Cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off Mirissa, Southern Sri Lanka
Scientific information is vital to the conservation of cetaceans and the management of whale-watching activities. The southern coastal waters of Sri Lanka are near a narrow continental shelf and biologically abundant in cetacean species. Although the occurrence of cetaceans has been investigated in...
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ftuniveastangl:oai:ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk:91600 2023-05-15T15:45:14+02:00 Cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off Mirissa, Southern Sri Lanka Sankalpa, Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Rajitha Thilakarathne, Elle Pathirathnalage Darshana Nuwan Lin, Wenzhi Thilakanayaka, Vidusanka Kumarasinghe, Chathurika Piumi Liu, Mingming Lin, Mingli Li, Songhai 2021-07 https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/91600/ https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12540 unknown Sankalpa, Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Rajitha, Thilakarathne, Elle Pathirathnalage Darshana Nuwan, Lin, Wenzhi, Thilakanayaka, Vidusanka, Kumarasinghe, Chathurika Piumi, Liu, Mingming, Lin, Mingli and Li, Songhai (2021) Cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off Mirissa, Southern Sri Lanka. Integrative Zoology, 16 (4). pp. 462-476. ISSN 1749-4877 doi:10.1111/1749-4877.12540 Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftuniveastangl https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12540 2023-03-23T23:33:03Z Scientific information is vital to the conservation of cetaceans and the management of whale-watching activities. The southern coastal waters of Sri Lanka are near a narrow continental shelf and biologically abundant in cetacean species. Although the occurrence of cetaceans has been investigated in certain waters of Sri Lanka, few surveys have been conducted along the southern coast. To fill this gap, we conducted boat-based surveys from January to May 2017 to investigate the occurrence, diversity, and behavior of cetaceans in the waters off Mirissa, covering a survey area of 788.9 km2. During 55 survey days, we recorded a total of 242 cetacean sightings and identified at least 9 species (3 mysticetes and 6 odontocetes). The blue whale was the most common mysticete species (167 of 174 mysticete encounters), followed by the Omura's whale (4 of 174) and Bryde's whale (3 of 174). The spinner dolphin was the most common odontocete species (28 of 68 odontocete encounters), followed by the sperm whale (18 of 68), common bottlenose dolphin (13 of 68), short-finned pilot whale (5 of 68), melon-headed whale (2 of 68), and killer whale. Blue whales and sperm whales exhibited a clear preference for outer shelf and high slope areas, and blue whales were observed feeding along these waters. The present study provides near-baseline information on cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off southern Sri Lanka, and highlights the urgent need for proper management strategies for whale-watching activities. Article in Journal/Newspaper Blue whale Killer Whale Sperm whale Killer whale University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository Integrative Zoology 16 4 462 476 |
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University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository |
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ftuniveastangl |
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description |
Scientific information is vital to the conservation of cetaceans and the management of whale-watching activities. The southern coastal waters of Sri Lanka are near a narrow continental shelf and biologically abundant in cetacean species. Although the occurrence of cetaceans has been investigated in certain waters of Sri Lanka, few surveys have been conducted along the southern coast. To fill this gap, we conducted boat-based surveys from January to May 2017 to investigate the occurrence, diversity, and behavior of cetaceans in the waters off Mirissa, covering a survey area of 788.9 km2. During 55 survey days, we recorded a total of 242 cetacean sightings and identified at least 9 species (3 mysticetes and 6 odontocetes). The blue whale was the most common mysticete species (167 of 174 mysticete encounters), followed by the Omura's whale (4 of 174) and Bryde's whale (3 of 174). The spinner dolphin was the most common odontocete species (28 of 68 odontocete encounters), followed by the sperm whale (18 of 68), common bottlenose dolphin (13 of 68), short-finned pilot whale (5 of 68), melon-headed whale (2 of 68), and killer whale. Blue whales and sperm whales exhibited a clear preference for outer shelf and high slope areas, and blue whales were observed feeding along these waters. The present study provides near-baseline information on cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off southern Sri Lanka, and highlights the urgent need for proper management strategies for whale-watching activities. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sankalpa, Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Rajitha Thilakarathne, Elle Pathirathnalage Darshana Nuwan Lin, Wenzhi Thilakanayaka, Vidusanka Kumarasinghe, Chathurika Piumi Liu, Mingming Lin, Mingli Li, Songhai |
spellingShingle |
Sankalpa, Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Rajitha Thilakarathne, Elle Pathirathnalage Darshana Nuwan Lin, Wenzhi Thilakanayaka, Vidusanka Kumarasinghe, Chathurika Piumi Liu, Mingming Lin, Mingli Li, Songhai Cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off Mirissa, Southern Sri Lanka |
author_facet |
Sankalpa, Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Rajitha Thilakarathne, Elle Pathirathnalage Darshana Nuwan Lin, Wenzhi Thilakanayaka, Vidusanka Kumarasinghe, Chathurika Piumi Liu, Mingming Lin, Mingli Li, Songhai |
author_sort |
Sankalpa, Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Rajitha |
title |
Cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off Mirissa, Southern Sri Lanka |
title_short |
Cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off Mirissa, Southern Sri Lanka |
title_full |
Cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off Mirissa, Southern Sri Lanka |
title_fullStr |
Cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off Mirissa, Southern Sri Lanka |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off Mirissa, Southern Sri Lanka |
title_sort |
cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off mirissa, southern sri lanka |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/91600/ https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12540 |
genre |
Blue whale Killer Whale Sperm whale Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Blue whale Killer Whale Sperm whale Killer whale |
op_relation |
Sankalpa, Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Rajitha, Thilakarathne, Elle Pathirathnalage Darshana Nuwan, Lin, Wenzhi, Thilakanayaka, Vidusanka, Kumarasinghe, Chathurika Piumi, Liu, Mingming, Lin, Mingli and Li, Songhai (2021) Cetacean occurrence and diversity in whale-watching waters off Mirissa, Southern Sri Lanka. Integrative Zoology, 16 (4). pp. 462-476. ISSN 1749-4877 doi:10.1111/1749-4877.12540 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12540 |
container_title |
Integrative Zoology |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
462 |
op_container_end_page |
476 |
_version_ |
1766379563148902400 |