collected by locals, the at-sea sightings by trained fishermen in a citizen science framework. The main benefits included a welcome marine conservation educational component, and low-cost, opportunistic fishing boat use. Shortfalls comprised a deficiency in scientific detail and effort quantification, occasional data loss and lack of biological sampling. However, in a remote coastal region like the DRC’s Congo River estuary, where marine mammals have never before been studied, local citizen science methodology proved effective and, after adjustments, should be scaled-up.


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