Distribution and Abundance of the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus indica) off Sri Lanka during the Southwest Monsoon 2018
Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus are the most abundant and widely distributed cetacean species in Sri Lankan waters. A vessel-based opportunistic line transect survey focusing on marine mammals was conducted in Sri Lankan waters between 24 June to 12 July 2018, while an ecosystem survey was perform...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2077-1312/10/11/1626/ 2023-08-20T04:05:25+02:00 Distribution and Abundance of the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus indica) off Sri Lanka during the Southwest Monsoon 2018 Liyanage U. S. P. Kirumbara Jayasinghe R. P. P. Krishantha Krakstad Jens-Otto Arulananthan Kanapathipillai agris 2022-11-02 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111626 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Marine Biology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111626 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Marine Science and Engineering; Volume 10; Issue 11; Pages: 1626 blue whale Balaenoptera musculus distribution abundance ship strikes Sri Lanka Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111626 2023-08-01T07:09:39Z Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus are the most abundant and widely distributed cetacean species in Sri Lankan waters. A vessel-based opportunistic line transect survey focusing on marine mammals was conducted in Sri Lankan waters between 24 June to 12 July 2018, while an ecosystem survey was performed by the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen. The entire transect length was 2090 km within an area of 3895 km2. Overall, 72% (n = 57) of blue whale observations were group assemblages ranging between 1 and 5 individuals out of a total of 79 sightings. The largest aggregations of blue whales were recorded at the intersection of the submarine canyon off the coastline of Mirissa and busy shipping lanes between Dondra Head and Galle, where previous ship strikes were recorded. Overall, the average observed group size was 2.64 (CV, 12.34%; 95% CI, 2.07–3.38), the average group density was 0.0029 km−2 (CV, 35.96%; 95% CI, 0.00145–0.00610), and the total blue whale abundance within the survey area was 513 individuals (CV, 38.02%; 95% CI, 243–1083). These survey results fill vital knowledge gaps regarding the abundance and distribution of blue whales in Sri Lanka, which is essential for the establishment of management and conservation strategies. Text Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Fridtjof Nansen MDPI Open Access Publishing Fridtjof ENVELOPE(-56.717,-56.717,-63.567,-63.567) Lanes ENVELOPE(18.933,18.933,69.617,69.617) Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 10 11 1626 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
blue whale Balaenoptera musculus distribution abundance ship strikes Sri Lanka |
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blue whale Balaenoptera musculus distribution abundance ship strikes Sri Lanka Liyanage U. S. P. Kirumbara Jayasinghe R. P. P. Krishantha Krakstad Jens-Otto Arulananthan Kanapathipillai Distribution and Abundance of the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus indica) off Sri Lanka during the Southwest Monsoon 2018 |
topic_facet |
blue whale Balaenoptera musculus distribution abundance ship strikes Sri Lanka |
description |
Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus are the most abundant and widely distributed cetacean species in Sri Lankan waters. A vessel-based opportunistic line transect survey focusing on marine mammals was conducted in Sri Lankan waters between 24 June to 12 July 2018, while an ecosystem survey was performed by the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen. The entire transect length was 2090 km within an area of 3895 km2. Overall, 72% (n = 57) of blue whale observations were group assemblages ranging between 1 and 5 individuals out of a total of 79 sightings. The largest aggregations of blue whales were recorded at the intersection of the submarine canyon off the coastline of Mirissa and busy shipping lanes between Dondra Head and Galle, where previous ship strikes were recorded. Overall, the average observed group size was 2.64 (CV, 12.34%; 95% CI, 2.07–3.38), the average group density was 0.0029 km−2 (CV, 35.96%; 95% CI, 0.00145–0.00610), and the total blue whale abundance within the survey area was 513 individuals (CV, 38.02%; 95% CI, 243–1083). These survey results fill vital knowledge gaps regarding the abundance and distribution of blue whales in Sri Lanka, which is essential for the establishment of management and conservation strategies. |
format |
Text |
author |
Liyanage U. S. P. Kirumbara Jayasinghe R. P. P. Krishantha Krakstad Jens-Otto Arulananthan Kanapathipillai |
author_facet |
Liyanage U. S. P. Kirumbara Jayasinghe R. P. P. Krishantha Krakstad Jens-Otto Arulananthan Kanapathipillai |
author_sort |
Liyanage U. S. P. Kirumbara |
title |
Distribution and Abundance of the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus indica) off Sri Lanka during the Southwest Monsoon 2018 |
title_short |
Distribution and Abundance of the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus indica) off Sri Lanka during the Southwest Monsoon 2018 |
title_full |
Distribution and Abundance of the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus indica) off Sri Lanka during the Southwest Monsoon 2018 |
title_fullStr |
Distribution and Abundance of the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus indica) off Sri Lanka during the Southwest Monsoon 2018 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Distribution and Abundance of the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus indica) off Sri Lanka during the Southwest Monsoon 2018 |
title_sort |
distribution and abundance of the blue whale (balaenoptera musculus indica) off sri lanka during the southwest monsoon 2018 |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111626 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-56.717,-56.717,-63.567,-63.567) ENVELOPE(18.933,18.933,69.617,69.617) |
geographic |
Fridtjof Lanes |
geographic_facet |
Fridtjof Lanes |
genre |
Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Fridtjof Nansen |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Fridtjof Nansen |
op_source |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering; Volume 10; Issue 11; Pages: 1626 |
op_relation |
Marine Biology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111626 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111626 |
container_title |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
1626 |
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1774715937375649792 |