Dear MARMAN community,
On behalf of my co-author, we are pleased to share our paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, which is open access and available here <https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2024.0314> . Abstract: North Atlantic right whales are Critically Endangered and declining, with entanglements in fishing gear a key contributor to their decline. Entanglement events can result in lethal and sub-lethal (i.e. increased energetic demands and reduced foraging ability) impacts, with the latter influencing critical life-history states, such as reproduction. Using a multi-event framework, we developed a Bayesian mark-recapture model to investigate the influence of entanglement severity on survival and recruitment for female right whales. We used information from 199 known-aged females sighted between 1977 and 2018, combined with known entanglements of varying severity that were classified as minor, moderate or severe. Severe entanglements resulted in an average decline in survival of 27% for experienced non-breeders, 9% for breeders and 26% for pre-breeding females compared with other entanglements and unentangled individuals. Surviving individuals with severe entanglements had low transitional probabilities to breeders, but surprisingly, individuals with minor entanglements had the lowest transitional probabilities, contrary to expectations underpinning current management actions. Management actions are needed to address the lethal and sub-lethal impacts of entanglements, regardless of severity classification. Citation: REED, J., NEW, L., CORKERON, P. & HARCOURT, R. 2024. Disentangling the influence of entanglement on recruitment in North Atlantic right whales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291, 20240314. doi:10.1098/rspb.2024.0314 A companion piece on The Conversation is also available here: Surviving fishing gear entanglement isn <https://theconversation.com/surviving-fishing-gear-entanglement-isnt-enough -for-endangered-right-whales-females-still-dont-breed-afterward-225257> 't enough for endangered right whales - females still don't breed afterward. Kind regards, Josh ------------------------------------------------------ Joshua Reed, Ph.D. Marine Predator Research Group School of Natural Sciences Macquarie University Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
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