New models may help reduce threats to marine mammals

Posted on March 4, 2016

With funding from U.S. Fleet Forces Command, scientists have created highly detailed maps charting the seasonal movements and population densities of 35 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises in the crowded waters off the eastern coast of the U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico.

CITATION: “Habitat-based Cetacean Density Models for the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico,” Roberts JJ, Best BD, Mannocci L, Fujioka E, Halpin PN, Palka DL, Garrison LP, Mullin KD, Cole TVN, Khan CB, McLellan WM, Pabst DA, Lockhart GG (2016) Habitat-based cetacean density models for the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Scientific Reports 6: 22615. doi: 10.1038/srep22615. (Download)

“These maps show where each species, or closely related group of species, is most likely to be at any given time of year,” said Laura Mannocci, a postdoctoral research associate at Duke University’s Marine Geospatial Ecology Laboratory (MGEL). “This makes it easier to monitor and manage them, and reduce the risk of harmful interactions.”

The maps, which are freely available online, integrate data from nearly 1.1 million linear kilometers of surveys and more than 26,000 sightings collected by researchers at five institutions over 23 years.

 “Though protected under U.S. law, many cetacean species still face persistent threats from accidental ship strikes, fishery bycatch, offshore energy development, pollution, climate change and underwater noise from human activities,” said lead researcher Jason J. Roberts, a research associate at MGEL.  

The work appears in the open-access journal Scientific Reports on March 3. It is the first time such highly detailed maps charting cetacean populations densities and seasonal movements for these regions have been published in peer-reviewed literature.