9 October 2014

Student Guardian article | Tourism starves dolphins say University of Aberdeen scientists

Curious Dolphins would rather interact with tourists than eat... 
A team of Scottish dolphin experts from the University of Aberdeen say tens of thousands of marine tourists are affecting dolphins' feeding behaviour to the point where the females haven't the energy to feed their calves.
The teams' studied the impact of tour boats on the foraging efficiency of an endangered population of Bottlenose Dolphins off the coast of New Zealand. Their findings, suggest these boats are hindering the dolphins' ability to feed.

Dr David Lusseau explains: "Bottlenose dolphins in Doubtful Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand, hunt in deep waters. They have to make prolonged dives to reach the fish they try to capture, so they have to spend some time at the surface to catch their breath after each of these dives."

Read  the published article