Long-term passive acoustic recordings track the changing distribution of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) from 2004 to 2014

Davis, Genevieve E.; Baumgartner, Mark F.; Bonnell, Julianne M.; Bell, Joel; Berchok, Catherine; Bort Thornton, Jacqueline; Brault, Solange; Buchanan, Gary; Charif, Russell A.; Cholewiak, Danielle; Clark, Christopher W.; Corkeron, Peter; Delarue, Julien; Dudzinski, Kathleen; Hatch, Leila; Hildebrand, John; Hodge, Lynne; Klinck, Holger; Kraus, Scott; Martin, Bruce; Mellinger, David K.; Moors-Murphy, Hilary; Nieukirk, Sharon; Nowacek, Douglas P.; Parks, Susan; Read, Andrew J.; Rice, Aaron N.; Risch, Denise; Širović, Ana; Soldevilla, Melissa; Stafford, Kate; Stanistreet, Joy E.; Summers, Erin; Todd, Sean; Warde, Ann; Van Parijs, Sofie M.

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-13359-3

i

Long-term passive acoustic recordings track the changing distribution of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) from 2004 to 2014

2017
By Davis, Genevieve E. ; Baumgartner, Mark F. ; Bonnell, Julianne M. ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

Scientific Reports
Personal Author:

Davis, Genevieve E. ; Baumgartner, Mark F. ; Bonnell, Julianne M. ; Bell, Joel ; Berchok, Catherine ; Bort Thornton, Jacqueline ; Brault, Solange ; Buchanan, Gary ; Charif, Russell A. ; Cholewiak, Danielle ; Clark, Christopher W. ; Corkeron, Peter ; Delarue, Julien ; Dudzinski, Kathleen ; Hatch, Leila ; Hildebrand, John ; Hodge, Lynne ; Klinck, Holger ; Kraus, Scott ; Martin, Bruce ; Mellinger, David K. ; Moors-Murphy, Hilary ; Nieukirk, Sharon ; Nowacek, Douglas P. ; Parks, Susan ; Read, Andrew J. ; Rice, Aaron N. ; Risch, Denise ; Širović, Ana ; Soldevilla, Melissa ; Stafford, Kate ; Stanistreet, Joy E. ; Summers, Erin ; Todd, Sean ; Warde, Ann ; Van Parijs, Sofie M.
NOAA Program & Office:

NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; NEFSC (Northeast Fisheries Science Center) ; AFSC (Alaska Fisheries Science Center) ; SEFSC (Southeast Fisheries Science Center) ; ONMS (Office of National Marine Sanctuaries) ; NOS (National Ocean Service)
Description:

Given new distribution patterns of the endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW; Eubalaena glacialis) population in recent years, an improved understanding of spatio-temporal movements are imperative for the conservation of this species. While so far visual data have provided most information on NARW movements, passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) was used in this study in order to better capture year-round NARW presence. This project used PAM data from 2004 to 2014 collected by 19 organizations throughout the western North Atlantic Ocean. Overall, data from 324 recorders (35,600 days) were processed and analyzed using a classification and detection system. Results highlight almost year-round habitat use of the western North Atlantic Ocean, with a decrease in detections in waters off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in summer and fall. Data collected post 2010 showed an increased NARW presence in the mid-Atlantic region and a simultaneous decrease in the northern Gulf of Maine. In addition, NARWs were widely distributed across most regions throughout winter months. This study demonstrates that a large-scale analysis of PAM data provides significant value to understanding and tracking shifts in large whale movements over long time scales.
Keywords:

Animal Migration Biology Northern Right Whale Animal Migration Northern Right Whale
Source:

Scientific Reports 7 (13460)
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13359-3
Pubmed Central ID:

PMC5647423
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA06OAR4600100 ; Grant no. NA09NMF4520418 ; Grant no. NA10NMF4520291
Place as Subject:

Atlantic Ocean
Rights Information:

CC BY
Compliance:

PMC
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:258f782a08492efd62c2509bc113c41322df78632105214aaa82b7b54304dba9c8859ea6193787cbcc90712ad0525c52f4dac63a9c129aa5a728a919a02260b3
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/24058/noaa_24058_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 2.41 MB ]

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