A Simple and Non-invasive Measurement Method Important for Conserving Large Animals Underwater

Abstract

This paper shows how simple, non-invasive measurement method is important for conserving large animals living underwater. We have studied free-ranging wild Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) around Mikura Island, Japan for about 15 years. We usually observe dolphin behavior and record acoustics underwater including photo-identification of every dolphins. Despite lots of video data, more basic information such as body size have lacked. In order to measure body size of the animals non-invasively, we used commercial measurement software which can measure the distance between two points on 3D photos by commercial 3D camera. Accuracy evaluation tests using a tape measure between 15 and 250 cm were conducted at the field site (Mikura Island) and the errors were within 5 % of the actual sizes. We successfully measured body size of 33 free-ranging wild dolphins. Mean absolute percentage error of the same individuals in different photos was within 4 % for dolphins. The average size of the adult dolphins was 249.6cm, which was the similar to the average actual size of 4 by-caught dolphins of the population (251.7 cm). We also opportunistically measured green turtles (Chelonia mydas) during our dolphin survey. Mean absolute percentage error of the same individuals in different photos was within 2 % for turtles. The average straight carapace length (SCL) of the 14 turtles was 48.3 cm (37.9 – 67.7 cm), which is much smaller than the adult green turtle length (80 – 111 cm). A simple measurement method is thus important to know the size of the large animals underwater, which indicates animal age and health condition, and are important for conserving these large animals.