FN Archimer Export Format
PT J
TI Companions and Casual Acquaintances: The Nature of Associations Among Bull Sharks at a Shark Feeding Site in Fiji
BT 
AF Bouveroux, Thibaut
   Loiseau, Nicolas
   Barnett, Adam
   Marosi, Natasha D.
   Brunnschweiler, Juerg M.
AS 1:1,2;2:3;3:4,5;4:6;5:7;
FF 1:;2:;3:;4:;5:;
C1 Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory, Dauphin Island, AL, United States
   Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, United States
   MARBEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRD, Montpellier, France
   College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
   Marine Data Technology Hub, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
   Beqa Adventure Divers, Pacific Harbor, Fiji
   Independent Researcher, Zurich, Switzerland
C2 DAUPHIN ISLAND SEA LABORATORY, USA
   UNIV S ALABAMA, USA
   UNIV MONTPELLIER, FRANCE
   UNIV JAMES COOK, AUSTRALIA
   UNIV JAMES COOK, AUSTRALIA
   BEQA ADVENTURE DIVERS, FIJI
   Independent Researcher, Zurich, Switzerland
UM MARBEC
IN WOS Cotutelle UMR
   DOAJ
   copubli-int-hors-europe
   copubli-sud
IF 5.247
TC 9
UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00702/81422/85812.pdf
   https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00702/81422/85813.pdf
   https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00702/81422/85814.pdf
LA English
DT Article
DE ;social bonds;co-occurrence;insular marine predators;fission-fusion;central place foragers;shark feeding
AB Provisioning activities in wildlife tourism often lead to short-term animal aggregations during the feeding events. However, the presence of groups does not necessarily mean that individuals interact among each other and form social networks. At the Shark Reef Marine Reserve in Fiji, several dozen bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) regularly visit a site, where direct feeding is conducted during tourism driven shark dives. On 3,063 shark feeding dives between 2003 and 2016, we visually confirmed the presence of 91 individual bull sharks based on external and long-lasting identification markings. We measured the intensity of associations between pairs of individuals by calculating the Simple Ratio Index (SRI) and calculated Generalized Affiliation Indices (GAIs) to distinguish true associations between dyads from structural predictor factors. Although the resulting mean SRIs were low, ranging from 0.01 to 0.12 (SRImean = 0.06; mean SRImax = 0.21), preferred long-term companionships were observed between individuals. Avoidances were also observed within pairs of individuals during the second half of the study. The best fitting model describing the temporal association patterns of bull sharks revealed a social structure which is characterized by preferred companionships and casual acquaintances. Our results suggest that the aggregation resulting from direct feeding has served to facilitate the development of social associations. 
PY 2021
PD JUL
SO Frontiers In Marine Science
SN 2296-7745
PU Frontiers Media SA
VL 8
UT 000665856400001
DI 10.3389/fmars.2021.678074
ID 81422
ER

EF