FISHERY BULLETIN; VOL. 79. NO. 4 



present an in-depth analysis of social behavior 

 data from the same study. 



Mexico increase gi-adually: the 10 m contour is 

 about 3 km offshore (N.O.S. Chart No. 11425). 



METHODS 



Data Collection and Analysis 



Study Area 



The study area included inshore and coastal 

 waters up to 3 km off the coast, extending about 40 

 km south from the southern edge of Tampa Bay, 

 Fla. This area is characterized by bays and grass 

 flats 1-4 m deep, and is protected by a series 

 of barrier islands separated by narrow passes 

 (Figure 1). Inshore waters, defined here as the 

 waters between the barrier islands and the main- 

 land, were generally protected from heavy winds 

 and ocean swells. The Intracoastal Waterway 

 (ICW), a boat channel between the barrier islands 

 and the mainland, is maintained by dredging to 

 depths of at least 2 or 3 m. Depths in the Gulf of 



We captured bottlenose dolphins using the seine 

 net technique described by Asper (1975). 

 We recorded the length and sex of all captured 

 animals and then marked them with combina- 

 tions of spaghetti tags, fiber glass "visual" tags, 

 freeze brands, roto tags, and radio tags, using 

 methods developed and tested on other small 

 cetaceans (Norris and Pryor 1970; Evans et al. 

 1972). The radio tags were modified dolphin trans- 

 mitters, model PT 219, of the Ocean Applied 

 Research Corporation (OAR^). Transmitter sig- 

 nals were received on an OAR model 210 Auto- 



** Reference to trade names does not imply endorsement by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 



FIGURE 1.— The study area, located south of 

 Tampa Bay near Sarasota (lat. 27°25' N; long. 

 80°40' W), Fla. The encircled numbers indi- 

 cate numbers of bottlenose dolphins captured 

 at each site. 



/ 



TAMPA BAY /?^t? 



I 



^ 



,4- 



LONGBOAT PA 



©CAPTURES WITHOUT 

 RADIO TAGGING 



® CAPTURES INCLUDING 

 RADIO TAGGING 



672 



