North Atlantic right whale calving area surveys : 2014/2015 results

• Main Authors: Zoodsma, Barbara J., Howe, Kesley, White, Melanie, Jakush, Jen, George, Clay, Gowan, Tim, Hamilton, Philip, Jackson, Katie, Pitchford, Tom, Taylor, Cynthia, Ward, Leslie
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office. 2016
• Subjects: Right whales > Detection > Atlantic Coast South Atlantic States; North Atlantic; North Atlantic right whale
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7289/v5/tm-nmfs-ser-4; https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/12245

Aerial surveys are flown December 1 through March 31, annually, in the Southeast United States to detect North Atlantic right whales in their primary calving area. The purpose of the aerial surveys is to contribute to (in prioritized order): Population monitoring via detection and identification of individual right whales including cow/calf pairs occurring in the Southeast United States each year; Monitoring trends in human-related serious injuries and mortality; Vessel-strike reduction Given these prioritized objectives, we focused aerial surveys in areas where we expected the highest number of right whale detections.