Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2009, Qupperneq 199

VEIÐISØGA OG ÚTBREIÐSLA AV SKJÓRUTUM SPRINGARA (LAGENORHYNCHUS ACUTUS) 197
f FØROYUM
Offshore observations
Many observations of white sided dolphins
have been made in Faroese offshore waters
during the NASS cetacean sightings surveys,
all years conducted from end of June to be-
ginning of August (Skovetal., 1995; Bloch et
al„ 2001; Mikkelsen, unpubl.). Further, simul-
taneous sightings have been reported all
year round from the Faroese fishery research
vessel and by fishermen (unpublished data).
The offshore observations of the white sided
dolphin give information of the pelagic dis-
tribution, mostly in summer time.
The drives peaks with 41% in September
while the offshore observations peaks (36%)
in August, supposedly as a consequence of
the restriction in the NASS season. The
species was observed all year round offshore
opposite the drives which were missing in
December and March (Figs. 6 and 8). This
gives possibly information about the feeding
habits of the white-sided dolphin and the
occurrence of their prey species in Faroese
waters (Mikkelsen and Bloch, 2003; Mikkel-
sen unpubl.).
Acknowledgement
We want to thank all the participants in the drivings
and on the beach for always to be ready to help with
sampling material from the taken species. We also
want to thank the local sheriffs and their staff for
valuable help. Moreover, we wish to thank our
personnel at the Museum of Natural History who with
enthusiasm year after year have left everything to
sample material from the drives. We also thank
Droplaug Olafsdóttir and PH Enckell for valuable
comments and remarks on the paper.
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