Diet of Common Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, that Stranded in and near Barataria Bay, Louisiana, 2010–2012

Sabrina R. Bowen-Stevens^1,*, Damon P. Gannon², Rebeccah A. Hazelkorn³, Gretchen Lovewell³, Kristen M. Volker⁴, Suzanne Smith⁵, Mandy C. Tumlin⁶, and Jenny Litz⁷

¹NOAA Affiliate, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, FL 33149. ²University of Georgia Marine Institute, PO Box 32, Sapelo Island, GA 31327. ³Stranding Investigations Program, Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL 34236. ⁴Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, Virginia Beach, VA 23451. ⁵Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans, LA 70130. ⁶Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Baton Rouge, LA 70898. ⁷National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, FL 33149. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist,Volume 20, Issue 1 (2021): 117–134

Abstract
The largest unusual mortality event of cetaceans recorded in the Gulf of Mexico occurred from 2010 to 2014. The majority of mortalities were Tursiops truncatus (Common Bottlenose Dolphin) that stranded near Barataria Bay, LA, an area heavily oiled by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The purpose of this study was to identify the diet of dolphins that stranded in and near Barataria Bay from 2010 to 2012. Micropogonias undulatus (Atlantic Croaker) was the most frequently occurring (86.5%) and numerically abundant (34.2 ± 33.4%) prey in stomachs examined. Abundance of Engraulidae, Mugilidae, and Sciaenidae varied by season. Benthic prey and presence of sediment indicate that dolphins in Barataria Bay forage along the bottom of the bay, which could lead to long-term exposure to oil.

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