Scientific Literature: Searchable Database

Off the coast of La Gomera (Canary Islands), a multitude of cetacean species can be sighted. The presence and distribution as well as the combined occurrence of different species were monitored from regular whale watching vessels from 1995 until 2007. 5,739 cetacean sightings of 21 species were made. For the five most abundant species - bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), short-finned pilot whales, (Globicephala macrorhynchus), Atlantic spotted dolphins, (Stenella frontalis), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) - physical characteristics of the sighting locations (distance to coast, depth and slope) were analysed and compared. It could be shown that each species prefers a specific set of habitat characteristics, while there is still a substantial overlap in distribution. Thus, off this subtropical oceanic island, where niche selection appears especially difficult because of relative homogeneity of the environment, it appears that a species’ habitat selection can be driven by a combination of physical characteristics and the presence/absence of other cetacean species.