Betty, Emma L.,Bollard, Barbara,Murphy, Sinéad,Ogle, Mike,Hendriks, Hannah,Orams, Mark B.,Stockin, Karen A.
Using emerging hot spot analysis of stranding records to inform conservation management of a data-poor cetacean species Journal Article
In: Biodiversity and Conservation, no. 327, 2019, ISBN: 1572-9710.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Distribution, Globicephala melas, Long finned pilot whale, mass mortality, Mass Stranding, New Zealand, stranding
@article{,
title = {Using emerging hot spot analysis of stranding records to inform conservation management of a data-poor cetacean species},
author = {Betty, Emma L.,Bollard, Barbara,Murphy, Sinéad,Ogle, Mike,Hendriks, Hannah,Orams, Mark B.,Stockin, Karen A.},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01903-8},
issn = {1572-9710},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Biodiversity and Conservation},
number = {327},
abstract = {Conservation monitoring of highly mobile species in relatively inaccessible habitats presents a considerable challenge to wildlife biologists. Effective conservation strategies require knowledge of cetacean ecology that is often challenging and expensive to obtain. Despite their caveats, stranding data represent an underused resource to study the long-term dynamics of cetacean populations. Using long-finned pilot whale (LFPW; Globicephala melas edwardii) strandings on the New Zealand coast as a case study, we present a novel approach to demonstrate how stranding data can inform conservation management of data-poor species. A total of 8571 LFPWs stranded on the New Zealand coast within a 40-year period between January 1978 and December 2017. Overall, where sex was recorded, mass stranded adults were significantly biased towards females, while a significant male bias was observed in juveniles. Strandings occurred in all months, though significant seasonal variation was evident, with 66% of stranding events reported during austral spring and summer months (October–February). Hot spot analysis (ArcGIS) identified the majority of LFPWs stranded at Golden Bay, Great Barrier Island, Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands, with emerging hot spot analysis (ArcGIS) used to identify spatiotemporal trends. While emerging hot spot analysis revealed no significant temporal trend in the annual frequency of stranding events or numbers of individuals stranded, it did reveal a significant spatiotemporal trend, with the numbers of stranded individuals declining in areas of the Far North, Coromandel, Canterbury, Otago and the Chatham Islands, and increasing in Golden Bay and Stewart Island. When combined with other contextual information, such trends help identify the most significant clusters of LFPW strandings on the New Zealand coast, provide baseline ecological data on a poorly understood subspecies, and can be used to guide conservation management of G. m. edwardii in New Zealand waters.},
keywords = {Distribution, Globicephala melas, Long finned pilot whale, mass mortality, Mass Stranding, New Zealand, stranding},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Conservation monitoring of highly mobile species in relatively inaccessible habitats presents a considerable challenge to wildlife biologists. Effective conservation strategies require knowledge of cetacean ecology that is often challenging and expensive to obtain. Despite their caveats, stranding data represent an underused resource to study the long-term dynamics of cetacean populations. Using long-finned pilot whale (LFPW; Globicephala melas edwardii) strandings on the New Zealand coast as a case study, we present a novel approach to demonstrate how stranding data can inform conservation management of data-poor species. A total of 8571 LFPWs stranded on the New Zealand coast within a 40-year period between January 1978 and December 2017. Overall, where sex was recorded, mass stranded adults were significantly biased towards females, while a significant male bias was observed in juveniles. Strandings occurred in all months, though significant seasonal variation was evident, with 66% of stranding events reported during austral spring and summer months (October–February). Hot spot analysis (ArcGIS) identified the majority of LFPWs stranded at Golden Bay, Great Barrier Island, Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands, with emerging hot spot analysis (ArcGIS) used to identify spatiotemporal trends. While emerging hot spot analysis revealed no significant temporal trend in the annual frequency of stranding events or numbers of individuals stranded, it did reveal a significant spatiotemporal trend, with the numbers of stranded individuals declining in areas of the Far North, Coromandel, Canterbury, Otago and the Chatham Islands, and increasing in Golden Bay and Stewart Island. When combined with other contextual information, such trends help identify the most significant clusters of LFPW strandings on the New Zealand coast, provide baseline ecological data on a poorly understood subspecies, and can be used to guide conservation management of G. m. edwardii in New Zealand waters.
Mehta,A.V.
How important are baleen whales as prey for killer whales (Orcinus orca) in high-latitude waters? PhD Thesis
2004.
Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: Alaska, Antarctic, Atlantic, Australia, baleen whales, Blue whale, blue whales, Gulf of Maine, Humpback Whale, humpback whales, killer whale, killer whales, New Caledonia, New Zealand, North Atlantic, North Atlantic right whale, North Pacific, Oman, Orca, Orcinus orca, population, prey, pygmy blue whale, Pygmy blue whales, right whale, right whales, whale, whales, whaling
@phdthesis{,
title = {How important are baleen whales as prey for killer whales (Orcinus orca) in high-latitude waters?},
author = {Mehta,A.V.},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-01-01},
number = {403},
pages = {1-15},
publisher = {Boston University},
abstract = {Data on humpback whales were collected from twenty-one regions: eleven in the North Atlantic and three in the North Pacific, as well as American Samoa, Vava'u (Tonga), New Zealand, New Caledonia, western Australia, the Antarctic Peninsula, and Oman. The other species and subspecies included in this project were sampled from a single population each (Fig. 1): North Atlantic right whales, blue whales off southeastern Australia, and pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) off western Australia. The proportion of whales in different sampling regions bearing rake marks ranged from 0% to over 40%. The Gulf of Maine population had a scarring rate of 9.9-11%, while SW Alaska had a rate of 21.1 to 21.9%. Oman had a rate of 9.1% (3 of 33 animals). The highest rate of scarring was the "Mexico" population with a scarring rate of over 40%. Of those scarred animals with multi-year sighting histories, 82.8% to 100% had those scars the first time they were sighted. Of the total number of whales sampled from these regions, 0% to only 4.8% acquired new or additional rake marks after their first sighting, supporting the hypothesis that most whales aquire their scars as calves, and that adult baleen whales do not constitute a major prey source for killer whales.Overall, the present study suggests that the hypothesis presented by Springer et al. (2003) - that killer whales in the North Pacific were forced by industrial whaling to switch prey from baleen whales to pinnipeds and sea otters - is untenable.},
keywords = {Alaska, Antarctic, Atlantic, Australia, baleen whales, Blue whale, blue whales, Gulf of Maine, Humpback Whale, humpback whales, killer whale, killer whales, New Caledonia, New Zealand, North Atlantic, North Atlantic right whale, North Pacific, Oman, Orca, Orcinus orca, population, prey, pygmy blue whale, Pygmy blue whales, right whale, right whales, whale, whales, whaling},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {phdthesis}
}
Data on humpback whales were collected from twenty-one regions: eleven in the North Atlantic and three in the North Pacific, as well as American Samoa, Vava'u (Tonga), New Zealand, New Caledonia, western Australia, the Antarctic Peninsula, and Oman. The other species and subspecies included in this project were sampled from a single population each (Fig. 1): North Atlantic right whales, blue whales off southeastern Australia, and pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) off western Australia. The proportion of whales in different sampling regions bearing rake marks ranged from 0% to over 40%. The Gulf of Maine population had a scarring rate of 9.9-11%, while SW Alaska had a rate of 21.1 to 21.9%. Oman had a rate of 9.1% (3 of 33 animals). The highest rate of scarring was the "Mexico" population with a scarring rate of over 40%. Of those scarred animals with multi-year sighting histories, 82.8% to 100% had those scars the first time they were sighted. Of the total number of whales sampled from these regions, 0% to only 4.8% acquired new or additional rake marks after their first sighting, supporting the hypothesis that most whales aquire their scars as calves, and that adult baleen whales do not constitute a major prey source for killer whales.Overall, the present study suggests that the hypothesis presented by Springer et al. (2003) - that killer whales in the North Pacific were forced by industrial whaling to switch prey from baleen whales to pinnipeds and sea otters - is untenable.