Factors affecting the distribution of cetaceans in European Atlantic waters ...

• Main Author: Lacey, Claire
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The University of St Andrews 2023
• Subjects: Cetacean; Abundance; Density surface model; Habitat model; Survey; European Atlantic; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17630/sta/523; https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/27845

The waters of the European North Atlantic are subject to an increasing amount of anthropogenic pressure. Much of the environmental legislation designed to protect cetaceans requires detailed knowledge of the abundance and distribution of cetaceans within these waters. This data often comes from large-scale surveys. Data from two such series of surveys, spanning two time periods: the SCANS-II and CODA surveys in 2005/07 and the SCANS-III and ObSERVE surveys in 2016 were analysed using Generalised Additive Models to describe relationships between cetacean density and static and remotely accessed dynamic environmental features. Predictive models using spatial covariates as well as environmental predictors were created for the entire survey area using the most recently available data. This was done to conduct a “baseline” snapshot, representing the best possible picture of cetacean distribution for the summer of 2016. Subsequent chapters focus on specific ecoregions. These regions of relatively homogeneous ...