Studying Dolphin Behavior in a Semi-Natural Marine Enclosure: Couldn't we do it all in the Wild?

Abstract

The study of marine mammals in the wild is faced with major difficulties: encounter frequency and duration are limited, individual identification is difficult, social behaviors occur mostly in murky or deep water, the ability to assign vocalizations to individuals is usually very limited, sea conditions are not always suitable for research, and the design of controlled experiments is virtually impossible. In contrast, research in captivity poses different methodological obstacles due to confined space, artificial and sometimes poor environments, forced social structure, small sample sizes, subjects that are not always good representatives of wild populations etc., all provide constant challenge to scientists. This paper reviews some of the studies on Black Sea bottlenose dolphins (Tursiopstruncatus ponticus) conducted during the 15 years since the establishment of the International Laboratory for Dolphin Behaviour Research (ILDBR) located at the semi-natural Dolphin-Reef (Eilat, Israel) tourist facility. We describe how this site overcomes many of the problems that characterize captivity sites, and how our research gains important insight into dolphin behavior, which is difficult to obtain – if at all – in the study of wild populations. We conclude that studies ofcaptive and wild dolphins can complement each other for a better understanding of dolphin behavior.