Using satellite imagery to estimate abundance of Cumberland Sound beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in 2021
The Cumberland Sound beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) population inhabits Cumberland Sound on the southeast side of Baffin Island, Nunavut. The population is listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act. The last abundance estimate from an aerial survey was estimated at 1,381 (95% CI: 1,27...
Published in: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1422907 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1422907/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2024.1422907 2024-09-30T14:32:39+00:00 Using satellite imagery to estimate abundance of Cumberland Sound beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in 2021 Sherbo, Bryanna A. H. Belanger, Amanda M. Charry, Bertrand Watt, Cortney A. 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1422907 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1422907/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Marine Science volume 11 ISSN 2296-7745 journal-article 2024 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1422907 2024-09-17T04:13:34Z The Cumberland Sound beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) population inhabits Cumberland Sound on the southeast side of Baffin Island, Nunavut. The population is listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act. The last abundance estimate from an aerial survey was estimated at 1,381 (95% CI: 1,270-1,502) beluga whales in 2017 for an area covering 12,485 km 2 . Since then, satellite imagery has been used as a remotely based non-invasive method to monitor these whales. Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery covering 9,690 km² of water was collected from Cumberland Sound from August 30 to September 7, 2021, during the ice free season. Readers with previous imagery analysis experience analyzed the images and identified 704 certain detections. Abundance estimates were corrected for availability bias for whales that were too deep to be detected in the imagery (>2m). We present a total estimate of 1,690 (CV = 0.16; 95% CI: 1,241-2,301) beluga whales in Cumberland Sound (22,663 km 2 ). This estimate covers a larger area and estimates a higher abundance than the 2017 aerial survey. Regular population abundance assessments are essential for understanding population dynamics and trends and we have shown here that satellite imagery is a comparable method to aerial surveys for estimating abundance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Baffin Island Baffin Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Cumberland Sound Delphinapterus leucas Nunavut Frontiers (Publisher) Baffin Island Cumberland Sound ENVELOPE(-66.014,-66.014,65.334,65.334) Nunavut Frontiers in Marine Science 11 |
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The Cumberland Sound beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) population inhabits Cumberland Sound on the southeast side of Baffin Island, Nunavut. The population is listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act. The last abundance estimate from an aerial survey was estimated at 1,381 (95% CI: 1,270-1,502) beluga whales in 2017 for an area covering 12,485 km 2 . Since then, satellite imagery has been used as a remotely based non-invasive method to monitor these whales. Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery covering 9,690 km² of water was collected from Cumberland Sound from August 30 to September 7, 2021, during the ice free season. Readers with previous imagery analysis experience analyzed the images and identified 704 certain detections. Abundance estimates were corrected for availability bias for whales that were too deep to be detected in the imagery (>2m). We present a total estimate of 1,690 (CV = 0.16; 95% CI: 1,241-2,301) beluga whales in Cumberland Sound (22,663 km 2 ). This estimate covers a larger area and estimates a higher abundance than the 2017 aerial survey. Regular population abundance assessments are essential for understanding population dynamics and trends and we have shown here that satellite imagery is a comparable method to aerial surveys for estimating abundance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sherbo, Bryanna A. H. Belanger, Amanda M. Charry, Bertrand Watt, Cortney A. |
spellingShingle |
Sherbo, Bryanna A. H. Belanger, Amanda M. Charry, Bertrand Watt, Cortney A. Using satellite imagery to estimate abundance of Cumberland Sound beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in 2021 |
author_facet |
Sherbo, Bryanna A. H. Belanger, Amanda M. Charry, Bertrand Watt, Cortney A. |
author_sort |
Sherbo, Bryanna A. H. |
title |
Using satellite imagery to estimate abundance of Cumberland Sound beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in 2021 |
title_short |
Using satellite imagery to estimate abundance of Cumberland Sound beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in 2021 |
title_full |
Using satellite imagery to estimate abundance of Cumberland Sound beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in 2021 |
title_fullStr |
Using satellite imagery to estimate abundance of Cumberland Sound beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in 2021 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Using satellite imagery to estimate abundance of Cumberland Sound beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in 2021 |
title_sort |
using satellite imagery to estimate abundance of cumberland sound beluga whales (delphinapterus leucas) in 2021 |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1422907 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1422907/full |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-66.014,-66.014,65.334,65.334) |
geographic |
Baffin Island Cumberland Sound Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Baffin Island Cumberland Sound Nunavut |
genre |
Baffin Island Baffin Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Cumberland Sound Delphinapterus leucas Nunavut |
genre_facet |
Baffin Island Baffin Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Cumberland Sound Delphinapterus leucas Nunavut |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science volume 11 ISSN 2296-7745 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1422907 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
11 |
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1811636754325700608 |