Emaciated enigma: Decline in body conditions of common dolphins in the Celtic Seas ecoregion

Abstract

Monitoring the nutritional health of cetaceans has become increasingly important in a changing environment, where multiple stressors impact animals. Particularly for those species that require consumption of energy-dense prey, such as the common dolphin. Thus far, no uniform measure for monitoring body condition has been recommended across cetaceans, and species-specific measures may need to be developed if employed as a population condition indicator under Descriptor 1 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Here, nine morphometric body condition indices were applied to long-term common dolphin stranding data sets originating from Ireland and the UK. We report a recent decline in the nutritional health of common dolphins in the Celtic Seas ecoregion comparing animals from 2017 to 2019 to animals from 1990 to 2006, with an increase in cases of animals dying due to starvation. Using ordinal regression trees, ventral blubber thickness (VBT) was identified as the most important index to predict nutritional status, defined at necropsy, followed by the scaled mass index (SMI). Using generalised linear models, both the VBT and SMI indices differentiated individuals that died from chronic and acute causes of death (i.e., bycatch), where animals in chronic conditions had significantly thinner VBT and lower SMI. Both significant temporal and seasonal patterns in VBT were identified, with poorer body conditions observed during the autumn and better body conditions observed during the spring, as well as an overall decline detected in VBT during the study period. While VBT was positively correlated with total body length, SMI showed the opposite trend. The VBT index is recommended for monitoring nutritional health within the species when total body length and season are considered. Further research is needed to understand the underlying causes for the observed decline, including shifts in prey availability and/or quality, to inform targeted conservation management strategies.

Keywords: blubber thickness; body condition; common dolphin; health; marine mammal; nutrition.