Singapore wild marine mammal survey (english brochure)
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Dolphins, Porpoise & Dugong: Singapore’s Wild Marine Mammals Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin Sousa chinensis Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus aduncus / Tursiops aduncus Irrawaddy dolphin Orcaella brevirostris Colour varies with age from dark grey when young (see below right photo) to pink when adult. Young adults appear speckled grey and pink. Long beak (jaw) and hump on back in front of dorsal fin. Maximum length is approx. 2.8 m (9.2 ft) 1 . Dorsal fin Beak (jaw) Dark grey with pale sometimes pink underside. Prominent beak (jaw) and large dorsal fin. Maximum length is approx. 2.7 m (8.9 ft) 1 . Varying grey colour with pale underside. Rounded head without prominent beak (jaw). Small rounded dorsal fin. Maximum length is approx. 2.8 m (9.2 ft) 1 . Courtesy of Dr Thomas A. Jefferson Courtesy of Dr Mai Sakai, The University of Tokyo 1 & Ilustrations Jefferson, T.A., Webber, M.A. & Pitman, R.L.(2008). Marine Mammals of the World: A Comprehensive Guide to their Identification. (1st Ed). Academic Press. Grey-brown colour with pale underside. Bulbous chin with two nostrils on top of snout. No dorsal fin. Maximum length is approx. 3.3 m (10.8 ft) 1 . Dugong Dugong dugon Dark grey in colour with rounded head. No distinctive beak (jaw) or dorsal fin. Maximum length is approx. 1.7 m (5.6 ft) 1 . Finless porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides Courtesy of Laurence Couquiaud-Deversin Courtesy of Wang Xiaoqiang, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Sighting Details All sighting records are extremely important. Please fill out as much of the form as you can. Be as accurate as possible. Use a separate form for each sighting and species. Contact Information Name Address Tel Email Can we contact you if we ¨ Yes ¨ No need more information? Location and Time Country Location (for example the jetty at St. John’s Island) GPS Coordinates (if known) Latitude degrees mins North Longitude degrees mins East Distance of animals from observer m Direction of travel of animals Date DD / MM / YYYY Time : am / pm Duration of sighting mins Sighting Details Which species? ¨ Bottlenose dolphin ¨ Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin ¨ Irrawaddy dolphin ¨ Finless porpoise ¨ Dugong ¨ Other species ¨ Not sure Photographs and Videos If you have taken photographs or videos of the sightings, you may wish to send them to us via email at [email protected] Weather and Sea Conditions (Optional) Sea state ¨ 0 - Mirror calm ¨ 1 - Slight ripples ¨ 2 - Small wavelets ¨ 3 - Large wavelets, crests begin to break, some whitecaps ¨ 4 - Longer waves, many whitecaps ¨ 5 - Moderate waves ¨ 6 - Large waves, whitecaps everywhere ¨ 7+ - Breaking waves, whitefoam everywhere Description of Water ¨ Clear ¨ Muddy ¨ Cloudy ¨ Debris ¨ Greenish ¨ Blue Weather Conditions ¨ Sunny ¨ Cloudy ¨ Very Cloudy ¨ Raining Overall Visibility ¨ Excellent ¨ Good ¨ Poor Wind Direction ° Wind Speed m/s / knots Estimated m Depth of Water Number of adults Number of calves Distinctive marks (number, position, colour, scars etc.) What was their behaviour? ¨ Bow-riding ¨ Leaping ¨ Spy-hopping ¨ Milling ¨ Travelling ¨ Others ¨ Not sure What activities were you engaged in during the sightings? ¨ Travelling on a boat ¨ Swimming / Snorkelling / Diving ¨ Fishing ¨ Sightseeing onshore ¨ Others Other animals present (birds, fish etc.) Observed ¨ with binoculars ¨ without binoculars Other comments How to identify marine mammals in Singapore? Skin Colour? Pink Grey Prominent dorsal fin? Beak (jaw)? Blowhole? Quick moving Nostrils/Flat Snout? Generally slow swimmer No Dorsal fin? Yes No Yes Yes No Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin Dugong Finless porpoise Irrawaddy dolphin Bottlenose Dolphin Blowhole Nostrils
description
Brochure in English on how to identify wild marine mammals in Singapore, their behaviour, location map for sightings and sightings form by the Singapore Wild Marine Mammal Survey (SWIMMS) http://www.tmsi.nus.edu.sg/mmrl with permission from SWIMMS.
Transcript of Singapore wild marine mammal survey (english brochure)
Dolphins, Porpoise & Dugong: Singapore’s Wild Marine MammalsIndo-Pacific humpback dolphin
Sousa chinensisBottlenose dolphin
Tursiops truncatus aduncus / Tursiops aduncusIrrawaddy dolphinOrcaella brevirostris
Colour varies with age from dark grey when young (see below right photo) to pink when adult. Young adults appear speckled grey and pink. Long beak (jaw) and hump on back in front of dorsal fin. Maximum length is approx. 2.8 m (9.2 ft)1.
Dorsal finBeak (jaw)
Dark grey with pale sometimes pink underside. Prominent beak (jaw) and large dorsal fin. Maximum length is approx. 2.7 m (8.9 ft)1.
Varying grey colour with pale underside. Rounded head without prominent beak (jaw). Small rounded dorsal fin. Maximum length is approx. 2.8 m (9.2 ft)1.
Courtesy of Dr Thomas A. Jefferson Courtesy of Dr Mai Sakai, The University of Tokyo
1 & Ilustrations Jefferson, T.A., Webber, M.A. & Pitman, R.L.(2008). Marine Mammals of the World: A Comprehensive Guide to their Identification. (1st Ed). Academic Press.
Grey-brown colour with pale underside. Bulbous chin with two nostrils on top of snout. No dorsal fin. Maximum length is approx. 3.3 m (10.8 ft)1.
DugongDugong dugon
Dark grey in colour with rounded head. No distinctive beak (jaw) or dorsal fin. Maximum length is approx. 1.7 m (5.6 ft)1.
Finless porpoiseNeophocaena phocaenoides
Courtesy of LaurenceCouquiaud-Deversin
Courtesy of Wang Xiaoqiang, Institute of Hydrobiology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sighting DetailsAll sighting records are extremely important. Please fill out as much of the form as you can. Be as accurate as possible. Use a separate form for each sighting and species.
Contact InformationName
Address
Tel
Can we contact you if we ¨ Yes ¨ Noneed more information?
Location and TimeCountryLocation (for example the jetty at St. John’s Island)
GPS Coordinates (if known)Latitude degrees mins NorthLongitude degrees mins East
Distance of animals from observer m
Direction of travel of animals
Date DD / MM / YYYY
Time : am / pmDuration of sighting mins
Sighting DetailsWhich species?¨ Bottlenose dolphin¨ Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin¨ Irrawaddy dolphin¨ Finless porpoise¨ Dugong¨ Other species¨ Not sure
Photographs and VideosIf you have taken photographs or videos of the sightings, you may wish to send them to us via email at [email protected]
Weather and Sea Conditions (Optional)Sea state¨ 0 - Mirror calm¨ 1 - Slight ripples¨ 2 - Small wavelets¨ 3 - Large wavelets, crests begin to break, some whitecaps¨ 4 - Longer waves, many whitecaps¨ 5 - Moderate waves¨ 6 - Large waves, whitecaps everywhere¨ 7+ - Breaking waves, whitefoam everywhere
Description of Water¨ Clear ¨ Muddy¨ Cloudy ¨ Debris¨ Greenish ¨ Blue
Weather Conditions¨ Sunny ¨ Cloudy¨ Very Cloudy ¨ Raining
Overall Visibility¨ Excellent ¨ Good ¨ Poor
Wind Direction °
Wind Speed m/s / knots
Estimated mDepth of Water
Number of adults
Number of calvesDistinctive marks (number, position, colour, scars etc.)
What was their behaviour?¨ Bow-riding¨ Leaping¨ Spy-hopping¨ Milling¨ Travelling¨ Others
¨ Not sure
What activities were you engaged in during the sightings?¨ Travelling on a boat¨ Swimming / Snorkelling / Diving¨ Fishing¨ Sightseeing onshore¨ OthersOther animals present (birds, fish etc.)
Observed ¨ with binoculars ¨ without binocularsOther comments
How to identify marine mammals in Singapore?Skin Colour?
Pink Grey
Prominent dorsal fin? Beak (jaw)? Blowhole?Quick moving
Nostrils/FlatSnout?
Generally slowswimmer
No
Dorsal fin?
YesNo
Yes Yes No
Indo-Pacifichumpback dolphin
DugongFinlessporpoise
Irrawaddydolphin
BottlenoseDolphin
BlowholeNostrils
Types of BehaviourFive main categories of behaviour help us understand more about marine mammals.
Background
The Marine Mammal Research Laboratory (MMRL) is part of the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI), National University of Singapore (NUS). MMRL was previously known as the Dolphin Study Group (DSG).
About the Project
Pilot studies by TMSI have shown that several species of coastal dolphins, the finless porpoise and the dugong are sighted in Singapore waters. It appears likely that Singa-pore and neighbouring waters are important for coastal and riverine marine mammals by collectively forming a habitat for these animals (all listed in CITES Appendix I or II). However, information to support this concept is very limited.
The Singapore Wild Marine Mammal Survey (SWiMMS), a research project funded by the Wildlife Reserves Sin-gapore Conservation Fund, aims to monitor wild dolphins, porpoises and dugongs in the sea around Singapore by establishing a volunteer network and reporting system to extend our field studies.
Please Help us Report Sightings
With increasing coastal development and climate chang-es, continued monitoring of marine mammals is essential to ensure their long-term survival. The Singapore Wild Ma-rine Mammal Survey (SWiMMS) is collecting information about marine mammals in local waters.
The SWiMMS team needs your help. If you see a marine mammal in Singapore waters, please let us know. Email us or fill in our on-line reporting form with as much informa-tion as you can, such as the number of animals you saw and what they were doing. You can find more information about the different species of marine mammal that can be seen in Singapore and the work done by the Marine Mam-mal Research Laboratory (MMRL) at www.tmsi.nus.edu.sg/mmrl
Map of Singapore (Please mark position of sighting and indicate direction of travel of animals if appropriate)
Bow-riding - riding the bow waves produced by boats and ships, weaving in and out of groups trying to get the best position for the best ride.
Leaping - coming out of the water and re-entering head first or belly/ back flopping
Spy-hopping - rising out of the water vertically so that the head is above the surface
Milling - very low activity while staying in one general area.
Travelling - regular diving and surfacing pattern while heading in one direction.
Funded by:
Marine Mammal Research LaboratoryTropical Marine Science InstituteNational University of Singapore14 Kent Ridge RoadSingapore 119223
Phone: (65) 6516 5587Fax: (65) 6776 1455Email: [email protected]: www.tmsi.nus.edu.sg/mmrlSWiMMS Hotline/ SMS: 8100 8022
