Summer and winter surveys of deep waters of the Hellenic Trench, Greece, provide insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of odontocetes
This is the final version. Available from Inter-Research Science Center via the DOI in this record. The Mediterranean Sea provides habitat for globally threatened cetaceans. The Hellenic Trench is an Important Marine Mammal Area, providing core habitat for sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus and Cuv...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/135767 https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01265 |
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ftunivexeter:oai:ore.exeter.ac.uk:10871/135767 2024-05-12T08:10:03+00:00 Summer and winter surveys of deep waters of the Hellenic Trench, Greece, provide insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of odontocetes Thompson, K Webber, T Karantzas, L Gordon, J Frantzis, A 2023 163-176 http://hdl.handle.net/10871/135767 https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01265 en eng Inter-Research Science Center Endangered Species Research, 52 orcid:0000-0003-4277-3549 (Thompson, KF) ScopusID: 55218210200 (Thompson, KF) ResearcherID: H-6811-2014 %7C N-4936-2019 (Thompson, KF) Vol. 52, pp. 163-176 https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01265 http://hdl.handle.net/10871/135767 1863-5407 1613-4796 Endangered Species Research © The authors 2023. Open Access under Creative Commons by Attribution Licence. Use, distribution and reproduction are un - restricted. Authors and original publication must be credited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Physeter macrocephalus Ziphius cavirostris Passive acoustic monitoring Mediterranean Cetaceans Oil and gas impacts Article 2023 ftunivexeter https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01265 2024-04-17T14:07:00Z This is the final version. Available from Inter-Research Science Center via the DOI in this record. The Mediterranean Sea provides habitat for globally threatened cetaceans. The Hellenic Trench is an Important Marine Mammal Area, providing core habitat for sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus and Cuvier’s beaked whales Ziphius cavirostris. Surveys have characterized distributions of these species in near-shore areas (<2000 m deep). Sparse survey effort in deeper waters during winter has allowed speculation that it is not an important habitat in winter. We used passive acoustic monitoring from towed arrays to document cetaceans during summer and winter, covering 18 366 km of trackline off the Peloponnese and Crete. We confirmed the acoustic presence of 5 odontocetes: sperm whales (n = 49 encounters; mean depth (x): 3360 m; range (R): 1250 to 4210 m), Cuvier’s beaked whales (n = 4; x: 3070 m; R: 1970 to 3770 m), Risso’s dolphins Grampus griseus (n = 5; x: 3340 m; R: 2250 to 4440 m), striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba (n = 2; x: 2980 m; R: 2490 to 3470 m) and rough-toothed dolphins Steno bredanensis (n = 1; 3650 m). We also encountered 224 unidentified delphinids, including a potential blackfish (3020 m). We confirmed that these species are present in the Hellenic Trench throughout the year. Given the impact of multiple threats on sperm and Cuvier’s beaked whales in the Hellenic Trench, we suggest that policymakers follow the precautionary approach in managing human activities in the area. Ongoing seismic surveys, hydrocarbon extraction and uncontrolled shipping could have potentially negative effects on these species at the population level and we advise caution in permitting such activities in future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Physeter macrocephalus University of Exeter: Open Research Exeter (ORE) Endangered Species Research 52 163 176 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Exeter: Open Research Exeter (ORE) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivexeter |
language |
English |
topic |
Physeter macrocephalus Ziphius cavirostris Passive acoustic monitoring Mediterranean Cetaceans Oil and gas impacts |
spellingShingle |
Physeter macrocephalus Ziphius cavirostris Passive acoustic monitoring Mediterranean Cetaceans Oil and gas impacts Thompson, K Webber, T Karantzas, L Gordon, J Frantzis, A Summer and winter surveys of deep waters of the Hellenic Trench, Greece, provide insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of odontocetes |
topic_facet |
Physeter macrocephalus Ziphius cavirostris Passive acoustic monitoring Mediterranean Cetaceans Oil and gas impacts |
description |
This is the final version. Available from Inter-Research Science Center via the DOI in this record. The Mediterranean Sea provides habitat for globally threatened cetaceans. The Hellenic Trench is an Important Marine Mammal Area, providing core habitat for sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus and Cuvier’s beaked whales Ziphius cavirostris. Surveys have characterized distributions of these species in near-shore areas (<2000 m deep). Sparse survey effort in deeper waters during winter has allowed speculation that it is not an important habitat in winter. We used passive acoustic monitoring from towed arrays to document cetaceans during summer and winter, covering 18 366 km of trackline off the Peloponnese and Crete. We confirmed the acoustic presence of 5 odontocetes: sperm whales (n = 49 encounters; mean depth (x): 3360 m; range (R): 1250 to 4210 m), Cuvier’s beaked whales (n = 4; x: 3070 m; R: 1970 to 3770 m), Risso’s dolphins Grampus griseus (n = 5; x: 3340 m; R: 2250 to 4440 m), striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba (n = 2; x: 2980 m; R: 2490 to 3470 m) and rough-toothed dolphins Steno bredanensis (n = 1; 3650 m). We also encountered 224 unidentified delphinids, including a potential blackfish (3020 m). We confirmed that these species are present in the Hellenic Trench throughout the year. Given the impact of multiple threats on sperm and Cuvier’s beaked whales in the Hellenic Trench, we suggest that policymakers follow the precautionary approach in managing human activities in the area. Ongoing seismic surveys, hydrocarbon extraction and uncontrolled shipping could have potentially negative effects on these species at the population level and we advise caution in permitting such activities in future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thompson, K Webber, T Karantzas, L Gordon, J Frantzis, A |
author_facet |
Thompson, K Webber, T Karantzas, L Gordon, J Frantzis, A |
author_sort |
Thompson, K |
title |
Summer and winter surveys of deep waters of the Hellenic Trench, Greece, provide insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of odontocetes |
title_short |
Summer and winter surveys of deep waters of the Hellenic Trench, Greece, provide insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of odontocetes |
title_full |
Summer and winter surveys of deep waters of the Hellenic Trench, Greece, provide insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of odontocetes |
title_fullStr |
Summer and winter surveys of deep waters of the Hellenic Trench, Greece, provide insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of odontocetes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Summer and winter surveys of deep waters of the Hellenic Trench, Greece, provide insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of odontocetes |
title_sort |
summer and winter surveys of deep waters of the hellenic trench, greece, provide insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of odontocetes |
publisher |
Inter-Research Science Center |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10871/135767 https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01265 |
genre |
Physeter macrocephalus |
genre_facet |
Physeter macrocephalus |
op_relation |
Endangered Species Research, 52 orcid:0000-0003-4277-3549 (Thompson, KF) ScopusID: 55218210200 (Thompson, KF) ResearcherID: H-6811-2014 %7C N-4936-2019 (Thompson, KF) Vol. 52, pp. 163-176 https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01265 http://hdl.handle.net/10871/135767 1863-5407 1613-4796 Endangered Species Research |
op_rights |
© The authors 2023. Open Access under Creative Commons by Attribution Licence. Use, distribution and reproduction are un - restricted. Authors and original publication must be credited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01265 |
container_title |
Endangered Species Research |
container_volume |
52 |
container_start_page |
163 |
op_container_end_page |
176 |
_version_ |
1798853432491114496 |