@article{,

title = {Living with dolphins: Local ecological knowledge and perceptions of small cetaceans along the Sindhudurg coastline of Maharashtra, India},

author = {Jog, Ketki,Sule, Mihir,Bopardikar, Isha,Patankar, Vardhan,Sutaria, Dipani},

url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mms.12466},

issn = {1748-7692},

year  = {2017},

date = {2017-01-01},

journal = {Marine Mammal Science},

volume = {34},

number = {128},

pages = {488-498},

abstract = {Two near shore small cetaceans occur commonly along the Maharashtra coast, the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin and Indo Pacific finless porpoise. These cetaceans frequently interact with fisheries in this region due to overlap in space and resource use. Besides stranding records, little ecological information is available about these species from Maharashtra. We conducted 143 semistructured interviews to document local ecological knowledge and community perceptions of small cetaceans in 30 coastal fishing villages in Sindhudurg. Perceptions of finless porpoises were largely neutral, whereas humpback dolphins were negative. A classification regression tree (CART) analysis (root node error: 60%) showed that the annual cost of gear damage was an important predictor variable of humpback dolphin perceptions, followed by occupation (gear type) and age. Entanglements were reported for both species in large and small gill nets, and shore seines. Perceived net damage and catch loss due to humpback dolphins was six times greater than that of finless porpoises. However, finless porpoises were reportedly more frequently entangled in gear than humpback dolphins. We provide an insight into the perceptions of cetaceans in the local community and the fisheries-cetacean interactions that shape them.},

keywords = {Arabian Sea, Bycatch, cetacean-fisheries interactions, competition, Finless Porpoise, humpback dolphin, India, local ecological knowledge, Marine mammals, Neophocaena phocaenoides, perceptions, Sousa plumbea},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{,

title = {First records of the Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise },

author = {Nanayakkara, Ranil P.,Jefferson, Thomas A.,Abayaratne, Sandaruwan},

url = {https://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/1811},

year  = {2017},

date = {2017-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Threatened Taxa},

volume = {9},

number = {181},

pages = {11081-11084},

abstract = {Thirty species of marine mammals have been recorded from Sri Lanka.  Amongst them the Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides is the only representative of the family Phocoenidae.  The only previous record from Sri Lanka was a specimen caught on the Wadge Bank by a Smithsonian Carangid Survey team in 1970.  Wadge Bank is west of the island and is, in fact, in Indian territorial waters.  Here we present the first legitimate records of the Finless Porpoise from Sri Lanka, based on one stranding and three live sightings.  Furthermore, the occurrence of threatened species such as the Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise in the waters of the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar indicates that a cross boundary research initiative between Indian and Sri Lankan scientists, simultaneously focusing on the conservation of the species, is essential.  We believe, through such an initiative, a more holistic approach could be adopted when studying and conserving the species, which could then be expanded to encapsulate many other marine species and ecosystems. },

keywords = {Arabian Sea, Finless Porpoise, Neophocaena phocaenoides, Sri Lanka, stranding},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{,

title = {Molecular identification of delphinids and finless porpoise (Cetacea) from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal},

author = {Jayasankar, P.,Anoop, B.,Vivekanandan, E.,Rajagopalan, M.,Yousuf, K.M.M.,Reynolds, P.,Krishnakumar, P.K.,Kumaran, PL.,Afsal, V.V.,Krishnan, A.A.},

year  = {2008},

date = {2008-01-01},

journal = {Zootaxa},

volume = {1853},

number = {125},

pages = {57-67},

abstract = {The exact number of extant delphinid species from seas around India is still debated and the lack of adequate field keys

and reliable inventory has resulted in misidentification of several species. As a part of a project to develop a molecular

taxonomy of cetaceans from this region, partial sequences of mtDNA cytochrome b were generated from accidentally

caught/stranded delphinids and finless porpoise. Species were identified by phylogenetic reconstruction of sample

sequences with the reference sequences available in portals GenBank (NCBI) and the web-based program DNA Surveillance.

A comparison was made with the homologous sequences of corresponding species from other seas of the world.

Our molecular investigations allowed us to identify five species of cetaceans from Indian coasts, including Delphinus

capensis, previously reported as D. delphis. We detected unique haplotypes in Indo pacific humpbacked dolphin (Sousa

chinensis; n = 2) and finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides; n = 12) from Indian coast. On the other hand, some

haplotypes were shared with other regional populations in spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris; n = 16) and bottlenose

dolphin (Tursiops aduncus; n = 3). Common dolphins (Delphinus capensis; n = 2) had both unique and shared haplotypes

including one highly divergent sequence.},

keywords = {bottlenose dolphin, Common dolphin, D.capensis, DNA, Finless Porpoise, India, Neophocaena phocaenoides, sousa, species identification, Spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris, taxonomy, tursiops aduncus},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{,

title = {Cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) recorded off Sri Lanka, India, from the Arabian Sea and Gulf, Gulf of Aden and from the Red Sea },

author = {De Silva,P.H.D.H..},

year  = {1987},

date = {1987-01-01},

journal = {Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society},

volume = {84 },

number = {357},

pages = {505-525},

abstract = {Cetacea is a highly specialized oceanic group of mammals with several of its species undertaking long migrations, often exceeding thousand miles during a single journey. During these migrations from cold polar and subpolar seas to warmer tropical and subtropical waters and their return to polar seas in summer both individual and mass strandings have very often occurred in many parts of the world, including Sri Lanka, India and the Arabian Gulf. The Cetacean records dealt with in this paper are of countries which lie at the extreme southern margin of the vast land mass of Asia with no land other than a few islands and vast stretches of the Indian Ocean between them and the Antarctica. Sri Lanka, in view of her geographic position at the southern extremity of this vast land mass (5ø 55' and 9§51'N latitude and 79§41' and 81§ 54' E longitude) has become a passing point in the movement of oceanic species including the larger whales. It has been suggested by Deraniyagala (1945, 1960b) that the movement of larger species towards the tropics from the southern temperate zone is partly associated with the periodic influx of Antarctic water toward the tropics. It is however, now fairly established that several larger species such as the Blue whale, the Fin whale and the Humpback whale show a regular migratory cycle. The majority of strandings recorded in this paper deal with individual strandings. Nevertheless there have been instances of both mass stranding and of apparent suicidal behaviour. This paper deals with 30 Cetacean species from the region. Of these records, records from Sri Lanka total 23 species, from India 24 species, from Pakistan 17 species, from the Gulf of Oman 10 species, from the Arabian Gulf 9 species, from the Gulf of Aden 6 species and from the Red Sea 7 species. Reference is also made to a skull of Delphinus tropicalis van Bree in the Colombo Museum (Skull No. 15 B) which appears to be its first record from Sri Lanka. Mention is also made of a specimen of Neophocaena phocaenoides (G. Cuvier) collected from the Wadge Bank by the Smithsonian Carangid Survey Team in March 1970 and of two incomplete skeletons of Balaenoptera physalus (Linn‚) (probably mother and calf) in the Zoological Museum, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All these specimens were identified by me. It is evident from this study that our present knowledge of the Cetacean fauna of the Indian Ocean is far from complete and that much could be accomplished by scientific institutions in the countries in the region by diligently maintaining proper records of sightings and strandings (with photographs) and by undertaking joint study surveys. It is gratifying to note that Sri Lanka, in recent years has been making much headway in this regard. During the last few years the Tulip Expedition led by Dr. Hal Whitehead has been studying the larger whales, especially the larger whales off the east coast and Dr. Stephen Leatherwood Of Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute (Marine Science), San Diego, California has recently published (1985) a summary of available information on the Cetacea of the Indian Ocean Cetacean Sanctuary on behalf of the National Aquatic Resources Agency for Sri Lanka. It is hoped that the present paper will further stimulate interest among the scientific institutions in the region and help to increase our knowledge of a group of remarkable animals at least as far as the species which inhabit and visit our seas.has become a passing point in the movement of oceanic species including the larger whales. It has been suggested by Deraniyagala (1945, 1960b) that the movement of larger species towards the tropics from the southern temperate zone is partly associated with the periodic influx of Antarctic water toward the tropics. It is however, now fairly established that several larger species such as the Blue whale, the Fin whale and the Humpback whale show a regular migratory cycle. The majority of strandings recorded in this paper deal with individual strandings. Nevertheless there have been instances of both mass stranding and of apparent suicidal behaviour. This paper deals with 30 Cetacean species from the region. Of these records, records from Sri Lanka total 23 species, from India 24 species, from Pakistan 17 species, from the Gulf of Oman 10 species, from the Arabian Gulf 9 species, from the Gulf of Aden 6 species and from the Red Sea 7 species. Reference is also made to a skull of Delphinus tropicalis van Bree in the Colombo Museum (Skull No. 15 B) which appears to be its first record from Sri Lanka. Mention is also made of a specimen of Neophocaena phocaenoides (G. Cuvier) collected from the Wadge Bank by the Smithsonian Carangid Survey Team in March 1970 and of two incomplete skeletons of Balaenoptera physalus (Linn‚) (probably mother and calf) in the Zoological Museum, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All these specimens were identified by me. It is evident from this study that our present knowledge of the Cetacean fauna of the Indian Ocean is far from complete and that much could be accomplished by scientific institutions in the countries in the region by diligently maintaining proper records of sightings and strandings (with photographs) and by undertaking joint study surveys. It is gratifying to note that Sri Lanka, in recent years has been making much headway in this regard. During the last few years the Tulip Expedition led by Dr. Hal Whitehead has been studying the larger whales, especially the larger whales off the east coast and Dr. Stephen Leatherwood Of Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute (Marine Science), San Diego, California has recently published (1985) a summary of available information on the Cetacea of the Indian Ocean Cetacean Sanctuary on behalf of the National Aquatic Resources Agency for Sri Lanka. It is hoped that the present paper will further stimulate interest among the scientific institutions in the region and help to increase our knowledge of a group of remarkable animals at least as far as the species which inhabit and visit our seas. A key to the identification of the species recorded from the region is given in Appendix. },

keywords = {Antarctic, Arabia, Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, behaviour, Blue whale, cetacea, cetacean, cetaceans, Delphinus tropicalis, dolphin, dolphins, fin whale, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Humpback Whale, India, Indian Ocean, mammals, marine, migration, Neophocaena phocaenoides, Oceanic, Oman, Pakistan, Porpoise, Red Sea, sanctuaries, skull, Sri Lanka, stranding, Strandings, survey, whale, whales},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}