Date of Award
Spring 2010
Document Type
Legacy Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (BS)
Department
Marine Science
College
College of Science
First Advisor
Robert F. Young
Abstract/Description
Bottlenose dolphins live in different areas all around the globe. Many studies have been done to determine effects of factors such as temperature, day period, prey abundance, etc., on the lives and distribution of dolphins. Still, there is another factor that encompasses all those but it itself has not been studied. That factor is latitude. The purpose of this study was to try and determine if the birthing period of bottlenose dolphins has any latitude dependency. To try and determine a birthing period, data from neonate strandings from Charleston to North Myrtle Beach was used. The data collected showed a slight positive correlation for latitude being related to month of the year. This suggests possibility of some populations giving birth all year-round while other populations may have a specific birthing period but does not provide any specifics. Further study encompassing a larger range of latitude is needed.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Totten, Frances, "Using Stranding Data of Neonates Along the Coast of South Carolina to Examine Correlation Between Latitude and Birthing Periods of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)" (2010). Honors Theses. 307.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/honors-theses/307