Naše sposobnosti iskanja
delfinov so dosegle novi nivo! Danes smo uspeli izslediti skupino delfinov v
skorajda ničelni vidljivosti, zgolj z uporabo zvoka. Na morje smo se odpravili
ob zori, v izredno gosti megli, z vidljivostjo manj kot 50 m. To sicer niso
pogoji, v katerih bi navadno izvajali terensko delo, toda zaradi nedavnih
opažanj smo se vseeno odločili, da se odpravimo na morje. Kmalu po izplutju iz
pristana smo ustavili naše plovilo in v vodo potopili hidrofon. In res, skoraj
nemudoma smo zaznali žvižge delfinov. S kombinacijo intuicije in zaporednih
detekcij oglašanja delfinov smo postopoma uspeli delfine izslediti do te mere,
da smo sčasoma lahko slišali njihove izdihe na površini. Kmalu zatem smo jih
pred Izolo tudi neposredno opazili. Kljub megli smo uspeli pridobiti
identifikacijske fotografije, ki so ključne za razumevanje velikosti
populacije, trendov, socialne strukture in stopnje razmnoževanja te populacije.
Delfini so bili videti dobre volje, več mladostnikov pa se je tudi radovedno
približalo našemu raziskovalnemu plovilu. Tukaj je nekaj posnetkov današnjih
delfinov v megli.
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Our dolphin
searching skills have reached a new level! Today we managed to locate a group
of dolphins in almost zero visibility, using only sound. We headed out to sea
at dawn in very dense fog, with visibility of less than 50 m. These aren’t conditions
in which we would typically conduct fieldwork, but due to recent sightings we
decided to go out regardless. Soon after we left the harbour, we stopped the
boat and put our hydrophone in the water. Sure enough, we detected dolphin
whistles almost immediately. Using both intuition and successive detections of dolphin
vocalisations as a guide, we managed to get closer to the dolphins bit by bit,
until we could hear their breaths at the surface and finally made visual
contact just off the town of Izola, Slovenia. Despite the fog, we managed to
obtain identification photographs which are key to understanding population
size, trends, social structure and reproductive rates of this population.
Dolphins appeared in good mood, with several youngsters approaching our
research boat to inspect it and play in the bow wave. Here are some of the
shots of dolphins in the mist.
