Senegal
International or regional conventions
Senegal is a member/signatory to the following international and regional Conventions related to cetacean conservation:
- International Whaling Commission (since 1982)
- Convention on Migratory Species (since 1988)
- The Abidjan convention
Confirmed observations
From Weir and Collins 2016: “No records are available north of Dakar. Between Dakar and the Saloum Delta all records relate to captures and landings (mostly landed at Joal with unknown capture locations) and are predominantly those documented prior to the 1950s by Jean Cadenat. The majority of records in Senegal originate from the Delta du Saloum Biosphere Reserve. Atlantic humpback dolphins inhabit the Saloum at least as far upstream as Djiffer and the Marigot de Ndangane mouth. They occur throughout the lower and central reaches of the Diombos from Pointe de Jackonsa and the mouth of the Bôlon de Bétanti to the channels around the Île de Poutaké. Sightings occur at least 20 km upstream of the Diombos mouth, in the Bôlon Labor and at the confluence with the upper Bandiala River. There are records from Île Diamanio and Île aux Oiseaux, the Bandiala and Djinack mouths and along the intermediate coast. Additionally, there is one 1979 sighting of 10 animals approximately 21 km upstream from the Bandiala mouth to the south of Toubakouta (Maigret, 1980). South of Gambia only a single Senegalese record could be located; a sighting in the lower part of the Casamance River (Dupuy and Maigret, 1979).” From 2021 onward a reserach project funded by the Loro Parque Foundation and led by the African Aquatic Conservation Fund in collaboration with the CCAHD has been yielding regular sightings and building a clearer picture of habitat use in the Delta Saloum, Senegal (Minton et al. 2022). For more information see the CCAHD Projects and News sections featuring updates on this project:
Atlantic humpback dolphin research and conservation in the Saloum Delta, Senegal
Threats and trends
No abundance estimates or detailed information on threats are available for this country. However, a number of individual dolphins have been photo-identified in the Saloum Delta (Weir, 2016), and plans are in place to conduct more photo-identification studies in 2001. Bycatch in fishing gear has been documented in coastal gillnet fisheries.
Report
Report a sighting or stranding by contacting one of the focal points below or emailing info@sousateuszii.org
Contact person
Dr. Lucy Keith-Diagne and Diana Seck
lkd@africanaquaticconservation.org
Relevant country-specific references
- Cadenat J. 1947. Observations de cétacés au Sénégal. Notes Africaines, 34: 20-23.
- Cadenat J. 1949. Notes sur les cétacés observés sur les côtes du Sénégal de 1941 à 1948. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire, 11: 1-15.
- Cadenat J. 1956. Un delphinidae encore mal connu de la côte occidentale d’Afrique: Sotalia teuszii Kükenthal 1892. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire, 18: 555-566.
- Cadenat J, Paraiso F. 1957. Nouvelle observation de Sotalia teuszii (Cétacé, Delphinidé) sur les côtes du Sénégal. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire, 19: 324-332.
- Collins, T., 2015. Re-assessment of the Conservation Status of the Atlantic Humpback Dolphin (Sousa teuszii), Using the IUCN Red List Criteria. In Advances in marine biology Volume 72, pp. 47-77). Academic Press.Dupuy AR. 1983. Données complémentaires concernant le statut des mammifères marins du Sénégal. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire, 45: 380-391.
- Dupuy AR, Maigret J. 1976. Les mammifères marins des côtes du Sénégal. 1. Bilan des observations signalées entre 1960 et 1976. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire, 38: 921-928.
- Dupuy AR, Maigret J. 1979. Les mammifères marins des côtes du Sénégal. 3. Observations signalées en 1978. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire, 41: 429-439.
- Dupuy AR, Maigret J. 1982. Les mammifères marins des côtes du Sénégal. 5. Observations signalées en 1980-1981. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire, 44: 213-218.
- Fraser FC. 1949. A specimen of Sotalia teuszii Kükenthal from the coast of Senegal. Journal of Mammalogy, 30: 274-276.
- Maigret J. 1977. Les mammifères du Sénégal. II. Les mammiferes marins. Bulletin Ass. Avanc. Sc. Nat. Senegal, 57: 13-30.
- Maigret J. 1980. Données nouvelles sur l’écologie du Sousa teuszii (Cetacea, Delphinidae) de la côte ouest Africaine. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire, 42A: 619-633.
- McGowen M, Murphy K, Ndong I, Potter C, Keith-Diagne L. 2020. The complete mitochondrial genome of the critically endangered Atlantic humpback dolphin, Sousa teuszii (Kükenthal, 1892). Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 5: 257-259.
- Minton, A.G., Keith-Diagne, L., Seck, D., Cerchio, S., Tregenza, N., Takoukam Kamla, A., Eniang, E., Senhoury, C., Sallah-Muhammed, Y., Lene, A., et al. (2022). Preliminary results of 2021 and 2022 Sousa teuszii surveys in the Saloum Delta, Senegal. Document presented to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission SC/68D/SM/12.
- Van Bree PJH, Duguy R. 1965. Sur un crâne de Sotalia teuszii Kükenthal, 1892 (Cetacea, Delphinidae). Zeitschrift fur Saugetierkunde, 30: 311-314.
- Van Waerebeek K, Diallo M, Bjiba A, Ndiaye E (eds). 1997. Cetacean research in Senegal 1995-97, an overview. International Whaling Commission Report No. SC/49/SM10.
- Van Waerebeek K, Ndiaye E, Djiba A, Diallo M, Murphy P, Jallow A, Camara A, P. N, Tours P. 2000. A survey of the conservation status of cetaceans in Senegal, the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau Convention on the conservation of Migratory Species: 1 -80.
- Van Waerebeek K, Ndiaye E, Djiba A, Mamadou D, Murphy P, Jallow A, Camara A, Ndiaye P, Tous P (eds). 2003. A Survey of the Conservation Status of Cetaceans in Senegal, the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, WAFCET-I Report. UNEP/CMS. Bonn, Germany.
- Van Waerebeek, K., Barnett, L., Camara, A., Cham, A., Diallo, M., Djiba, A., Jallow, A.O., Ndiaye, E., Bilal, A.O. and Bamy, I.L., 2004. Distribution, status, and biology of the Atlantic humpback dolphin, Sousa teuszii (Kukenthal, 1892). Aquatic Mammals, 30(1), pp.56-83.
- Weir CR. 2016. Atlantic humpback dolphins Sousa teuszii in the Saloum Delta (Senegal): distribution, relative abundance and photo-identification. African Journal of Marine Science, 38: 385-394.
- Weir CR, Collins T. 2015. A Review of the Geographical Distribution and Habitat of the Atlantic Humpback Dolphin (Sousa teuszii). In: Jefferson TA, Curry BC editors. Advances in Marine Biology Volume 72: Humpback dolphins (Sousa spp.) current status and conservation: Part I. Academic Press. p. 79-117.
- Weir CR, Wang JY. 2016. Vertebral column anomalies in Indo-Pacific and Atlantic humpback dolphins Sousa spp. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 120: 179-187.