The document summarizes the Namibian Dolphin Project internship in Walvis Bay, Namibia. It describes the project goals of studying Heaviside's dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, and humpback whales through acoustic monitoring, photo identification, biopsies, and analyzing threats like pollution and tourism impacts. Methods included using a research vessel, collecting signature whistles of bottlenose dolphins, identifying individuals by dorsal fins and body scarring, sampling DNA from biopsies, and tracking conservation threats like oil prospecting and fishery reduction in the productive Benguela ecosystem.
6. Photo-ID
● For Heaviside’s dolphins,
bottlenose dolphins, and
any whales
● Use dorsal fins (both
sides) for individual
identification
● Body scarring
● Flukes for whales, paired
with dorsal fin photos
7. Biopsies
● Crossbow for whales,
javelin for dolphins
● Tested fats for heavy
metals, sampled DNA to
identify the individual
and determine the sex
