Rehabilitation of captive Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) as a way to combat the effects of climate change

Abstract

Climate change caused by human industrialization is an unavoidable global problem which started in the 20th century. The high concentration of greenhouse gases has caused global warming, natural disaster, rising sea level, and threatened marine wildlife. It has been proven to decrease the survival rate of dolphins by 12%. This research aims to describe the behavior and assess the readiness to release rehabilitated Tursiops aduncus in Umah Lumba, Banyuwedang Bay, Bali, to boost the wild dolphin population. Visual observation was made on three individuals: Rambo, Rocky and Johnny, at Umah Lumba, Banyuwedang Bay Bali, on March 2021, who have been in the rehabilitation facility since September 2019. The three individuals can be identified by the physical characteristics of their head, mandible, and dorsal fin. The dolphins have developed nine wild-dolphin-like behaviors: respiratory, exploratory, resting, reproductive, social, predatory, spy-hopping, tail-clapping, and sneezing. This rehabilitation program is essential because it increases the population of wild dolphins by acclimating, adapting, and training former captive dolphins for release.