Echolocation detections and digital video surveys provide reliable estimates of the relative density of harbour porpoises

• Published in: Methods in Ecology and Evolution
• Main Authors: Williamson, Laura D., Brookes, Kate L., Scott, Beth E., Graham, Isla M., Bradbury, Gareth, Hammond, Philip S., Thompson, Paul M.
• Other Authors: University of Aberdeen.Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen.Institute of Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen.Centre for Energy Transition
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: harbour porpoise; abundance; acoustiscs; C-POD; density surface modelling; distance sampling; availability; digital survey; QH301 Biology; QH301; Harbour porpoise
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2164/6116; https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12538

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Erik Rexstad and Rob Williams for useful reviews of this manuscript. The collection of visual and acoustic data was funded by the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change, the Scottish Government, Collaborative Offshore Wind Research into the Environment (COWRIE) and Oil & Gas UK. Digital aerial surveys were funded by Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd and additional funding for analysis of the combined datasets was provided by Marine Scotland. Collaboration between the University of Aberdeen and Marine Scotland was supported by MarCRF. We thank colleagues at the University of Aberdeen, Moray First Marine, NERI, Hi-Def Aerial Surveying Ltd and Ravenair for essential support in the field, particularly Tim Barton, Bill Ruck, Rasmus Nielson and Dave Rutter. Thanks also to Andy Webb, David Borchers, Len Thomas, Kelly McLeod, David L. Miller, Dinara Sadykova and Thomas Cornulier for advice on survey design and statistical approache. Data Accessibility Data are available from the Dryad Digital Repository: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cf04g Peer reviewed