Study of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Rangiroa (Oct 2008)

My job as a guide allows me to be at sea every day and to offer our two activities to customers: drift snorkeling and dolphin watch.

Thanks to this, I can be interested in this group of dolphins all year round and sometimes see humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) visiting the atoll from July to November.

Before me, the team had started the observation study on this permanent group of dolphins on Rangiroa atoll. The aim was to find out about their habits and increase our customers' chances of seeing them.

So I'm simply continuing their work, but enriching the file with my own experience and work in the past.

Little is known about this group of dolphins, but first sightings indicate that 40 years ago, these dolphins were seen in the Tiputa pass on Rangoria. We observe births on our trips, and divers frequently encounter them, but we know nothing about their behavior and feeding habits. We do know that when the tide favors a current flowing out of the lagoon into the ocean through the island's two passes (Tiputa and Avatoru), the dolphins love the waves in the pass. Many photos are taken by divers and diving clubs, but no one has been willing to analyze and use them.

It's an interesting challenge that allows me not to forget my work in cetacean research, and also to help my team tell tourists about it. I plan to draw up an identification sheet for this group of dolphins, invite scientists, researchers and students to come and share my work with all those involved on the island. A long-term project.