SUMMARY

Despite ongoing visual studies of the Humpback Dolphin, Sousa chinensis, and Finless Porpoise, Neophocaena phocaenoides, off the Sindhudurg coast, there was limited data about activity through the monsoon period. A C-POD was deployed and showed a dramatic and sustained drop in detections of the finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) from the first few days of the monsoon, with much smaller effects on the detection rate of humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis).

RESEARCH QUESTION

What changes in numbers occur during the monsoon season off the west coast of India?

FINDINGS

The finding indicates substantial seasonal redistribution of finless porpoises demonstrated by a dramatic drop in porpoise activity at the monsoon start. Thanks to Dipani Sutaria, Ketki Jog, Mihir Sule, Isha Bopardikar for this data.

PROJECT DETAILS

Visual surveys by the Konkan Cetacean Research Team in Maharashtra showed high local densities of the two small cetacean species, but had a gap during the monsoon. 206 days of data were obtained in one data file from a C-POD moored before the monsoon.