Counting whales in a challenging, changing environment

Funding: Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (proposal Nu 253407 (call reference: FP7- PEOPLE-2009-IIF). Estimating abundance of Antarctic minke whales is central to the International Whaling Commission's conservation and managemen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Williams, R., Kelly, N., Boebel, O., Friedlaender, A. S., Herr, H., Kock, K. -H., Lehnert, L. S., Maksym, T., Roberts, J., Scheidat, M., Siebert, U., Brierley, A. S.
Other Authors: University of St Andrews. School of Biology, University of St Andrews. Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotland, University of St Andrews. Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews. Centre for Research into Ecological & Environmental Modelling, University of St Andrews. Pelagic Ecology Research Group
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Antarctic sea-ice
Abundance
Extent
Ocean
Krill
Ecosystem
Shelf
Edge
QL Zoology
GC Oceanography
SDG 13 - Climate Action
SDG 14 - Life Below Water
QL
GC
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Weddell
Weddell Sea
Antarc*
minke whale
Sea ice
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10023/4813
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04170
Description
Summary:Funding: Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (proposal Nu 253407 (call reference: FP7- PEOPLE-2009-IIF). Estimating abundance of Antarctic minke whales is central to the International Whaling Commission's conservation and management work and understanding impacts of climate change on polar marine ecosystems. Detecting abundance trends is problematic, in part because minke whales are frequently sighted within Antarctic sea ice where navigational safety concerns prevent ships from surveying. Using icebreaker-supported helicopters, we conducted aerial surveys across a gradient of ice conditions to estimate minke whale density in the Weddell Sea. The surveys revealed substantial numbers of whales inside the sea ice. The Antarctic summer sea ice is undergoing rapid regional change in annual extent, distribution, and length of ice-covered season. These trends, along with substantial interannual variability in ice conditions, affect the proportion of whales available to be counted by traditional shipboard surveys. The strong association between whales and the dynamic, changing sea ice requires reexamination of the power to detect trends in whale abundance or predict ecosystem responses to climate change. Publisher PDF Peer reviewed

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