Dolphin hunting for fishing bait in Bahía Solano, Chocó, Colombia, was evaluated during eight months, between July 2005 and April 2006. Interviews were conducted with 122 fishermen (18.2% of the registered fishermen in the zone), who cover at most 890km2 when fishing (approximately 2.3% of the Pacific Territorial Sea of Colombia), and data obtained from landings at a fishing company. Only fishermen using longlines (37.3%) confirmed using dolphins as bait. It was not possible to obtain additional information about date, specific location or dolphin species, but the most probable captured species were common bottlenose dolphin and pantropical spotted dolphin. Nine dolphins were killed during the study period (1.1 dolphins/month) and extrapolating these numbers to all fishermen using longlines in the region (250), 24 dolphins might have been taken during the study period (3 dolphins/month). Fish species caught using dolphin bait include Pacific bearded brotula, groupers and smooth-hound.

Design and redesign of water quality monitoring networks were evaluated for two similarly sized watersheds in the tropical Andes via optimization techniques using geographic information system technology (GIS) and a matter-element analysis of 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS). This resulted in a flexible, objectively based design for a 1128-km watershed without prior water quality data (La Miel River), and a network redesign of a 1052-km watershed with historical water quality monitoring (Chinchiná River). Monitoring design for the undocumented basin incorporated mathematical expressions for physical, anthropological, and historical factors-and was based on clear objectives for diagnosis and intervention of water pollution. Network redesign identified network redundancy, which resulted in a 64% reduction in the number of water quality monitoring stations along the channel, and a 78% reduction of stations throughout the basin. Most tropical drainage basins throughout the world have little to no prior water quality data. But even in well-studied drainage basins like the Chinchiná River, which is among the most thoroughly studied basins in Colombia, redesign of historical and existing monitoring networks will become a standard tool to advance the restoration of polluted surface waters, not only in Colombia, but also throughout the world.