Abundance estimates of fin whales in West Greenland in 2007

• Main Authors: Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter, Laidre, Kristin L., Simon, Malene, Rasmussen, M., Burt, M Louise, Borchers, David Louis
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Baffin Bay; Greenland; Baffin; Balaenoptera physalus; Davis Strait
• Online Access: https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/abundance-estimates-of-fin-whales-in-west-greenland-in-2007(b34cb7c4-8d60-4eca-ad64-01e26592c631).html

An aerial line transect survey of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) conducted off West Greenland in 2007 was used to estimate the current abundance of fin whales on this summer feeding ground. The line transect abundance was 4,656 animals (cv=0.46) with no corrections for whales missed by the observers and whales that were submerged during the passage of the survey plane. The abundance estimate is furthermore only representing the coastal areas of West Greenland and sightings at the westernmost areas of the strata suggest that the entire Baffin Bay-Davis Strait summer abundance of fin whales could be considerably larger.