Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T12:02:10.543Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) observed during land-based surveys in The Minch, north-west Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2013

Sarah J. Dolman ,
Nicola K. Hodgins ,
Colin D. MacLeod ,
Graham J. Pierce  and
Caroline R. Weir
Sarah J. Dolman*
Affiliation:
Whale and Dolphin Conservation, 38 St Paul Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 1LJ, UK
Nicola K. Hodgins
Affiliation:
Whale and Dolphin Conservation, 38 St Paul Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 1LJ, UK
Colin D. MacLeod
Affiliation:
GIS In Ecology, 120 Churchill Drive, Broomhill, Glasgow, G11 7EZ, UK School of Biological Sciences (Zoology), University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK
Graham J. Pierce
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences (Zoology), University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK
Caroline R. Weir
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences (Zoology), University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S. Dolman, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, 38 St Paul Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 1LJ, UK email: sarah.dolman@wdcs.org
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The waters off north-west Scotland are known to provide important habitat for the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). Between October 2008 and April 2011, systematic land-based surveys were carried out to assess the seasonal occurrence, group size and group behaviours of both species in a study area located off Melvaig, near Gairloch. Data were collected on 47 separate days, with a total of 4543 minutes of survey effort (in sea states ≤3) recorded during the spring months and 8204 minutes of effort during the autumn. A total of 189 sightings of marine fauna were recorded, comprising 126 cetacean sightings, 50 seal sightings and 13 sightings of basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus). Six species of cetacean were identified, with most sightings comprising harbour porpoise (N = 72) or minke whale (N = 38). Harbour porpoise abundance was higher in autumn than in spring and there was a variation between years in numbers of minke whales sighted. In porpoises, sea state and cloud cover both influenced sightings and increasing sea state influenced survey area. Foraging behaviour was exhibited in 13% of harbour porpoise sightings and 34% of minke whale sightings. Results demonstrate a regular occurrence of harbour porpoises and minke whales in nearshore waters off Gairloch. Densities are comparable to boat surveys in the region and so support the use of land-based watches as a potential longer-term monitoring method for these species in coastal waters. Given the regular use of this area by these two European Protected Species, as well as the occurrence of a range of human activities potentially affecting them in the region, it may be appropriate to consider protecting this area for their conservation.

Keywords

land-based surveysharbour porpoisePhocoena phocoenaminke whaleBalaenoptera acutorostrataThe Minchnorth-west Scotland
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 94 , Issue 6 , September 2014 , pp. 1185 - 1194
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderwald, P., Evans, P.G.H., Dyer, R., Dale, A., Wright, P.J. and Hoelzel, R.A. (2012) Spatial scale and environmental determinants in minke whale habitat use and foraging. Marine Ecology Progress Series 450, 259–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderwald, P. and Evans, P.G.H. (2007) Minke whale populations in the North Atlantic—an overview with special reference to UK waters. In Robinson, K.P., Stevick, P.T. and MacLeod, C.D. (eds) An integrated approach to non-lethal research on Minke whales in European waters. European Cetacean Society, Special Publication Series, Issue 47, pp. 8–13.Google Scholar
Archer, F.I., Mesnick, S.L. and Allen, A.C. (2010) Variation and predictors of vessel-response behaviour in a tropical dolphin community. Report to NOAA, NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-457. 60 pages. Available at: http://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/TM/SWFSC/NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-457.pdf (accessed 4 April 2013).Google Scholar
Bannon, S.M., MacLeod, C.D. and Pierce, G.J. (2006) Spatio-temporal variations in habitat preferences of harbour porpoises in the waters northwest of Scotland. Abstract presented at the 20th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Gdynia, Poland.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, N. (2008) Distribution, diving behaviour and identification of the north Atlantic minke whale in northeast Scotland. MPhil thesis. University of Aberdeen, School of Biological Sciences (Zoology).Google Scholar
Bejder, L., Samuels, A., Whitehead, H. and Gales, N. (2006) Interpreting short-term behavioural responses to disturbance within a longitudinal perspective. Animal Behaviour 72, 1149–1158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berrow, S. (2009) Review of special areas of conservation for harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphins in Ireland. Irish Whale and Dolphin Group Report.Google Scholar
Boer, M. de, Morgan-Jenks, M., Taylor, M. and Simmonds, M.P. (2002) The small cetaceans of Cardigan Bay. British Wildlife 246–255.Google Scholar
Booth, C.G. (2010) Variation in habitat preference and distribution of harbour porpoises west of Scotland. PhD thesis: Scottish Oceans Institute, Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.Google Scholar
Calderan, S. (2003). Fine scale temporal distribution by harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in North Wales: acoustic and visual survey techniques. MSc thesis. University of Wales, Bangor, UK.Google Scholar
Clarke, R. (1982) An index of sighting conditions for surveys of whales and dolphins. Report of the International Whaling Commission, 32, 559–561.Google Scholar
Clark, J., Dolman, S.J. and Hoyt, E. (2010) Towards marine protected areas for cetaceans in Scotland, England and Wales: a scientific review identifying critical habitat with key recommendations. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society Report, Chippenham, UK.Google Scholar
Deecke, V.B., Nykänen, M., Foote, A.D. and Janik, V.M. (2011) Vocal behaviour and feeding ecology of killer whales Orcinus orca around Shetland, UK. Aquatic Mammals 13, 79–88.Google Scholar
Dolman, S.J. and Simmonds, M.P. (2010) Towards best environmental practice for cetacean conservation in developing Scotland's marine renewable energy. Marine Policy 34, 1021–1027.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Durban, J., Lang, A., Weller, D., Rugh, D., Hobbs, R. and Perryman, W. (2010) Comparing two methods of shore-based counts of eastern North Pacific gray whales. Paper presented to the International Whaling Commission, SC/62/BRG8.Google Scholar
Embling, C.B. (2011). WDCS shorewatch data analysis. Internal report to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. Available from the first author on request.Google Scholar
Embling, C.B., Gillibrand, P.A., Gordon, J., Shrimpton, J., Stevick, P.T. and Hammond, P.S. (2010) Using habitat models to identify suitable sites for marine protected areas for harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Biological Conservation 143, 267–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, P.G.H. and Prior, J.S. (2011) Protecting the harbour porpoise in UK seas. We've identified a ‘shadow list’ of Natura 2000 sites under the EC Habitats Directive. WWF Report.Google Scholar
Evans, P.G.H. and Hammond, P.S. (2004) Monitoring cetaceans in European waters. Mammal Review 34, 131–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, P.G.H. and Wang, J. (2008) Harbour porpoise spatial modelling to identify possible hotspots for marine protected areas. Proceedings of the ECS/ASCOBANS/ACCOBAMS workshop selection criteria for marine protected areas for cetaceans. European Cetacean Society's 21st Annual Conference, The Aquarium, San Sebastian, Spain, 22 April 2007. European Cetacean Society, pp. 44–49.Google Scholar
Evans, P.G.H., Anderwald, P. and Baines, M.E. (2003) UK cetacean status review. Report to English Nature and Countryside Council for Wales. Sea Watch Foundation, Oxford.Google Scholar
Evans, P.G.H., Weir, C.R. and Nice, H.E. (1996) Temporal and spatial distribution of harbour porpoises in Shetland waters, 1990–1995. In European Research on Cetaceans—10: Proceedings of the tenth Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Lisbon, Portugal, 1996. European Cetacean Society, pp. 234–237.Google Scholar
Gill, A., Fairbairns, B. and Fairbairns, R. (2000) Photo-identification of the Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) around the Isle of Mull, Scotland. Report to the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. Available at: http://www.whaledolphintrust.co.uk/cust_images/research%20publications/MinkeWhalePhotoID-AlisonGill.pdf (accessed 4 April 2013).Google Scholar
Gill, A. (1994) The photo-identification of the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) off the Isle of Mull, Scotland. MSc thesis. University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillibrand, P.A., Sammes, P.J., Slesser, G. and Adams, R.D. (2003) Seasonal water column characteristics in the Little and North Minches and the Sea of the Hebrides. I. Physical and chemical parameters. Fisheries Research Services Internal Report No. 08/03.Google Scholar
Goodwin, L. and Speedie, C. (2008) Relative abundance, density and distribution of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) along the west coast of the UK. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 88, 1221–1228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, L. (2008) Diurnal and tidal variations in habitat use of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in southwest Britain. Aquatic Mammals 34, 44–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond, P.S., Berggren, P., Benke, H., Borchers, D.L., Collet, A., Heide-Jørgensen, M.P., Heimlich, S., Hiby, A.R., Leopold, M.F. and Øien, N. (2002) Abundance of harbour porpoises and other cetaceans in the North Sea and adjacent waters. Journal of Applied Ecology 39, 361–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerczak, J.A. and Hobbs, R.C. (1998) Calculating sightings distances from angular readings during shipboard, aerial and shore-based marine mammal surveys. Marine Mammal Science 14, 590–598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lusseau, D. and Bejder, L. (2007) The long-term consequences of short-term responses to disturbance experiences from whale-watching impact assessment. International Journal of Comparative Psychology 2007, 228–236.Google Scholar
MacLeod, C.D., Bannon, S.M., Brereton, T. and Wall, D. (2007) Using passenger ferries to study seasonal patterns of minke whale occurrence in NW Europe. In Robinson, K.P., Stevick, P.T. and MacLeod, C.D. (eds) An integrated approach to non-lethal research on Minke whales in European waters. European Cetacean Society Special Publication, Issue 47, pp. 8–13.Google Scholar
Macleod, K., Fairbairns, R., Gill, A., Fairbairns, B., Gordon, J., Blair-Myers, C. and Parsons, E.C.M. (2004) Seasonal distribution of minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata in relation to physiography and prey off the Isle of Mull, Scotland. Marine Ecology Progress Series 277, 263–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, J. (1999) Behavioural sampling methods for cetaceans: a review and critique. Marine Mammal Science 15, 102–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marubini, F., Gimona, A., Evans, P.G.H., Wright, P.J. and Pierce, G.J. (2009) Habitat preferences and interannual variability in occurrence of the harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, in the north-west of Scotland (UK). Marine Ecology Progress Series 381, 297–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MOD (2011) Exercise Joint Warrior. Available at: http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/Operations/Current-Operations/Operational-deployments/Exercise-Joint-Warrior (accessed 16 August 2011).Google Scholar
Northridge, S.P., Tasker, M.L., Webb, A. and Williams, J.M. (1995) Distribution and relative abundance of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena L.), white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris Gray), and minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède) around the British Isles. ICES Journal of Marine Science 52, 55–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palka, D. (1996) Effects of Beaufort sea state on the sightability of harbour porpoises in the Gulf of Maine. Report of the International Whaling Commission 46, 575–582.Google Scholar
Parsons, E.C.M., Shrimpton, J. and Evans, P.G.H. (2000) Cetacean conservation in northwest Scotland: perceived threats to cetaceans. European Research on Cetaceans 13, 128–133.Google Scholar
Pierce, G.J., Caldas, M., Cedeira, J., Santos, B.M., Llavona, Á., Covlea, P., Martinez, G., Torres, J., Sacau, M. and López, A. (2010) Trends in cetacean sightings along the Galician coast, north-west Spain, 2003–2007, and inferences about cetacean habitat preferences. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 90, 1547–1560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierce, G.J., Santos, M.B., Reid, R.J., Patterson, I.A.P. and Ross, H.M. (2004) Diet of minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata in Scottish (UK) waters. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 84, 1241–1244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierpoint, C., Allan, E., Arnold, H., Evans, P., Perry, S., Wilberforce, E. and Baxter, J. (2009) Monitoring important coastal sites for bottlenose dolphin in Cardigan Bay, UK. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 89, 1033–1043.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierpoint, C. (2008) Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) foraging strategy at a high energy, near-shore site in south-west Wales, UK. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 88, 1167–1173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, J., Evans, P. and Northridge, S.P. (2003) Atlas of cetacean distribution in north-west European waters. JNCC report. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee.Google Scholar
Robinson, K.P., Tetley, M.J. and Mitchelson-Jacob, E.G. (2009) The distribution and habitat preference of coastally occurring minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in the outer southern Moray Firth, northeast Scotland. Journal of Coastal Conservation 13, 39–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCANS-II (2008) Small Cetaceans in the European Atlantic and North Sea (SCANS-II). Final report to the European Commission LIFE Nature programme on project LIFE04NAT/GB/000245. Available at: biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/scans2/inner-finalReport.html (accessed 4 April 2013).Google Scholar
Stevick, P.T. (2007) Evidence for why changes in minke whale prey off Scotland: why collaboration matters. In Robinson, K.P., Stevick, P.T. and MacLeod, C.D. (eds) An integrated approach to non-lethal research on minke whales in European waters. European Cetacean Society Special Publication Issue 47, pp. 8–13.Google Scholar
Stockin, K.A., Weir, C.R. and Pierce, G.J. (2006) Examining the importance of Aberdeenshire (UK) coastal waters for North Sea bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 86, 201–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tetley, M.J. (2010) Site fidelity, habitat preferences and coastal ecology of Atlantic minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). PhD thesis. University of Wales, Bangor, UK.Google Scholar
Tetley, M.J., Mitchelson-Jacob, E.G. and Robinson, K.P. (2008) The summer distribution of coastal minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in the southern outer Moray Firth, NE Scotland, in relation to co-occurring mesoscale oceanographic features. Remote Sensing of Environment 112, 3449–3454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, P.M., Tufft, N.S., Grellier, K. and Durban, J.W. (2000) Evaluation of techniques for monitoring the abundance and behaviour of bottlenose dolphins—the Kessock channel as a case study. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. F99LE01.Google Scholar
Weir, C.R. (in press) Advice on developing a programme of survey work to underpin the selection of Marine Protected Areas for cetaceans in Scottish territorial waters. Scottish Natural Heritage commissioned research report.Google Scholar
Weir, C.R. (2010) Cetaceans observed in the coastal waters of Namibe Province, Angola, during summer and winter 2008. Marine Biodiversity Records 3, e27 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1755267210000230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weir, C.R. (2008) Occurrence of the white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) and other cetacean species in the Minch, August 2007. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No.305, ROAME No. F05AC701.Google Scholar
Weir, C.R., Stockin, K.A. and Pierce, G.J. (2007) Spatial and temporal trends in the distribution of harbour porpoises, white-beaked dolphins and minke whales off Aberdeenshire (UK), north-western North Sea. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 87, 327–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weir, C.R., Pollock, C., Cronin, C. and Tasker, M. (2001) Cetaceans of the Atlantic Frontier, north and west of Scotland. Continental Shelf Research 21, 1047–1071.CrossRefGoogle Scholar