Heterogeneity in the Gulf of Maine? Estimating humpback whale population size when capture probabilities are not equal

A method of identifying and addressing heterogeneity in capture-recapture data, presented by Cormack (1985), identifies heterogeneity in the data. This can be accounted for to produce a better estimate of population size. The most likely reason for the estimated increase in the size of the Gulf of Maine Megaptera novaeangliae population during the last 10 yr is a combination of site specificity and increasing coverage of the area, which has resulted in an effective reduction in heterogeneity. -from Author