Testing and deployment of C-VISS (cetacean-borne video camera and integrated sensor system) on wild dolphins

摘要

Multi-sensor biologgers are a powerful method for studying individual behaviors of free-ranging species yet the challenges of attaching non invasive biologgers to agile fast-moving marine species have prohibited application of this technique to small (< 5 m) cetaceans. Integration of video cameras into such biologgers is critical to understanding behavior from the animal ' s perspective however this technique has not been applied to small cetaceans. We examined the feasibility of remotely deploying a cetacean-borne video camera and integrated sensor system ('' C-VISS '') on small cetaceans. We deployed C-VISS on eight free-swimming dusky dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) off New Zealand (42 degrees 25 ' 15 '' S 173 degrees 40 ' 23 '' E) from December 2015 to January 2016 collecting a total of 535 min of video footage (average = 66.8 +/- 91.10 SD range 9-284). Dolphins were observed to show limited reactions to biologger attachment attempts and deployments. Social and environmental parameters derived from video footage include conspecific body condition mother-calf spatial positioning affiliative behavior sexual behavior sociability prey and habitat type. The ability to record behavioral states and fine-scale events from the individual ' s perspective will yield new insights into the behavior socioecology conservation rehabilitation and welfare of small cetaceans.