A spatially explicit estimate of the prewhaling abundance of the endangered North Atlantic right whale

• Published in: Conservation Biology
• Main Authors: Monsarrat, Sophie, Pennino, M. Grazia, Smith, Tim D., Reeves, Randall R., Meynard, Christine, Kaplan, David M., Rodrigues, Ana S. L.
• Other Authors: MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Montpellier (UM), Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud ), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM), École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL), Depto. de Botanica, Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte Natal (UFRN), World Whaling History, Okapi Wildlife Associates, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: generalized additive modeling; feeding grounds; Eubalaena; historical baseline; population size; whaling; areas de alimentacion; caza de ballenas; linea base historica; modelado aditivo generalizado; tamano de poblacion; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Ballenas; Norwegian Sea; Pacific; Eubalaena glacialis; Eubalaena japonica; Newfoundland; North Atlantic; North Atlantic right whale
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01604028; https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12664

The North Atlantic right whale (NARW) (Eubalaena glacialis) is one of the world's most threatened whales. It came close to extinction after nearly a millennium of exploitation and currently persists as a population of only approximately 500 individuals. Setting appropriate conservation targets for this species requires an understanding of its historical population size, as a baseline for measuring levels of depletion and progress toward recovery. This is made difficult by the scarcity of records over this species' long whaling history. We sought to estimate the preexploitation population size of the North Atlantic right whale and understand how this species was distributed across its range. We used a spatially explicit data set on historical catches of North Pacific right whales (NPRWs) (Eubalaena japonica) to model the relationship between right whale relative density and the environment during the summer feeding season. Assuming the 2 right whale species select similar environments, we projected this model to the North Atlantic to predict how the relative abundance of NARWs varied across their range. We calibrated these relative abundances with estimates of the NPRW total prewhaling population size to obtain high and low estimates for the overall NARW population size prior to exploitation. The model predicted 9,075-21,328 right whales in the North Atlantic. The current NARW population is thus <6% of the historical North Atlantic carrying capacity and has enormous potential for recovery. According to the model, in June-September NARWs concentrated in 2 main feeding areas: east of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and in the Norwegian Sea. These 2 areas may become important in the future as feeding grounds and may already be used more regularly by this endangered species than is thought. Una Estimacion Espacialmente Explicita de la Abundancia Previa a la Caza de la Ballena Franca del Atlantico Norte en Peligro de Extincion La ballena franca del Atlantico Norte (BFAN) (Eubalaena glacialis) es una de las ...