Habitat characteristics of the shelf distribution of the harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) in the waters around the Faroe Islands during summer
Observations from a large number of seabird line-transect surveys conducted in Faroese waters are used to derive some general conclusions regarding the distribution of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in the region using estimates of encounter rates (no./km-1) in different meso-scale habitats a...
Published in: | NAMMCO Scientific Publications |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Septentrio Academic Publishing
2003
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.7557/3.2738 https://doaj.org/article/977ec6ad59f44228b3383e197986f639 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:977ec6ad59f44228b3383e197986f639 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:977ec6ad59f44228b3383e197986f639 2023-05-15T15:40:39+02:00 Habitat characteristics of the shelf distribution of the harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) in the waters around the Faroe Islands during summer Henrik Skov Jan Durinck Dorete Bloch 2003-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.7557/3.2738 https://doaj.org/article/977ec6ad59f44228b3383e197986f639 EN eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/2738 https://doaj.org/toc/1560-2206 https://doaj.org/toc/2309-2491 1560-2206 2309-2491 doi:10.7557/3.2738 https://doaj.org/article/977ec6ad59f44228b3383e197986f639 NAMMCO Scientific Publications, Vol 5, Iss 0, Pp 31-40 (2003) harbour porpoises habitat distribution Faroe Islands Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2003 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.7557/3.2738 2022-12-31T03:32:55Z Observations from a large number of seabird line-transect surveys conducted in Faroese waters are used to derive some general conclusions regarding the distribution of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in the region using estimates of encounter rates (no./km-1) in different meso-scale habitats around the Faroes during the breeding season (May-September). Based on a sub-set of the data collected during calm conditions (sea states below Beaufort 3) we analysed the distribution of harbour porpoises in relation to 5 potentially important physical parameters: water depth, distance to shore, slope of the ocean floor, distance to tidal front and Beaufort sea state. These parameters were determined from data collected during the surveys, the literature as well as from the new bathymetry established for the Faroese shelf. In order to link the differently scaled physical parameters with the encounter rates and sea states recorded during the surveys we used a suite of geo-statistical and raster-based GIS techniques based on a uniform grid resolution of 1 km in UTM zone 29 N projection. After removing parameters with insignificant effects a model of main effects was produced with sea state and distance to the tidal front having a significant negative effect on the rate of encountering harbour porpoises during both sets of cruises analysed (August 1997 and other surveys). During both sets of cruises the distance to the tidal front had a larger effect on the distribution of the animals than sea state. The strong relationship between harbour porpoise distribution and the average position of the tidal front around the Faroes strongly suggests that the species concentrates near the quasi-stationary circular shelf front separating mixed from stratified waters around the Faroes. However, the importance of shelf fronts for the distribution of harbour porpoises needs to be studied in detail in order to establish the proportionof the populations associated with these structures. Article in Journal/Newspaper Beaufort Sea Faroe Islands Faroes Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Faroe Islands NAMMCO Scientific Publications 5 31 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
harbour porpoises habitat distribution Faroe Islands Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
harbour porpoises habitat distribution Faroe Islands Ecology QH540-549.5 Henrik Skov Jan Durinck Dorete Bloch Habitat characteristics of the shelf distribution of the harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) in the waters around the Faroe Islands during summer |
topic_facet |
harbour porpoises habitat distribution Faroe Islands Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Observations from a large number of seabird line-transect surveys conducted in Faroese waters are used to derive some general conclusions regarding the distribution of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in the region using estimates of encounter rates (no./km-1) in different meso-scale habitats around the Faroes during the breeding season (May-September). Based on a sub-set of the data collected during calm conditions (sea states below Beaufort 3) we analysed the distribution of harbour porpoises in relation to 5 potentially important physical parameters: water depth, distance to shore, slope of the ocean floor, distance to tidal front and Beaufort sea state. These parameters were determined from data collected during the surveys, the literature as well as from the new bathymetry established for the Faroese shelf. In order to link the differently scaled physical parameters with the encounter rates and sea states recorded during the surveys we used a suite of geo-statistical and raster-based GIS techniques based on a uniform grid resolution of 1 km in UTM zone 29 N projection. After removing parameters with insignificant effects a model of main effects was produced with sea state and distance to the tidal front having a significant negative effect on the rate of encountering harbour porpoises during both sets of cruises analysed (August 1997 and other surveys). During both sets of cruises the distance to the tidal front had a larger effect on the distribution of the animals than sea state. The strong relationship between harbour porpoise distribution and the average position of the tidal front around the Faroes strongly suggests that the species concentrates near the quasi-stationary circular shelf front separating mixed from stratified waters around the Faroes. However, the importance of shelf fronts for the distribution of harbour porpoises needs to be studied in detail in order to establish the proportionof the populations associated with these structures. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Henrik Skov Jan Durinck Dorete Bloch |
author_facet |
Henrik Skov Jan Durinck Dorete Bloch |
author_sort |
Henrik Skov |
title |
Habitat characteristics of the shelf distribution of the harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) in the waters around the Faroe Islands during summer |
title_short |
Habitat characteristics of the shelf distribution of the harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) in the waters around the Faroe Islands during summer |
title_full |
Habitat characteristics of the shelf distribution of the harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) in the waters around the Faroe Islands during summer |
title_fullStr |
Habitat characteristics of the shelf distribution of the harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) in the waters around the Faroe Islands during summer |
title_full_unstemmed |
Habitat characteristics of the shelf distribution of the harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) in the waters around the Faroe Islands during summer |
title_sort |
habitat characteristics of the shelf distribution of the harbour porpoise ( phocoena phocoena ) in the waters around the faroe islands during summer |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7557/3.2738 https://doaj.org/article/977ec6ad59f44228b3383e197986f639 |
geographic |
Faroe Islands |
geographic_facet |
Faroe Islands |
genre |
Beaufort Sea Faroe Islands Faroes Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena |
genre_facet |
Beaufort Sea Faroe Islands Faroes Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena |
op_source |
NAMMCO Scientific Publications, Vol 5, Iss 0, Pp 31-40 (2003) |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/NAMMCOSP/article/view/2738 https://doaj.org/toc/1560-2206 https://doaj.org/toc/2309-2491 1560-2206 2309-2491 doi:10.7557/3.2738 https://doaj.org/article/977ec6ad59f44228b3383e197986f639 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/3.2738 |
container_title |
NAMMCO Scientific Publications |
container_volume |
5 |
container_start_page |
31 |
_version_ |
1766373432036950016 |