New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts

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Distribution and abundance of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in Leizhou Bay, China

Kaiya Zhou

Xinrong Xu

Chao Tian

Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology
College of Life Sciences
Nanjing Normal University
Nanjing 210097, China
kyzhounj@126.com

Abstract   The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) is under severe threat in Chinese waters. Only four small populations of this dolphin are known to survive in the East China Sea and South China Sea. We conducted exploratory surveys from June to September 2005, and found a population of humpback dolphins in Leizhou Bay. Thirty-eight individuals were identified and catalogued, of which 26 were photographed and re-identified on more than one occasion, and nine were sighted on five or more occasions each. Our preliminary estimate of the size of the Leizhou population is about 237 individuals, second only to the Pearl River estuary population. We suggest that Leizhou Bay has the potential to serve as a “humpback dolphin sanctuary” in Chinese waters.

Keywords Sousa chinensis; exploratory surveys; photo-identification; preliminary abundance estimate

Z06021; Online publication date 27 February 2007; Received 19 June 2006; accepted 9 December 2006

New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2007, Vol. 34: 35 - 42
0301 - 4223/07/3401 - 0035  © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2007

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