Publications by BMMRO Scientists and our Collaborators

 
Population Status and Trends

Coxon, J., Arso Civil, M., Claridge, D., Dunn, C., Hammond, P. S. (2022). Investigating local population dynamics of bottlenose dolphins in the northern Bahamas and the impact of hurricanes on survival. Mammalian Biology. doi: 10.1007/s42991-021-00208-0.

Claridge, D.E. (2013). Population Ecology of Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris). PhD in Biology. University of St Andrews, Scotland.

Fearnbach, H., Durban, J., Parsons, K., and Claridge, D. (2012). Photographic mark-recapture analysis of local dynamics within an open population of dolphins. Ecological Applications, 22(5):1689-1700.

Ward, J. A., Thomas, L., Jarvis, S., Baggenstoss, P., DiMarzio, N., Moretti, D., Morrissey, R., Marques, T. A., Dunn, C., Claridge, D., Hartvig, E., and Tyack, P. (2012). Passive Acoustic Density Estimation of Sperm Whales in the Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas. Marine Mammal Science. doi: 10.1111/j. 1748-7692.2011.00560.x

Fearnbach, H., Durban, J., Parsons, K., and Claridge, D. (2011). Seasonality of calving and predation risk in bottlenose dolphins on Little Bahama Bank. Marine Mammal Science. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00481.x 

Dolman, S.J., et. al., (2007). Assessing abundance trends of deep-diving cetaceans off Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. MRes in Marine and Fisheries Science, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Claridge, D.E. (2006). Fine-Scale Distribution and Habitat Selection of Beaked Whales. MSc in Zoology. University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Durban, J.W. (2002). Bayesian methods for marine mammal population assessment. PhD thesis completed April 2002, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Durban, J.W., Parsons, K.M., Claridge, D.E., and Balcomb, K.C. (2000). Quantifying Dolphin Occupancy Patterns. Marine Mammal Science, 16(4):825-828.

Population Genetics
 

Morin, P., Duchene, S., Lee, N., Durban, J., and Claridge, D. (2012). Preliminary analysis of mitochondrial genome phylogeography of Blainville's, Cuvier's and Gervais' beaked whales. Report to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission SC/64/SM14.

Parsons, K.M., Durban, J.W., and Claridge, D.E. (2006). Population Genetic Structure of Coastal Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Northern Bahamas. Marine Mammal Science. 22(2): 276-298.

Parsons, K.M., Durban, J.W., and Claridge, D.E. (2003). Comparing two alternative methods for genetic sampling of small cetaceans. Marine Mammal Science. 19(1): 224-231. 

Parsons, K.M. (2002). The use of molecular and observational data to infer the structuring of bottlenose dolphin populations. PhD thesis completed January 2002, University of Aberdeen, Scotlan.

Parsons, K.M. (2001a). Reliable microsatellite genotyping of dolphin DNA from faeces. Molecular Ecology Notes. 100: 341-344.

Parsons, K.M., Dallas, J.F., Claridge, D.E., Durban, J.W., Balcomb, K.C., Thompson, P.M., and Noble, L.R. (1999). Amplifying dolphin mitochondrial DNA from faecal plumes. Molecular Ecology, 8, 1766-1768.

 
 
Occurrence (biodiversity and distribution)
 
Dunn, C., Claridge, D., Herzing, D., Volker, C., Melillo-Sweeting, K., Wells, R. S., Turner, T., and O'Sullivan, K. (2020). Satellite-Linked Telemetry Study of a Rehabilitated and Released Atlantic Spotted Dolphin in the Bahamas Provides Insights into Broader Ranging Patterns and Conservation Needs. Aquatic Mammals. doi:10.1578/am.46.6.2020.633. 
 

Virgili, A. et al., (2018). Combining multiple visual surveys to model the habitat of deep-diving cetaceans at the basin scale. Global Ecology and Biogeography. doi:10.1111/geb.12850.

Dunn, C., and Claridge, D. (2013). Killer whale (Orcinus orca) occurrence and predation in The Bahamas. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. doi:10.1017/S0025315413000908.
 

Schick, R. S., Halpin, P. N., Read, A. J., Urban, D. L., Best, B. D., Good, C.P., Roberts, J.J., LaBrecque, E.A., Dunn, C., Garrison, L.P., Hyrenbach, K.D., McLellan, W.A., Pabst, D.A., Palka, D.L., and Stevick, P. (2011). Community structure in pelagic marine mammals at large spatial scales as revealed by multivariate ordination. Marine Ecology Progress Series. doi:10.3354/meps09183.

Dunphy-Daly, M.M., Heithaus, M.R., and Claridge, D.E. (2008). Temporal variation in dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima) habitat use and group size off Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. Marine Mammal Science. 24(1): 171-182.

Claridge, D.E., and Balcomb, K.C. (1993). In search of marine mammals. Bahamas Naturalist. 7(1), 11-17.

Balcomb, K.C. (1981). Ziphiid whales from The Bahamas. Bahamas Naturalist, Summer issue, 19- 22.

 
 
Communication and Social Structure

Dunn, C., Claridge, D., Durban, J., Shaffer, J., Moretti, D., Tyack, P., and Rendell, L. (2016). Insights into Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) echolocation ontogeny from recordings of mother-calf pairs. Marine Mammal Science. doi: 10.1111/mms.12351

Dunn, C. (2015). Insights into Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) communication. PhD in Biology. University of St Andrews, Scotland.

Dunn, C., Hickmott, L., Talbot, D., Boyd, I., and Rendell, L. (2013). Mid-frequency broadband sounds of Blainville's beaked whales. Bioacoustics. doi:10.1080/09524622.2012.757540.

Dunn, C.A. (2005). Automated Categorisation of Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Whistles. MRes in Environmental Biology, University of St Andrews and University of Dundee.

Parsons, K.M., Durban, J.W., Claridge, D.E., Balcomb, K.C., Noble, L.R., and Thompson, P.M. (2003). Kinship as a basis for alliance formation between male bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops trunactus, in the Bahamas. Animal Behaviour. 66: 185-194.

Parsons, K.M., Durban, J.W., and Claridge, D.E. (2003). Male-male aggression renders bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) unconscious. Aquatic Mammals. 29.3: 360-362.

 
Effects of Human Activities

 

Joyce, T. W., Durban, J. W., Claridge, D. E., Dunn, C. A., Hickmott, L. S., Fearnbach, H., Dolan, K., and Moretti, D. (2019). Behavioral responses of satellite tracked Blainville’s Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) to mid-frequency active sonar. Marine Mammal Science. doi:10.1111/mms.12624.

Moretti D, Thomas L, Marques T, Harwood J, Dilley A, et al. (2014). A Risk Function for Behavioral Disruption of Blainville’s Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) from Mid-Frequency Active Sonar. PLoS ONE 9(1): e85064 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0085064.

DeRuiter, S., Boyd, I., Claridge, D., Clark, C., Gagnon, C., Southall, B., and Tyack, P. (2013). Delphinid whistle production and call matching during playback of simulated military sonar. Marine Mammal Science. 29(2), E46-E59. 

Tyack, P. L., Zimmer, W. M. X., Moretti, D., Southall, B. L., Claridge, D. E., Durban, J. W., Clark, C. W., D'Amico, A., DiMarzio, N., Jarvis, S., et al. (2011). Beaked Whales Respond to Simulated and Actual Navy Sonar. PLoS ONE. 6, e17009.

Balcomb, K.C., and Claridge, D.E. (2001). A Mass Stranding of Ceataceans caused by Naval Sonar in the Bahamas. Bahamas Journal of Science. 01/05, 2-12.

Foraging and Diving Behaviour

Benoit-Bird, K. J., Southall, B. L., Moline, M. A., Claridge, D. E., Dunn, C. A., Dolan, K. A., and Moretti, D. J. (2020). An autonomous hydrophone array to study the acoustic ecology of deep-water toothed whales. Mar Ecol Prog Ser. doi: 10.3354/meps13521.
 

Malinka, C. E., Atkins, J., Johnson, M. P., Tonnesen, P., Dunn, C. A., Claridge, D. E., Aguilar de Soto, N., and Madsen, P. T. (2020). An autonomous hydrophone array to study the acoustic ecology of deep-water toothed whales. Deep-Sea Research I. doi: 10.1016/j.dsr.2020.103233. 

Merkens, K., Mann, D., Janik, V. M., Claridge, D., Hill, M., and Oleson, E. (2018). Clicks of dwarf sperm whales (Kogia sima). Marine Mammal Science. doi: 10.1111/mms.12488, pp. 1-16.
 
Joyce, T. W., Durban, J. W., Claridge, D., Dunn, C., Fearnbach, H., Parsons, K., Andrews, R., and Ballance, L. T.  (2017). Physiological, morphological, and ecological tradeoffs influence vertical habitat use of deep-diving toothed-whales in the Bahamas. Plos ONE 12(10): e0185113. 
 

Dunn, C., Tyack, P., Miller, P., and Rendell, L. (2017). Short first click intervals in echolocation trains of three species of deep diving odontocetes. JASA. 141(900). doi: 10.1121/1.4976084.

Joyce, T. W., Durban, J. W., Fearnbach, H., Claridge, D., and Ballance, L. T.  (2016). Use of time-at-temperature data to describe dive behavior in five species of sympatric deep-diving toothed whales. Marine Mammal Science. doi: 10.1111/mms.12323, pp. 1-28.  
 

Gillespie, D., Dunn, C. A., Gordon, J., Claridge, D. E., Embling, C., and Boyd, I. L. (2009). Field recordings of Gervais' beaked whales Mesoplodon europaeus from the Bahamas. JASA. 125(5).

Johnson, M., Hickmott, L. S., Aguilar Soto, N., and Madsen, P. T. (2008). Echolocation behaviour adapted to prey in foraging Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris). Proc. R. Soc. B. 275: 133-139. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1190. 

Hickmott, L. S. (2005). Diving Behaviour and Foraging Ecology of Blainville's and Cuvier's Beaked Whales in the Northern Bahamas. MRes in Environmental Biology, University of St Andrews and University of Dundee. 

 
Other Relevant Publications
 
Rowland, S. J., Sutton, P. A., von der Luhe, B., Volkman, J. K., Vane, C. H., Ingram, S., Dunn, C., and Claridge, D. (2020). Ambrein: a minor, but common constituent of mammalian faeces? Natural Product Research. DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2020.1731746. 156: 434-439.
 
Marques T. A., Jorge, P. A., Mourino, H., Thomas L., Moretti, D. J., Dolan, K., Claridge, D., and Dunn, C. (2019). Estimating group size from acoustic footprint to improve Blainville's beaked whale abundance estimation. Applied Acoustics. 156: 434-439.
 

Hooker, S. K., De Soto, N. A., Baird, R. W., Claridge, D., Feyrer, L., Miller, P. J. O., Onoufriou, A., Schorr, G., Siegal, E., and Whitehead, H. (2019). Future Directions in Research on Beaked Whales. Front. Mar. Sci. 5:514. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00514.

 
Hazen, E. L., Nowacek, D. P., St. Laurent, L., Halpin, P. N., and Moretti, D. J. (2011). The Relationship among Oceanography, Prey Fields, and Beaked Whale Foraging Habitat in the Tongue of the Ocean. PLoS ONE. 6, e19269.
 
Marques T., Thomas L., Ward J., DiMarzio N., and Tyack P. (2009) Estimating cetacean population density using fixed passive acoustic sensors: an example with Blainville's beaked whales. JASA. 125(4): 1982–1994. doi: 10.1121/1.3089590.
 

Backus, R.H. (1961). Stranded killer whale in The Bahamas. Journal of Mammal. 42(3):418-419.

Moore, J.C. (1958). A beaked whale from the Bahama Islands and comments on the distribution of Mesoplodon densirostris. American Museum Novitates. No.1897, 2-12.