Oceanic Drivers of Sei Whale Distribution in the North Atlantic
This study investigated the oceanic drivers of sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) distribution in the central and eastern North Atlantic, and explored how distribution may have changed over almost three decades. Cetacean sightings data were available from Icelandic, Faroese and Norwegian surveys cond...
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2020
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.7557/3.5211 https://doaj.org/article/495e10b6f7fe4a5caee82d3a41124f9f |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:495e10b6f7fe4a5caee82d3a41124f9f 2023-05-15T15:36:16+02:00 Oceanic Drivers of Sei Whale Distribution in the North Atlantic Lucy Houghton Nadya Ramirez-Martinez Bjarni Mikkelsen Gísli Víkingsson Thorvaldur Gunnlaugsson Nils Øien Philip Hammond 2020-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.7557/3.5211 https://doaj.org/article/495e10b6f7fe4a5caee82d3a41124f9f EN eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5211 https://doaj.org/toc/1560-2206 https://doaj.org/toc/2309-2491 doi:10.7557/3.5211 1560-2206 2309-2491 https://doaj.org/article/495e10b6f7fe4a5caee82d3a41124f9f NAMMCO Scientific Publications, Vol 11 (2020) Distribution habitat cetacean surveys sei whale North Atlantic generalized additive models predictive maps climate change Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.7557/3.5211 2022-12-31T01:21:28Z This study investigated the oceanic drivers of sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) distribution in the central and eastern North Atlantic, and explored how distribution may have changed over almost three decades. Cetacean sightings data were available from Icelandic, Faroese and Norwegian surveys conducted throughout the central and eastern North Atlantic during summer between 1987 and 2015. Effective strip half width was estimated from the data to take account of variation in detection probability. Spatially-referenced environmental variables used as predictors in generalised additive models of sei whale relative density included: relief-related variables seabed depth, slope and aspect; monthly-varying physical oceanographic variables sea surface temperature (SST), mixed layer depth, bottom temperature, salinity, and sea surface height anomaly (SSH); and monthly-varying biological oceanographic variables chlorophyll-a concentration and primary productivity. Preliminary analysis considered which month (March-August) in the dynamic oceanographic variables explained most variability in sei whale density. Models including all variables (“full models”) could only be run for 1998-2015 because data for several variables were missing in earlier years. “Simple models" including only relief-related variables and SST were therefore run for 1987-89, and also for 1998-2015 for comparison. The best-fitting full model for 1998-2015 retained the covariates depth, May SST, May bottom temperature, July salinity, July SSH and July primary productivity. Of these, depth, May SST and July SSH were the strongest predictors of sei whale density. In the simple models for both 1987-89 and 1998-2015, depth (especially), May SST and seabed slope were the strongest predictors of sei whale density. The highest densities of sei whales were predicted in the Irminger Sea and over the Charles-Gibbs Fracture Zone; a pattern driven by large negative SSH, deep water (>1500m) and polar-temperate SST (5-12oC). There was some inter-annual ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera borealis North Atlantic Sei Whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Irminger Sea ENVELOPE(-34.041,-34.041,63.054,63.054) NAMMCO Scientific Publications 11 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Distribution habitat cetacean surveys sei whale North Atlantic generalized additive models predictive maps climate change Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Distribution habitat cetacean surveys sei whale North Atlantic generalized additive models predictive maps climate change Ecology QH540-549.5 Lucy Houghton Nadya Ramirez-Martinez Bjarni Mikkelsen Gísli Víkingsson Thorvaldur Gunnlaugsson Nils Øien Philip Hammond Oceanic Drivers of Sei Whale Distribution in the North Atlantic |
topic_facet |
Distribution habitat cetacean surveys sei whale North Atlantic generalized additive models predictive maps climate change Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
This study investigated the oceanic drivers of sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) distribution in the central and eastern North Atlantic, and explored how distribution may have changed over almost three decades. Cetacean sightings data were available from Icelandic, Faroese and Norwegian surveys conducted throughout the central and eastern North Atlantic during summer between 1987 and 2015. Effective strip half width was estimated from the data to take account of variation in detection probability. Spatially-referenced environmental variables used as predictors in generalised additive models of sei whale relative density included: relief-related variables seabed depth, slope and aspect; monthly-varying physical oceanographic variables sea surface temperature (SST), mixed layer depth, bottom temperature, salinity, and sea surface height anomaly (SSH); and monthly-varying biological oceanographic variables chlorophyll-a concentration and primary productivity. Preliminary analysis considered which month (March-August) in the dynamic oceanographic variables explained most variability in sei whale density. Models including all variables (“full models”) could only be run for 1998-2015 because data for several variables were missing in earlier years. “Simple models" including only relief-related variables and SST were therefore run for 1987-89, and also for 1998-2015 for comparison. The best-fitting full model for 1998-2015 retained the covariates depth, May SST, May bottom temperature, July salinity, July SSH and July primary productivity. Of these, depth, May SST and July SSH were the strongest predictors of sei whale density. In the simple models for both 1987-89 and 1998-2015, depth (especially), May SST and seabed slope were the strongest predictors of sei whale density. The highest densities of sei whales were predicted in the Irminger Sea and over the Charles-Gibbs Fracture Zone; a pattern driven by large negative SSH, deep water (>1500m) and polar-temperate SST (5-12oC). There was some inter-annual ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lucy Houghton Nadya Ramirez-Martinez Bjarni Mikkelsen Gísli Víkingsson Thorvaldur Gunnlaugsson Nils Øien Philip Hammond |
author_facet |
Lucy Houghton Nadya Ramirez-Martinez Bjarni Mikkelsen Gísli Víkingsson Thorvaldur Gunnlaugsson Nils Øien Philip Hammond |
author_sort |
Lucy Houghton |
title |
Oceanic Drivers of Sei Whale Distribution in the North Atlantic |
title_short |
Oceanic Drivers of Sei Whale Distribution in the North Atlantic |
title_full |
Oceanic Drivers of Sei Whale Distribution in the North Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Oceanic Drivers of Sei Whale Distribution in the North Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Oceanic Drivers of Sei Whale Distribution in the North Atlantic |
title_sort |
oceanic drivers of sei whale distribution in the north atlantic |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7557/3.5211 https://doaj.org/article/495e10b6f7fe4a5caee82d3a41124f9f |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-34.041,-34.041,63.054,63.054) |
geographic |
Irminger Sea |
geographic_facet |
Irminger Sea |
genre |
Balaenoptera borealis North Atlantic Sei Whale |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera borealis North Atlantic Sei Whale |
op_source |
NAMMCO Scientific Publications, Vol 11 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/5211 https://doaj.org/toc/1560-2206 https://doaj.org/toc/2309-2491 doi:10.7557/3.5211 1560-2206 2309-2491 https://doaj.org/article/495e10b6f7fe4a5caee82d3a41124f9f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/3.5211 |
container_title |
NAMMCO Scientific Publications |
container_volume |
11 |
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1766366612533805056 |