Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland
In April 2006, a dedicated survey of bowhead whales ( Balaena mysticetus) was conducted on the former whaling ground in West Greenland to determine the current wintering population abundance. This effort included a double platform aerial survey design, satellite tracking of the movements of nine wha...
Published in: | Biology Letters |
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Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Online Access: | https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/increasing-abundance-of-bowhead-whales-in-west-greenland(499df439-14c5-4a70-b652-dcc6eaa4e155).html https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0310 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=35549004930&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/499df439-14c5-4a70-b652-dcc6eaa4e155 2023-05-15T15:35:05+02:00 Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland Heide-Jorgensen, Mads Peter Laidre, Kristin Borchers, David Samarra, Filipa Isabel Pereira Stern, Harry 2007-10-22 https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/increasing-abundance-of-bowhead-whales-in-west-greenland(499df439-14c5-4a70-b652-dcc6eaa4e155).html https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0310 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=35549004930&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Heide-Jorgensen , M P , Laidre , K , Borchers , D , Samarra , F I P & Stern , H 2007 , ' Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland ' , Biology Letters , vol. 3 , pp. 577-580 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0310 bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus West Greenland satellite tracking aerial survey sea ice BALAENA-MYSTICETUS BAFFIN-BAY article 2007 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0310 2021-12-26T14:15:54Z In April 2006, a dedicated survey of bowhead whales ( Balaena mysticetus) was conducted on the former whaling ground in West Greenland to determine the current wintering population abundance. This effort included a double platform aerial survey design, satellite tracking of the movements of nine whales, and estimation of high-resolution surface time from 14 whales instrumented with time - depth recorders. Bowhead whales were estimated to spend an average of 24% ( cvZ=0.03) of the time at or above 2 m depth, the maximum depth at which they can be seen on the trackline. This resulted in a fully corrected abundance estimate of 1229 ( 95% CI: 495 - 2939) bowhead whales when the availability factor was applied and sightings missed by observers were corrected. This surprisingly large population estimate is puzzling given that the change in abundance cannot be explained by a recent or rapid growth in population size. One possible explanation is that the population, which demonstrates high age and sex segregation, has recently attained a certain threshold size elsewhere, and a higher abundance of mature females appears on the winter and spring feeding ground in West Greenland. This in combination with the latest severe reduction in sea ice facilitating access to coastal areas might explain the surprising increase in bowhead whale abundance in West Greenland. Article in Journal/Newspaper Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Balaena mysticetus bowhead whale Greenland Sea ice University of St Andrews: Research Portal Baffin Bay Greenland Biology Letters 3 5 577 580 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus West Greenland satellite tracking aerial survey sea ice BALAENA-MYSTICETUS BAFFIN-BAY |
spellingShingle |
bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus West Greenland satellite tracking aerial survey sea ice BALAENA-MYSTICETUS BAFFIN-BAY Heide-Jorgensen, Mads Peter Laidre, Kristin Borchers, David Samarra, Filipa Isabel Pereira Stern, Harry Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland |
topic_facet |
bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus West Greenland satellite tracking aerial survey sea ice BALAENA-MYSTICETUS BAFFIN-BAY |
description |
In April 2006, a dedicated survey of bowhead whales ( Balaena mysticetus) was conducted on the former whaling ground in West Greenland to determine the current wintering population abundance. This effort included a double platform aerial survey design, satellite tracking of the movements of nine whales, and estimation of high-resolution surface time from 14 whales instrumented with time - depth recorders. Bowhead whales were estimated to spend an average of 24% ( cvZ=0.03) of the time at or above 2 m depth, the maximum depth at which they can be seen on the trackline. This resulted in a fully corrected abundance estimate of 1229 ( 95% CI: 495 - 2939) bowhead whales when the availability factor was applied and sightings missed by observers were corrected. This surprisingly large population estimate is puzzling given that the change in abundance cannot be explained by a recent or rapid growth in population size. One possible explanation is that the population, which demonstrates high age and sex segregation, has recently attained a certain threshold size elsewhere, and a higher abundance of mature females appears on the winter and spring feeding ground in West Greenland. This in combination with the latest severe reduction in sea ice facilitating access to coastal areas might explain the surprising increase in bowhead whale abundance in West Greenland. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Heide-Jorgensen, Mads Peter Laidre, Kristin Borchers, David Samarra, Filipa Isabel Pereira Stern, Harry |
author_facet |
Heide-Jorgensen, Mads Peter Laidre, Kristin Borchers, David Samarra, Filipa Isabel Pereira Stern, Harry |
author_sort |
Heide-Jorgensen, Mads Peter |
title |
Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland |
title_short |
Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland |
title_full |
Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland |
title_sort |
increasing abundance of bowhead whales in west greenland |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/increasing-abundance-of-bowhead-whales-in-west-greenland(499df439-14c5-4a70-b652-dcc6eaa4e155).html https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0310 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=35549004930&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
geographic |
Baffin Bay Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Baffin Bay Greenland |
genre |
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Balaena mysticetus bowhead whale Greenland Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Balaena mysticetus bowhead whale Greenland Sea ice |
op_source |
Heide-Jorgensen , M P , Laidre , K , Borchers , D , Samarra , F I P & Stern , H 2007 , ' Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland ' , Biology Letters , vol. 3 , pp. 577-580 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0310 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0310 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
577 |
op_container_end_page |
580 |
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1766365385854025728 |