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Distribution, abundance and habitat use of deep diving cetaceans in the North-East Atlantic

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Date
07/2017
Author
Rogan, Emer
Cañadas, Ana
Macleod, Kelly
Santos, M. Begoña
Mikkelsen, Bjarni
Uriarte, Ainhize
Van Canneyt, Olivier
Antonio Vázquez, José
Hammond, Philip S.
Funder
European Commission
Grant ID
SCANS LIFE
Keywords
Design-based abundance
Model-based abundance
Beaked whales
Sperm whales
Pilot whales
Distribution
Deep divers
Habitat models
QH301 Biology
GC Oceanography
DAS
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Abstract
In spite of their oceanic habitat, deep diving cetacean species have been found to be affected by anthropogenic activities, with potential population impacts of high intensity sounds generated by naval research and oil prospecting receiving the most attention. Improving the knowledge of the distribution and abundance of this poorly known group is an essential prerequisite to inform mitigation strategies seeking to minimize their spatial and temporal overlap with human activities. We provide for the first time abundance estimates for five deep diving cetacean species (sperm whale, long-finned pilot whale, northern bottlenose whale, Cuvier's beaked whale and Sowerby's beaked whale) using data from three dedicated cetacean sighting surveys that covered the oceanic and shelf waters of the North-East Atlantic. Density surface modelling was used to obtain model-based estimates of abundance and to explore the physical and biological characteristics of the habitat used by these species. Distribution of all species was found to be significantly related to depth, distance from the 2000m depth contour, the contour index (a measure of variability in the seabed) and sea surface temperature. Predicted distribution maps also suggest that there is little spatial overlap between these species. Our results represent the best abundance estimates for deep-diving whales in the North-East Atlantic, predict areas of high density during summer and constitute important baseline information to guide future risk assessments of human activities on these species, evaluate potential spatial and temporal trends and inform EU Directives and future conservation efforts.
Citation
Rogan , E , Cañadas , A , Macleod , K , Santos , M B , Mikkelsen , B , Uriarte , A , Van Canneyt , O , Antonio Vázquez , J & Hammond , P S 2017 , ' Distribution, abundance and habitat use of deep diving cetaceans in the North-East Atlantic ' , Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography , vol. 141 , pp. 8-19 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2017.03.015
Publication
Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2017.03.015
ISSN
0967-0645
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2017.03.015
Description
CODA was funded with contributions from UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; UK Department for Trade & Industry; Irish Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government; Irish Bord Iascaigh Mhara and the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs via the Spanish Cetacean Society. SCANS-II was funded by the EU LIFE Nature programme under Project LIFE04NAT/GB/000245 and by the governments of all range states: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and UK. The survey in the Faroese block of T-NASS was funded by the Faroese government.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967064517300917#appd002
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/16159

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