TY - JOUR
T1 - Long-term photo-identification study of fin whales in the Pelagos Sanctuary (NW Mediterranean) as a baseline for targeted conservation and mitigation measures
AU - Zanardelli, Margherita
AU - Airoldi, Sabina
AU - Bérubé, Martine
AU - Borsani, J. Fabrizio
AU - Di-Meglio, Nathalie
AU - Gannier, Alexandre
AU - Hammond, Philip S.
AU - Jahoda, Maddalena
AU - Lauriano, Giancarlo
AU - Notarbartolo di Sciara, Giuseppe
AU - Panigada, Simone
N1 - Authors thank Pierre Beaubrun (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes), Christophe Guinet (Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé), Jonathan Gordon and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Jean Michel Bompar (Groupe d’Etude des Cétacés de Méditerranée), and Portofino 82 for providing photographic data of Mediterranean fin whales. Our special thanks go to Scott Baker for extracting and determining the sex of some fin whale individuals. The molecular analyses were funded by the International Whaling Commission and the Danish Research Academy. Thanks to M.C. Venturino, friend and colleague from the beginning, and to all who helped in the collection of data at sea, in particular M. Acquarone, A. Azzellino, G. Benazzo, N. Biassoni, V. Fadda, M. Giusti, C. Lanfredi, B. Nani, G. Paximadis, N. Pierantonio, E. Politi, E. Revelli, and C. Vallini. Giovanna Pesante and Federico Bendinoni helped also with the fin whale matching process; thanks to Nino Pierantonio for preparing the map and helping with earlier versions of the manuscript. We are thankful to the skippers of Gemini Lab – S. Canese, G. Vezzoli and I. Cavarretta – and the unforgettable G. Barbaccia. Our gratitude also goes to Roberto Raineri and Paolo Pinto (Flash Vela d’Altura), skippers of the boat that was used in the 2006–2007 seasons. This research was co‐funded by the many ‘citizen science’ participants who joined the research during the years.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - 1. Historical abundance estimates are important for establishing baselines from which trends can be determined using more recent data. Long-term studies based on photo-identification were merged and used to estimate population size, survival rate and sex ratio (biopsy sampling) of fin whales in the North-western Mediterranean.2. Merging four existing photo-id catalogues yielded a Mediterranean catalogue with 507 individually identified fin whales. Ninety-five (18.7%) individuals were resighted at least once during the study period (1990–2007): 71 whales were resighted in different years, 24 within the same season and 13 both in the same season and in different years. The number of resightings within-season ranged from one to four, over periods from 1 to 90 days.3. Capture histories from these individuals were used in the capture–recapture analyses. Estimates of the animals present in the area each year between 1991 and 1995 through different modelling approaches were consistent: 900–1,000 from a POPAN open population model; 1,200 from a multi-sample closed population model; and 900–1,100 from simple two-sample closed population models for pairs of consecutive years, all with heavily overlapping 95% confidence intervals.4. The estimated apparent survival rate of 0.916 (95% CI = 0.773–0.972) was lower than expected, which may be linked to temporary or permanent emigration, or mortality possibly owing to ship strikes.5. Conservation and mitigation measures such as Important Marine Mammal Areas and Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas are presented and discussed.
AB - 1. Historical abundance estimates are important for establishing baselines from which trends can be determined using more recent data. Long-term studies based on photo-identification were merged and used to estimate population size, survival rate and sex ratio (biopsy sampling) of fin whales in the North-western Mediterranean.2. Merging four existing photo-id catalogues yielded a Mediterranean catalogue with 507 individually identified fin whales. Ninety-five (18.7%) individuals were resighted at least once during the study period (1990–2007): 71 whales were resighted in different years, 24 within the same season and 13 both in the same season and in different years. The number of resightings within-season ranged from one to four, over periods from 1 to 90 days.3. Capture histories from these individuals were used in the capture–recapture analyses. Estimates of the animals present in the area each year between 1991 and 1995 through different modelling approaches were consistent: 900–1,000 from a POPAN open population model; 1,200 from a multi-sample closed population model; and 900–1,100 from simple two-sample closed population models for pairs of consecutive years, all with heavily overlapping 95% confidence intervals.4. The estimated apparent survival rate of 0.916 (95% CI = 0.773–0.972) was lower than expected, which may be linked to temporary or permanent emigration, or mortality possibly owing to ship strikes.5. Conservation and mitigation measures such as Important Marine Mammal Areas and Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas are presented and discussed.
KW - Abundance estimate
KW - Conservation management plans (CMP)
KW - Fin whale Balaenoptera physalus
KW - Important Marine Mammal Areas
KW - Mark–recapture
KW - Mediterranean Sea
KW - Particularly Sensitive Sea Area
KW - Photo-identification
KW - Survival rate
U2 - 10.1002/aqc.3865
DO - 10.1002/aqc.3865
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85135164582
SN - 1052-7613
VL - 32
SP - 1457
EP - 1470
JO - Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems
JF - Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems
IS - 9
ER -
