Abstract
ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 36:279-295 (2018) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00902 Characterizing residence patterns of North Atlantic right whales in the southeastern USA with a multistate open robust design model A. M. Krzystan1,*, T. A. Gowan1, W. L. Kendall2, J. Martin3, J. G. Ortega-Ortiz4, K. Jackson1, A. R. Knowlton5, P. Naessig6, M. Zani5, D. W. Schulte6, C. R. Taylor6 1Florida Fish & Wildlife Research Institute, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA 2U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA 3U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, Gainesville, FL 32653, USA 4University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA 5New England Aquarium, Boston, MA 02110, USA 6Sea to Shore Alliance, Sarasota, FL 34233, USA *Corresponding author: andrea.krzystan@myfwc.com ABSTRACT: Effective conservation of endangered North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis requires information about their spatio-temporal distribution. Understanding temporal distribution is particularly important, because a portion of the population migrates between high-latitude summer feeding grounds off the northeastern USA and Canadian Maritimes coasts and lower-latitude calving and wintering grounds off the southeastern US coast (SEUS). Here, we modeled SEUS residence patterns using photo-identification data from coastal South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida from 7 winter seasons (2004/2005-2010/2011). We used multistate open robust design models to evaluate effects of reproductive status, demographic group, and environmental conditions on SEUS residence. Model estimates accounted for temporal variation and imperfect detection and provided probabilities of entering the SEUS, staying in the SEUS, and being sighted in the SEUS. We also derived estimates for residence time and seasonal abundance. We observed staggered arrival and departure patterns and demographic differences in residence patterns that are characteristic of a differential migration strategy. Calving females arrived earliest and, in most seasons, had mean residence periods more than twice as long as other demographic groups. Conversely, adult males arrived the latest and had the shortest residence times. Within-season detection was positively influenced by survey effort, and overall seasonal mean (±SE) detection rate estimates ranged from 0.83 ± 0.08 for non-calving adult females to 0.98 ± 0.02 for calving females. Results provide insights into right whale behavior, biology, and temporal distribution in the SEUS and can be used to evaluate spatially and temporally dynamic management measures. KEY WORDS: Mark-recapture · Open robust design · Phenology · Residence · Eubalaena glacialis · North Atlantic right whale Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Krzystan AM, Gowan TA, Kendall WL, Martin J and others (2018) Characterizing residence patterns of North Atlantic right whales in the southeastern USA with a multistate open robust design model. Endang Species Res 36:279-295. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00902 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 36. Online publication date: August 29, 2018 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2018 Inter-Research.
Highlights
Despite protection since 1935, endangered North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis remain vulnerable to human-related threats along the industrialized Atlantic coast of North America (NMFS2005)
Regulatory measures to reduce encounters between right whales and ships or fishing gear include fishery time-area closures (Farmer et al 2016), vessel routing schemes (Vanderlaan & Taggart 2009), and time-area vessel speed restrictions (Conn & Silber 2013). These measures are implemented seasonally in high-latitude summer feeding grounds along the northeastern United States and Canadian Maritimes coasts and lower-latitude calving and wintering grounds in the southeastern United States (SEUS), which have been identified as critical habitat areas based on their ecological importance and the current understanding of right whale distribution and movement patterns (Winn et al 1986, NMFS 2014)
We provide the first estimates of winter right whale abundance in the SEUS that account for differences in detection across demographic groups
Summary
Despite protection since 1935, endangered North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis remain vulnerable to human-related threats along the industrialized Atlantic coast of North America Regulatory measures to reduce encounters between right whales and ships or fishing gear include fishery time-area closures (Farmer et al 2016), vessel routing schemes (Vanderlaan & Taggart 2009), and time-area vessel speed restrictions (Conn & Silber 2013) These measures are implemented seasonally in high-latitude summer feeding grounds along the northeastern United States and Canadian Maritimes coasts and lower-latitude calving and wintering grounds in the southeastern United States (SEUS), which have been identified as critical habitat areas based on their ecological importance and the current understanding of right whale distribution and movement patterns (Winn et al 1986, NMFS 2014). Sightings from opportunistic and other research platforms, were integrated within the North Atlantic
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