Humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1976-1983

An increase in the incidence of whale entrapments in fixed fishing gear in the late 1970s in Newfoundland and Labrador led to the establishment of a network of observers in April 1979, to monitor annual changes in inshore whale abundance. This thesis presents humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lynch, Katherine Dayrell
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1987
Subjects:
Online Access:https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/
https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/1/Lynch_KatherineDayrell.pdf
https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/3/Lynch_KatherineDayrell.pdf
id ftmemorialuniv:oai:research.library.mun.ca:5874
record_format openpolar
spelling ftmemorialuniv:oai:research.library.mun.ca:5874 2023-10-01T03:54:54+02:00 Humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1976-1983 Lynch, Katherine Dayrell 1987 application/pdf https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/ https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/1/Lynch_KatherineDayrell.pdf https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/3/Lynch_KatherineDayrell.pdf en eng Memorial University of Newfoundland https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/1/Lynch_KatherineDayrell.pdf https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/3/Lynch_KatherineDayrell.pdf Lynch, Katherine Dayrell <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Lynch=3AKatherine_Dayrell=3A=3A.html> (1987) Humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1976-1983. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland. thesis_license Thesis NonPeerReviewed 1987 ftmemorialuniv 2023-09-03T06:45:34Z An increase in the incidence of whale entrapments in fixed fishing gear in the late 1970s in Newfoundland and Labrador led to the establishment of a network of observers in April 1979, to monitor annual changes in inshore whale abundance. This thesis presents humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale sighting records, and evaluates the observer network both as a means of determining the spatial and temporal distribution of whales, and as a means of monitoring annual fluctuations in their relative abundance. -- An analysis of the sighting records (from land-based observers: 1979-1982 and from shipboard observers: 1976-1983) indicated similarities in the summer distributions (June-September) of the three species of baleen whales. Humpback, finback and minke whales shared an affinity for the east coasts for Newfoundland and Labrador. Minkes, however, were rarely seen offshore and appeared to be more dispersed than humpback and finback whales. Pilot whales were found to be distributed further south than the baleen whales. They frequented bays on the east, south and west coasts of Newfoundland. -- The temporal distributions resulting from this study indicated that all four species were most abundant during the months of historically high prey availability (capelin and squid). However, the monthly distributions of humpback, finback and pilot whales suggested that portions of each summer population arrived off the north coast of Newfoundland in May and June, apparently preceding the main inshore migration of capelin and squid to this area. -- The observer network appeared to provide an effective means of determining whale distribution. The reliability of whale identifications was checked through tests and field notes. The spatial and temporal distribution of observer effort was not correlated with the spatial and temporal distribution of the whales. Furthermore, the distributions resulting from this study overlapped with historical records of sightings and whaling catches for all four species. -- The shipboard observer ... Thesis baleen whales Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland: Research Repository Newfoundland
institution Open Polar
collection Memorial University of Newfoundland: Research Repository
op_collection_id ftmemorialuniv
language English
description An increase in the incidence of whale entrapments in fixed fishing gear in the late 1970s in Newfoundland and Labrador led to the establishment of a network of observers in April 1979, to monitor annual changes in inshore whale abundance. This thesis presents humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale sighting records, and evaluates the observer network both as a means of determining the spatial and temporal distribution of whales, and as a means of monitoring annual fluctuations in their relative abundance. -- An analysis of the sighting records (from land-based observers: 1979-1982 and from shipboard observers: 1976-1983) indicated similarities in the summer distributions (June-September) of the three species of baleen whales. Humpback, finback and minke whales shared an affinity for the east coasts for Newfoundland and Labrador. Minkes, however, were rarely seen offshore and appeared to be more dispersed than humpback and finback whales. Pilot whales were found to be distributed further south than the baleen whales. They frequented bays on the east, south and west coasts of Newfoundland. -- The temporal distributions resulting from this study indicated that all four species were most abundant during the months of historically high prey availability (capelin and squid). However, the monthly distributions of humpback, finback and pilot whales suggested that portions of each summer population arrived off the north coast of Newfoundland in May and June, apparently preceding the main inshore migration of capelin and squid to this area. -- The observer network appeared to provide an effective means of determining whale distribution. The reliability of whale identifications was checked through tests and field notes. The spatial and temporal distribution of observer effort was not correlated with the spatial and temporal distribution of the whales. Furthermore, the distributions resulting from this study overlapped with historical records of sightings and whaling catches for all four species. -- The shipboard observer ...
format Thesis
author Lynch, Katherine Dayrell
spellingShingle Lynch, Katherine Dayrell
Humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1976-1983
author_facet Lynch, Katherine Dayrell
author_sort Lynch, Katherine Dayrell
title Humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1976-1983
title_short Humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1976-1983
title_full Humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1976-1983
title_fullStr Humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1976-1983
title_full_unstemmed Humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1976-1983
title_sort humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in newfoundland and labrador, 1976-1983
publisher Memorial University of Newfoundland
publishDate 1987
url https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/
https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/1/Lynch_KatherineDayrell.pdf
https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/3/Lynch_KatherineDayrell.pdf
geographic Newfoundland
geographic_facet Newfoundland
genre baleen whales
Newfoundland
genre_facet baleen whales
Newfoundland
op_relation https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/1/Lynch_KatherineDayrell.pdf
https://research.library.mun.ca/5874/3/Lynch_KatherineDayrell.pdf
Lynch, Katherine Dayrell <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Lynch=3AKatherine_Dayrell=3A=3A.html> (1987) Humpback, finback, minke and pilot whale distributions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1976-1983. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
op_rights thesis_license
_version_ 1778522941320855552