Ship Strike Risk for Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Off the Garraf coast, Northwest Mediterranean Sea
Ship strikes are a widespread conservation issue for many cetacean species globally. Population level impacts depend on the occurrence and severity of collisions, which may lead to life altering injuries or fatalities. Such impacts are a major concern for large, long-lived, and reproductively slow s...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.867287 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.867287/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2022.867287 2024-06-23T07:51:33+00:00 Ship Strike Risk for Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Off the Garraf coast, Northwest Mediterranean Sea Tort Castro, Beatriu Prieto González, Rocío O’Callaghan, Seán A. Dominguez Rein-Loring, Paula Degollada Bastos, Eduard 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.867287 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.867287/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Marine Science volume 9 ISSN 2296-7745 journal-article 2022 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.867287 2024-06-04T05:53:15Z Ship strikes are a widespread conservation issue for many cetacean species globally. Population level impacts depend on the occurrence and severity of collisions, which may lead to life altering injuries or fatalities. Such impacts are a major concern for large, long-lived, and reproductively slow species like the fin whale. Since 2014, a seasonal feeding aggregation of fin whales has been monitored from February to June off the Catalan coast (Spain), in the northwest Mediterranean Sea. Oceanographical factors influence the occurrence and high density of krill within submarine canyons along the continental shelf, resulting in high whale abundance within a small spatial area. The study area extends 37 km offshore across a 1,944 km 2 marine strip situated between the towns of Torredembarra and Castelldefels. This fin whale feeding ground is exposed to high density marine vessel traffic, given its location between the northern Mediterranean shipping lane, which links Barcelona and Tarragona Ports to the Atlantic Ocean and wider Mediterranean Basin. Ship strikes represent the greatest conservation threat for fin whales in the Mediterranean Sea. At least four fin whales have been found dead in Barcelona Port since 1986 due to ship strikes and seven live whales have been documented with injuries in the study area since 2018. Fin whale distribution was mapped with known high-risk marine vessels’ (cargo, tanker and passenger vessels) shipping lanes. Vessel density and shipping lanes characterised by speed were considered. Collision risk was estimated monthly based on the predicted fin whale occurrence and traffic density. Several shipping lanes crossed the fin whale feeding habitat every month with an average speed of 15 kn. Cargo vessels displayed the highest ship-strike risk during April, overlapping with the peak of fin whale sightings in the critical feeding area. Slower vessel speeds (8 kn) in waters <200 m depth or along the continental shelf should be implemented along the Catalan coast, during the whale ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale Frontiers (Publisher) Lanes ENVELOPE(18.933,18.933,69.617,69.617) Tarragona ENVELOPE(-58.433,-58.433,-62.067,-62.067) Frontiers in Marine Science 9 |
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Ship strikes are a widespread conservation issue for many cetacean species globally. Population level impacts depend on the occurrence and severity of collisions, which may lead to life altering injuries or fatalities. Such impacts are a major concern for large, long-lived, and reproductively slow species like the fin whale. Since 2014, a seasonal feeding aggregation of fin whales has been monitored from February to June off the Catalan coast (Spain), in the northwest Mediterranean Sea. Oceanographical factors influence the occurrence and high density of krill within submarine canyons along the continental shelf, resulting in high whale abundance within a small spatial area. The study area extends 37 km offshore across a 1,944 km 2 marine strip situated between the towns of Torredembarra and Castelldefels. This fin whale feeding ground is exposed to high density marine vessel traffic, given its location between the northern Mediterranean shipping lane, which links Barcelona and Tarragona Ports to the Atlantic Ocean and wider Mediterranean Basin. Ship strikes represent the greatest conservation threat for fin whales in the Mediterranean Sea. At least four fin whales have been found dead in Barcelona Port since 1986 due to ship strikes and seven live whales have been documented with injuries in the study area since 2018. Fin whale distribution was mapped with known high-risk marine vessels’ (cargo, tanker and passenger vessels) shipping lanes. Vessel density and shipping lanes characterised by speed were considered. Collision risk was estimated monthly based on the predicted fin whale occurrence and traffic density. Several shipping lanes crossed the fin whale feeding habitat every month with an average speed of 15 kn. Cargo vessels displayed the highest ship-strike risk during April, overlapping with the peak of fin whale sightings in the critical feeding area. Slower vessel speeds (8 kn) in waters <200 m depth or along the continental shelf should be implemented along the Catalan coast, during the whale ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tort Castro, Beatriu Prieto González, Rocío O’Callaghan, Seán A. Dominguez Rein-Loring, Paula Degollada Bastos, Eduard |
spellingShingle |
Tort Castro, Beatriu Prieto González, Rocío O’Callaghan, Seán A. Dominguez Rein-Loring, Paula Degollada Bastos, Eduard Ship Strike Risk for Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Off the Garraf coast, Northwest Mediterranean Sea |
author_facet |
Tort Castro, Beatriu Prieto González, Rocío O’Callaghan, Seán A. Dominguez Rein-Loring, Paula Degollada Bastos, Eduard |
author_sort |
Tort Castro, Beatriu |
title |
Ship Strike Risk for Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Off the Garraf coast, Northwest Mediterranean Sea |
title_short |
Ship Strike Risk for Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Off the Garraf coast, Northwest Mediterranean Sea |
title_full |
Ship Strike Risk for Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Off the Garraf coast, Northwest Mediterranean Sea |
title_fullStr |
Ship Strike Risk for Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Off the Garraf coast, Northwest Mediterranean Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ship Strike Risk for Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Off the Garraf coast, Northwest Mediterranean Sea |
title_sort |
ship strike risk for fin whales (balaenoptera physalus) off the garraf coast, northwest mediterranean sea |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.867287 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.867287/full |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(18.933,18.933,69.617,69.617) ENVELOPE(-58.433,-58.433,-62.067,-62.067) |
geographic |
Lanes Tarragona |
geographic_facet |
Lanes Tarragona |
genre |
Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science volume 9 ISSN 2296-7745 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.867287 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
9 |
_version_ |
1802642672908763136 |