Modeling the distribution of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis off coastal Maine by areal co-kriging

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 24:21-31 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00579 Modeling the distribution of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis off coastal Maine by areal co-kriging Brooke Wikgren1,*, Hauke Kite-Powell2, Scott Kraus1 1New England Aquarium, John H. Prescott Marine Laboratory, Central Wharf, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, USA 2Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Policy Center, MS 41, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA *Corresponding author: bwikgren@neaq.org ABSTRACT: To enhance recovery of the Endangered North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis, mitigation strategies are needed to reduce the leading causes of injury and mortality of these animals, which include ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Such efforts require information on the spatial and temporal distribution of right whales that can be analyzed against risk factors to identify solutions to protect whales while minimizing economic impacts to industry. Currently, no methods adequately make use of all available data to characterize right whale distribution, often leaving data gaps or misrepresenting whale activity in areas where we have limited systematic survey data. In response to this, an areal co-kriging interpolation technique was developed using ArcGIS 10.1 Geostatistical Analyst, utilizing all available right whale location data including systematic survey data, opportunistic sightings data, and satellite tag data. With many management plans shaped around specific geographic zones, this methodology was developed with the option to summarize information within user-defined polygons depending on the management regime. For this paper, whale distribution predictions were summarized to 524 irregularly shaped polygons off coastal Maine, representing lobster fishing zones at a 2 mo temporal scale. Results indicate that the predicted values fall within reasonable ranges, appropriately represent seasonal differences, and better represent right whale distribution patterns compared to other methods. KEY WORDS: Right whale · Spatial distribution · Conservation · Cetacean abundance · Endangered species · Habitat-based density model · Marine mammal · Modeling · Wildlife management Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Wikgren B, Kite-Powell H, Kraus S (2014) Modeling the distribution of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis off coastal Maine by areal co-kriging. Endang Species Res 24:21-31. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00579 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 24, No. 1. Online publication date: April 09, 2014 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2014 Inter-Research.