Abstract
Defining priority areas and risk evaluation is of utmost relevance for endangered species` conservation. For the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), we aim to assess environmental habitat selection drivers, priority areas for conservation and overlap with vessel traffic off northern Chilean Patagonia (NCP). For this, we implemented a single-step continuous-time correlated-random-walk model which accommodates observational error and movement parameters variation in relation to oceanographic variables. Spatially explicit predictions of whales’ behavioral responses were combined with density predictions from previous species distribution models (SDM) and vessel tracking data to estimate the relative probability of vessels encountering whales and identifying areas where interaction is likely to occur. These estimations were conducted independently for the aquaculture, transport, artisanal fishery, and industrial fishery fleets operating in NCP. Blue whale movement patterns strongly agreed with SDM results, reinforcing our knowledge regarding oceanographic habitat selection drivers. By combining movement and density modeling approaches we provide a stronger support for purported priority areas for blue whale conservation and how they overlap with the main vessel traffic corridor in the NCP. The aquaculture fleet was one order of magnitude larger than any other fleet, indicating it could play a decisive role in modulating potential negative vessel-whale interactions within NCP.
Highlights
Animal movement integrates several scales of ecological phenomena, including individual physiological state, locomotive, and navigational capabilities, and how these interact with external factors affecting prey distribution
To further test predictions from this hypothesis, here we propose that individual blue whales modify their behavior within areas of high spring chlorophyll-a concentrations and/or thermal front occurrence
Whales tended to remain in very localized coastal areas, where high productivity occurs during each austral spring (Fig. 2)
Summary
Animal movement integrates several scales of ecological phenomena, including individual physiological state, locomotive, and navigational capabilities, and how these interact with external (environmental) factors affecting prey distribution This has been explicitly acknowledged by theoretical approaches that place movement into a wider ecological and evolutionary framework[1,2,3]. Adult krill biomass is subsequently concentrated by thermal fronts into high-density patches which blue whales prey u pon[22,23,24,25] This prey aggregation effect driven by thermal fronts could be critical for blue whales, and other large baleen whales, given their energetically costly feeding behavior[26,27,28,29]. In most countries, unreported cases, limited monitoring and insufficiently documented incidents have precluded any accurate assessment of the true collision prevalence and trend analyses[32]
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