St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Cetacean abundance and distribution in European Atlantic shelf waters to inform conservation and management

Thumbnail
View/Open
BioConservation2013.pdf (3.785Mb)
Date
08/2013
Author
Hammond, Philip Steven
Macleod, Kelly
Berggren, Per
Borchers, David Louis
Burt, M Louise
Cañadas, Ana
Desportes, Genevieve
Donovan, Greg P
Gilles, Anita
Gillespie, Douglas Michael
Gordon, Jonathan Charles David
Hiby, Lex
Kuklik, Iwona
Leaper, Russell
Lehnert, Kristina
Leopold, Mardik
Lovell, Philip
Øien, Nils
Paxton, Charles G. M.
Ridoux, Vincent
Rogan, Emer
Samarra, Filipa Isabel Pereira
Scheidat, Meike
Sequeira, Marina
Siebert, Ursula
Skov, Henrik
Swift, Rene James
Tasker, Mark
Teilmann, Jonas
Van Canneyt, Olivier
Vázquez, José Antonio
Keywords
Conservation status
North Sea
Line transect sampling
SCANS
Harbour porpoise
Bottlenose dolphin
Common dolphin
White-beaked dolphin
Minke whale
Bycatch
Habitats Directive
QH301 Biology
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
The European Union (EU) Habitats Directive requires Member States to monitor and maintain at favourable conservation status those species identified to be in need of protection, including all cetaceans. In July 2005 we surveyed the entire EU Atlantic continental shelf to generate robust estimates of abundance for harbour porpoise and other cetacean species. The survey used line transect sampling methods and purpose built data collection equipment designed to minimise bias in estimates of abundance. Shipboard transects covered 19,725 km in sea conditions ⩽Beaufort 4 in an area of 1,005,743 km2. Aerial transects covered 15,802 km in good/moderate conditions (⩽Beaufort 3) in an area of 364,371 km2. Thirteen cetacean species were recorded; abundance was estimated for harbour porpoise (375,358; CV = 0.197), bottlenose dolphin (16,485; CV = 0.422), white-beaked dolphin (16,536; CV = 0.303), short-beaked common dolphin (56,221; CV = 0.234) and minke whale (18,958; CV = 0.347). Abundance in 2005 was similar to that estimated in July 1994 for harbour porpoise, white-beaked dolphin and minke whale in a comparable area. However, model-based density surfaces showed a marked difference in harbour porpoise distribution between 1994 and 2005. Our results allow EU Member States to discharge their responsibilities under the Habitats Directive and inform other international organisations concerning the assessment of conservation status of cetaceans and the impact of bycatch at a large spatial scale. The lack of evidence for a change in harbour porpoise abundance in EU waters as a whole does not exclude the possibility of an impact of bycatch in some areas. Monitoring bycatch and estimation of abundance continue to be essential.
Citation
Hammond , P S , Macleod , K , Berggren , P , Borchers , D L , Burt , M L , Cañadas , A , Desportes , G , Donovan , G P , Gilles , A , Gillespie , D M , Gordon , J C D , Hiby , L , Kuklik , I , Leaper , R , Lehnert , K , Leopold , M , Lovell , P , Øien , N , Paxton , C G M , Ridoux , V , Rogan , E , Samarra , F I P , Scheidat , M , Sequeira , M , Siebert , U , Skov , H , Swift , R J , Tasker , M , Teilmann , J , Van Canneyt , O & Vázquez , J A 2013 , ' Cetacean abundance and distribution in European Atlantic shelf waters to inform conservation and management ' , Biological Conservation , vol. 164 , pp. 107-122 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2013.04.010
Publication
Biological Conservation
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2013.04.010
ISSN
0006-3207
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2013 The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Description
This article was made open access through BIS OA funding.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3859

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter