Dernière mise à jour : 5 juil. 2024
A 6-year research project on the behavior of the dolphins of Rangiroa, entitled 'Rangiroa free-ranging bottlenose dolphins' behavioral responses to scuba diving tourism: Risks, tolerance, and temperament', culminated on June 28, 2024, in the award of a doctorate in ethology / behavioral ecology at EPHE-PSL (Paris Sciences et Lettres).
Many thanks to my two supervisors, Drs. F. Delfour and É. Clua, and to the members of the jury, Drs. C. Guinet, S. Manel, B. Díaz López, and N. Aguilar de Soto for their interest and support of this work! Thanks also to Drs. J. Kiszka, M. Oremus, K. Dudzinski, and M. Cholley-Gomez for their valuable advice, to Y. Panheleux for sharing his knowledge of bottlenose dolphin behavior, and to the volunteers, some of whom were present at the defense, for their sensitivity and involvement in this project! ;-)
In the field, a huge thank you to the Rangiroa Diving Center (A. Avare, I. Petis, and R. Harrys) and the Raie Manta Club (Y. Lefèvre and Maco) for their generous support in obtaining the underwater data used in this thesis.
And, of course, I will never be grateful enough to my friends, my family, my daughter, and my companion, M. Marquez, always by my side from beginning to end! :-)
The final version of the thesis will be available in a few weeks.