Co-Occurrence and Habitat Use of Fin Whales, Striped Dolphins and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea
International audience Different dolphin and tuna species have frequently been reported to aggregate in areas of high frontal activity, sometimes developing close multi-species associations to increase feeding success. Aerial surveys are a common tool to monitor the density and abundance of marine m...
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ftunimontpellier:oai:HAL:hal-01920587v1 2024-02-11T10:02:21+01:00 Co-Occurrence and Habitat Use of Fin Whales, Striped Dolphins and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea Bauer, Robert Klaus Fromentin, Jean-Marc Demarcq, Hervé Brisset, Blandine Bonhommeau, Sylvain MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2015 https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587 https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587/document https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587/file/pone.0139218.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139218 en eng HAL CCSD Public Library of Science info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0139218 hal-01920587 https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587 https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587/document https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587/file/pone.0139218.pdf doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139218 IRD: fdi:010065411 PUBMEDCENTRAL: PMC4601798 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1932-6203 EISSN: 1932-6203 PLoS ONE https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587 PLoS ONE, 2015, 10 (10), pp.e0139218. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0139218⟩ [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2015 ftunimontpellier https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139218 2024-01-23T23:39:35Z International audience Different dolphin and tuna species have frequently been reported to aggregate in areas of high frontal activity, sometimes developing close multi-species associations to increase feeding success. Aerial surveys are a common tool to monitor the density and abundance of marine mammals, and have recently become a focus in the search for methods to provide fisheries-independent abundance indicators for tuna stock assessment. In this study, we present first density estimates corrected for availability bias of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from the Golf of Lions (GoL), compared with uncorrected estimates of Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT; Thunnus thynnus) densities from 8 years of line transect aerial surveys. The raw sighting data were further used to analyze patterns of spatial co-occurrence and density of these three top marine predators in this important feeding ground in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. These patterns were investigated regarding known species-specific feeding preferences and environmental characteristics (i. e. mesoscale activity) of the survey zone. ABFT was by far the most abundant species during the surveys in terms of schools and individuals, followed by striped dolphins and fin whales. However, when accounted for availability bias, schools of dolphins and fin whales were of equal density. Direct interactions of the species appeared to be the exception, but results indicate that densities, presence and core sighting locations of striped dolphins and ABFT were correlated. Core sighting areas of these species were located close to an area of high mesoscale activity (oceanic fronts and eddies). Fin whales did not show such a correlation. The results further highlight the feasibility to coordinate research efforts to explore the behaviour and abundance of the investigated species, as demanded by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera physalus Université de Montpellier: HAL PLOS ONE 10 10 e0139218 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Université de Montpellier: HAL |
op_collection_id |
ftunimontpellier |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography Bauer, Robert Klaus Fromentin, Jean-Marc Demarcq, Hervé Brisset, Blandine Bonhommeau, Sylvain Co-Occurrence and Habitat Use of Fin Whales, Striped Dolphins and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea |
topic_facet |
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography |
description |
International audience Different dolphin and tuna species have frequently been reported to aggregate in areas of high frontal activity, sometimes developing close multi-species associations to increase feeding success. Aerial surveys are a common tool to monitor the density and abundance of marine mammals, and have recently become a focus in the search for methods to provide fisheries-independent abundance indicators for tuna stock assessment. In this study, we present first density estimates corrected for availability bias of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from the Golf of Lions (GoL), compared with uncorrected estimates of Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT; Thunnus thynnus) densities from 8 years of line transect aerial surveys. The raw sighting data were further used to analyze patterns of spatial co-occurrence and density of these three top marine predators in this important feeding ground in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. These patterns were investigated regarding known species-specific feeding preferences and environmental characteristics (i. e. mesoscale activity) of the survey zone. ABFT was by far the most abundant species during the surveys in terms of schools and individuals, followed by striped dolphins and fin whales. However, when accounted for availability bias, schools of dolphins and fin whales were of equal density. Direct interactions of the species appeared to be the exception, but results indicate that densities, presence and core sighting locations of striped dolphins and ABFT were correlated. Core sighting areas of these species were located close to an area of high mesoscale activity (oceanic fronts and eddies). Fin whales did not show such a correlation. The results further highlight the feasibility to coordinate research efforts to explore the behaviour and abundance of the investigated species, as demanded by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). |
author2 |
MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bauer, Robert Klaus Fromentin, Jean-Marc Demarcq, Hervé Brisset, Blandine Bonhommeau, Sylvain |
author_facet |
Bauer, Robert Klaus Fromentin, Jean-Marc Demarcq, Hervé Brisset, Blandine Bonhommeau, Sylvain |
author_sort |
Bauer, Robert Klaus |
title |
Co-Occurrence and Habitat Use of Fin Whales, Striped Dolphins and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea |
title_short |
Co-Occurrence and Habitat Use of Fin Whales, Striped Dolphins and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea |
title_full |
Co-Occurrence and Habitat Use of Fin Whales, Striped Dolphins and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea |
title_fullStr |
Co-Occurrence and Habitat Use of Fin Whales, Striped Dolphins and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Co-Occurrence and Habitat Use of Fin Whales, Striped Dolphins and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea |
title_sort |
co-occurrence and habitat use of fin whales, striped dolphins and atlantic bluefin tuna in the northwestern mediterranean sea |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587 https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587/document https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587/file/pone.0139218.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139218 |
genre |
Balaenoptera physalus |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera physalus |
op_source |
ISSN: 1932-6203 EISSN: 1932-6203 PLoS ONE https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587 PLoS ONE, 2015, 10 (10), pp.e0139218. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0139218⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0139218 hal-01920587 https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587 https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587/document https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01920587/file/pone.0139218.pdf doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139218 IRD: fdi:010065411 PUBMEDCENTRAL: PMC4601798 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139218 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
e0139218 |
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