Abstract
Adult bottlenose dolphins share pectoral fin contacts (PFC) to manage their social relationships but less is known about how mothers share PFC with their calves. Using a dataset collected over 16 years, we analyzed how 10 matrilines, including three second generation female dolphins in a maternal role, used PFC with their pre-weaned calves. Mothers had different rates of initiation with their calves forming a continuum from those initiating few contacts (15%) to those initiating more (44%). For mothers with all-aged calves, the lateral side was contacted the most to start interactions with mothers contacting body parts at a similar rate. All mothers assumed the same posture regardless of their role as initiator or receiver, with horizontal the most prevalent posture. Two maternal styles were found for PFC: high and low use of PFC. Within the high PFC group, there was individual variation that was related to calf sex. Even though evidence of maternal style was confirmed in PFC exchanges between adult female dolphins and their calves, the number of PFC shared between these kin was only ~9% of all documented PFC contacts (N = 4,345) over 16 years, suggesting that other forms of tactile contact may be more important within the confines of the mother-offspring relationship in delphinids.
Highlights
Adult bottlenose dolphins share pectoral fin contacts (PFC) to manage their social relationships but less is known about how mothers share PFC with their calves
One area that has not been explored fully for dolphins is the role of contact in maternal styles. (Note: use of the word contact without a clarifying adjective will refer to any form of physical contact.) contact was a behavior that appeared to differ among mother-calf pairs, it was not systematically measured when maternal styles were investigated in these previous studies
Over 16 years of observation of tactile exchanges within bottlenose dolphin dyads at Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS), 4,345 PFC were documented between kin (N = 766) and non-kin pairs (N = 3,579)
Summary
Adult bottlenose dolphins share pectoral fin contacts (PFC) to manage their social relationships but less is known about how mothers share PFC with their calves. In some coastal delphinid populations, adult male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) form relationships that last their lifetimes with associations that rival the strength of the mother/calf bond (Connor et al, 1992). Mothers maintain continuous vigilance of their calves, especially early during the first year of life (Hill et al, 2008; Lyamin et al, 2005, 2007, 2008) Vigilance is monitored both visually and tactically by mothers but to different degrees; some mothers are extremely vigilant and protective of their calves, monitoring their calf’s behavior by keeping the calf in close proximity and immediately retrieving a calf that has strayed too far, which may involve directed trajectory changes, including pushing or tossing the calf into the desired swim path (Hill et al, 2007). Much has been examined with respect to how dolphins share physical contact, there is a paucity of data with regards to how touch (rubbing or static contact) is shared between mothers and their pre-weaned calves
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