Two Decades of Coastal Dolphin Population Surveys in Israel, Eastern Mediterranean

Along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, two near-shore dolphin species are prevalent; Tursiops truncatus (least concern, IUCN) and Delphinus delphis (endangered, IUCN). Ship-board surveys and sporadic sightings over the last two decades have shown that the two differ in distribution—T. truncatus is found along the entire coast and D. delphis only in the south. The environmental and anthropological factors affecting these species’ spatial distribution and determining their habitat preferences in this area are largely unknown. This work is a first attempt at summarizing 20 years of observations and studying habitat preferences for both species, by use of Generalized Additive Models. T. truncatus was found to be present in all areas of the continental shelf where survey effort coverage was sufficient, with a high affinity towards bottom trawlers. Model results showed D. delphis distribution to be associated to (shallow) water depths, though the factors driving their limited latitudinal distribution currently remain unknown. It is evident that T. truncatus and D. delphis are present in segregated areas of the Israeli continental shelf and T. truncatus currently sustains a delicate balance with continuously shifting human activities, while the drivers of D. delphis distribution are more specified, yet still not fully understood.