The recovery of North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, has been constrained by human-caused mortality
North Atlantic right whales (NARW), Eubalaena glacialis, were nearly exterminated by historical whaling. Their abundance slowly increased up until 2010, to a maximum of fewer than 500 whales, and since then they have been in decline. We assessed the extent to which the relatively slow increase demon...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e5a1eea4fc2149fd9e62bdcca19e52ed 2023-05-15T16:08:15+02:00 The recovery of North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, has been constrained by human-caused mortality Peter Corkeron Philip Hamilton John Bannister Peter Best Claire Charlton Karina R. Groch Ken Findlay Victoria Rowntree Els Vermeulen Richard M. Pace 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180892 https://doaj.org/article/e5a1eea4fc2149fd9e62bdcca19e52ed EN eng The Royal Society https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.180892 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.180892 https://doaj.org/article/e5a1eea4fc2149fd9e62bdcca19e52ed Royal Society Open Science, Vol 5, Iss 11 (2018) population projection model whale conservation entanglement mortality geographical comparison Science Q article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180892 2022-12-31T04:50:49Z North Atlantic right whales (NARW), Eubalaena glacialis, were nearly exterminated by historical whaling. Their abundance slowly increased up until 2010, to a maximum of fewer than 500 whales, and since then they have been in decline. We assessed the extent to which the relatively slow increase demonstrated by NARW was intrinsic, and how much could be due to anthropogenic impacts. In order to do so, we first compared calf counts of three populations of Southern right whales (SRW), E. australis, with that of NARW, over the period 1992–2016. By this index, the annual rate of increase of NARW was approximately one-third of that of SRW. Next we constructed a population projection model for female NARW, using the highest annual survival estimates available from recent mark–resight analysis, and assuming a four-year calving interval. The model results indicated an intrinsic rate of increase of 4% per year, approximately twice that observed, and that adult female mortality is the main factor influencing this rate. Necropsy records demonstrate that anthropogenic mortality is the primary cause of known mortality of NARW. Anthropogenic mortality and morbidity has limited the recovery of NARW, and baseline conditions prior to their recent decline were already jeopardizing NARW recovery. Article in Journal/Newspaper Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Royal Society Open Science 5 11 180892 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
population projection model whale conservation entanglement mortality geographical comparison Science Q |
spellingShingle |
population projection model whale conservation entanglement mortality geographical comparison Science Q Peter Corkeron Philip Hamilton John Bannister Peter Best Claire Charlton Karina R. Groch Ken Findlay Victoria Rowntree Els Vermeulen Richard M. Pace The recovery of North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, has been constrained by human-caused mortality |
topic_facet |
population projection model whale conservation entanglement mortality geographical comparison Science Q |
description |
North Atlantic right whales (NARW), Eubalaena glacialis, were nearly exterminated by historical whaling. Their abundance slowly increased up until 2010, to a maximum of fewer than 500 whales, and since then they have been in decline. We assessed the extent to which the relatively slow increase demonstrated by NARW was intrinsic, and how much could be due to anthropogenic impacts. In order to do so, we first compared calf counts of three populations of Southern right whales (SRW), E. australis, with that of NARW, over the period 1992–2016. By this index, the annual rate of increase of NARW was approximately one-third of that of SRW. Next we constructed a population projection model for female NARW, using the highest annual survival estimates available from recent mark–resight analysis, and assuming a four-year calving interval. The model results indicated an intrinsic rate of increase of 4% per year, approximately twice that observed, and that adult female mortality is the main factor influencing this rate. Necropsy records demonstrate that anthropogenic mortality is the primary cause of known mortality of NARW. Anthropogenic mortality and morbidity has limited the recovery of NARW, and baseline conditions prior to their recent decline were already jeopardizing NARW recovery. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Peter Corkeron Philip Hamilton John Bannister Peter Best Claire Charlton Karina R. Groch Ken Findlay Victoria Rowntree Els Vermeulen Richard M. Pace |
author_facet |
Peter Corkeron Philip Hamilton John Bannister Peter Best Claire Charlton Karina R. Groch Ken Findlay Victoria Rowntree Els Vermeulen Richard M. Pace |
author_sort |
Peter Corkeron |
title |
The recovery of North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, has been constrained by human-caused mortality |
title_short |
The recovery of North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, has been constrained by human-caused mortality |
title_full |
The recovery of North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, has been constrained by human-caused mortality |
title_fullStr |
The recovery of North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, has been constrained by human-caused mortality |
title_full_unstemmed |
The recovery of North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, has been constrained by human-caused mortality |
title_sort |
recovery of north atlantic right whales, eubalaena glacialis, has been constrained by human-caused mortality |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180892 https://doaj.org/article/e5a1eea4fc2149fd9e62bdcca19e52ed |
genre |
Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science, Vol 5, Iss 11 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.180892 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.180892 https://doaj.org/article/e5a1eea4fc2149fd9e62bdcca19e52ed |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180892 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
180892 |
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1766404322747219968 |