Anomalies in fin whale presence in the Pelagos Sanctuary: How many or where? new insights from a long term monitoring program

• Main Authors: C. Morgado, A. Martins, M. Rosso, I. Bashmachnikov, A. Moulins, TEPSICH, PAOLA
• Other Authors: C., Morgado, Tepsich, Paola, A., Martin, M., Rosso, I., Bashmachnikov, A., Moulins
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Fin whale; habitat; Ligurian; Remote sensing
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11567/786817

For the total 33222 km surveyed and 469 fin whale sightings recorded, 78% of the sightings pertained to the NW region, which encompassed 46% of the ALL region, while the remain were recorded for the NE region. ERs computed for the NW region shows a clear increasing trend, not evident in the NE due to high inter-annual variability (Fig. 2). Despite the asynchronous pattern among even/uneven years (i.e. 2009-2011 low concentration years and 2010-2012 high concentration years) in the NE, the general lowest and highest fin whale presences were observed in 2009 and 2012, respectively. The regional analysis shows intra-basin differences with the results for the NE region affecting significantly the overall "ALL" region pattern/trend.