Defining priority areas for blue whale conservation and investigating overlap with vessel traffic in Chilean Patagonia, using a fast-fitting movement model
Open Access
- 1 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Scientific Reports
- Vol. 11 (1), 1-16
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-82220-5
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.Funding Information
- Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica
- Whitley Fund for Nature
- Kilverstone Wildlife Charitable Trust
- Agencia de sustentabilidad y cambio climático
- WWF Germany
- US Office of Naval Research
This publication has 100 references indexed in Scilit:
- Southward expansion of the Chilean salmon industry in the Patagonian Fjords: main environmental challengesReviews in Aquaculture, 2013
- Dynamic habitat models: using telemetry data to project fisheries bycatchProceedings. Biological sciences, 2011
- Chilean Blue Whales as a Case Study to Illustrate Methods to Estimate Abundance and Evaluate Conservation Status of Rare SpeciesConservation Biology, 2011
- Exposure to seismic survey alters blue whale acoustic communicationBiology Letters, 2009
- Striking the right balance in right whale conservationCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 2009
- Passive versus active engulfment: verdict from trajectory simulations of lunge-feeding fin whalesBalaenoptera physalusJournal of The Royal Society Interface, 2009
- A movement ecology paradigm for unifying organismal movement researchProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Migratory shearwaters integrate oceanic resources across the Pacific Ocean in an endless summerProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Sea-surface temperature gradients across blue whale and sea turtle foraging trajectories off the Baja California Peninsula, MexicoDeep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2006
- Boat traffic affects the acoustic behaviour of Pacific humpback dolphins, Sousa chinensisJournal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 2001