Seasonal productivity drives aggregations of killer whales and other cetaceans over submarine canyons of the Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia
Cetaceans are iconic predators that serve as important indicators of marine ecosystem health. The Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia, supports a diverse cetacean community including the largest documented aggregation of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Australian waters. Knowledge of cetacean...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80261 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM19058 |
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ftcurtin:oai:espace.curtin.edu.au:20.500.11937/80261 2023-06-11T04:13:41+02:00 Seasonal productivity drives aggregations of killer whales and other cetaceans over submarine canyons of the Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia Salgado Kent, Chandra Bouchet, Phil Wellard, Rebecca Parnum, Iain Fouda, Leila Erbe, Christine 2020 fulltext https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80261 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM19058 English eng CSIRO PUBLISHING http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80261 doi:10.1071/AM19058 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Zoology generalised estimating equations habitat modelling submarine canyons temporal autocorrelation whale watching ESTIMATING EQUATIONS FORAGING BEHAVIOR HABITAT MODELS POPULATION ABUNDANCE PREFERENCES SELECTION POD BAY Journal Article 2020 ftcurtin https://doi.org/20.500.11937/8026110.1071/AM19058 2023-05-30T19:58:05Z Cetaceans are iconic predators that serve as important indicators of marine ecosystem health. The Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia, supports a diverse cetacean community including the largest documented aggregation of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Australian waters. Knowledge of cetacean distributions is critical for managing the area’s thriving ecotourism industry, yet is largely sporadic. Here we combined aerial with opportunistic ship-borne surveys during 2015–2017 to describe the occurrence of multiple cetacean species on a regional scale. We used generalised estimating equations to model variation in killer whale relative density as a function of both static and dynamic covariates, including seabed depth, slope, and chlorophyll a concentration, while accounting for autocorrelation. Encountered cetacean groups included: killer (n ¼ 177), sperm (n ¼ 69), long-finned pilot (n ¼ 29), false killer (n ¼ 2), and straptoothed beaked (n ¼ 1) whales, as well as bottlenose (n ¼ 12) and common (n ¼ 5) dolphins. Killer whale numbers peaked in areas of low temperatures and high primary productivity, likely due to seasonal upwelling of nutrient-rich waters supporting high prey biomass. The best predictive model highlighted potential killer whale ‘hotspots’ in the Henry, Hood, Pallinup and Bremer Canyons. This study demonstrates the value of abundance data from platforms of opportunity for marine planning and wildlife management in the open ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale Curtin University: espace Australian Mammalogy 43 2 168 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Curtin University: espace |
op_collection_id |
ftcurtin |
language |
English |
topic |
Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Zoology generalised estimating equations habitat modelling submarine canyons temporal autocorrelation whale watching ESTIMATING EQUATIONS FORAGING BEHAVIOR HABITAT MODELS POPULATION ABUNDANCE PREFERENCES SELECTION POD BAY |
spellingShingle |
Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Zoology generalised estimating equations habitat modelling submarine canyons temporal autocorrelation whale watching ESTIMATING EQUATIONS FORAGING BEHAVIOR HABITAT MODELS POPULATION ABUNDANCE PREFERENCES SELECTION POD BAY Salgado Kent, Chandra Bouchet, Phil Wellard, Rebecca Parnum, Iain Fouda, Leila Erbe, Christine Seasonal productivity drives aggregations of killer whales and other cetaceans over submarine canyons of the Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia |
topic_facet |
Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Zoology generalised estimating equations habitat modelling submarine canyons temporal autocorrelation whale watching ESTIMATING EQUATIONS FORAGING BEHAVIOR HABITAT MODELS POPULATION ABUNDANCE PREFERENCES SELECTION POD BAY |
description |
Cetaceans are iconic predators that serve as important indicators of marine ecosystem health. The Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia, supports a diverse cetacean community including the largest documented aggregation of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Australian waters. Knowledge of cetacean distributions is critical for managing the area’s thriving ecotourism industry, yet is largely sporadic. Here we combined aerial with opportunistic ship-borne surveys during 2015–2017 to describe the occurrence of multiple cetacean species on a regional scale. We used generalised estimating equations to model variation in killer whale relative density as a function of both static and dynamic covariates, including seabed depth, slope, and chlorophyll a concentration, while accounting for autocorrelation. Encountered cetacean groups included: killer (n ¼ 177), sperm (n ¼ 69), long-finned pilot (n ¼ 29), false killer (n ¼ 2), and straptoothed beaked (n ¼ 1) whales, as well as bottlenose (n ¼ 12) and common (n ¼ 5) dolphins. Killer whale numbers peaked in areas of low temperatures and high primary productivity, likely due to seasonal upwelling of nutrient-rich waters supporting high prey biomass. The best predictive model highlighted potential killer whale ‘hotspots’ in the Henry, Hood, Pallinup and Bremer Canyons. This study demonstrates the value of abundance data from platforms of opportunity for marine planning and wildlife management in the open ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Salgado Kent, Chandra Bouchet, Phil Wellard, Rebecca Parnum, Iain Fouda, Leila Erbe, Christine |
author_facet |
Salgado Kent, Chandra Bouchet, Phil Wellard, Rebecca Parnum, Iain Fouda, Leila Erbe, Christine |
author_sort |
Salgado Kent, Chandra |
title |
Seasonal productivity drives aggregations of killer whales and other cetaceans over submarine canyons of the Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia |
title_short |
Seasonal productivity drives aggregations of killer whales and other cetaceans over submarine canyons of the Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia |
title_full |
Seasonal productivity drives aggregations of killer whales and other cetaceans over submarine canyons of the Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal productivity drives aggregations of killer whales and other cetaceans over submarine canyons of the Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal productivity drives aggregations of killer whales and other cetaceans over submarine canyons of the Bremer Sub-Basin, south-western Australia |
title_sort |
seasonal productivity drives aggregations of killer whales and other cetaceans over submarine canyons of the bremer sub-basin, south-western australia |
publisher |
CSIRO PUBLISHING |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80261 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM19058 |
genre |
Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80261 doi:10.1071/AM19058 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11937/8026110.1071/AM19058 |
container_title |
Australian Mammalogy |
container_volume |
43 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
168 |
_version_ |
1768390943321358336 |