[MARMAM] New Publication: Bellwethers of Change: population modelling of North Pacific humpback whales from 2002 through 2021 reveals shift from recovery to climate response
Dear friends, On behalf of all 75 (!!!) of us co-authors, pleased to share publication of a 20 year population model for N Pacific humpback whales where we’ve seen a major climate response to the Pacific Marine Heatwave Open access: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.231462 Abstract: For the 40 years after the end of commercial whaling in 1976 humpback whale populations in the North Pacific Ocean exhibited a prolonged period of recovery. Using mark–recapture methods on the largest individual photo-identification dataset ever assembled for a cetacean we estimated annual ocean-basin-wide abundance for the species from 2002 through 2021. Trends in annual estimates describe strong post-whaling era population recovery from 16 875 (± 5955) in 2002 to a peak abundance estimate of 33 488 (± 4455) in 2012. An apparent 20% decline from 2012 to 2021 33 488 (± 4455) to 26 662 (± 4192) suggests the population abruptly reached carrying capacity due to loss of prey resources. This was particularly evident for humpback whales wintering in Hawai‘i where by 2021 estimated abundance had declined by 34% from a peak in 2013 down to abundance levels previously seen in 2006 and contrasted to an absence of decline in Mainland Mexico breeding humpbacks. The strongest marine heatwave recorded globally to date during the 2014–2016 period appeared to have altered the course of species recovery with enduring effects. Extending this time series will allow humpback whales to serve as an indicator species for the ecosystem in the face of a changing climate. Full author list: Ted Cheeseman, Jay Barlow, Jo Marie Acebes, Katherina Audley, Lars Bejder, Caitlin Birdsall, Olga Solis Bracamontes, Amanda L. Bradford, Josie Byington, John Calambokidis, Rachel Cartwright, Jen Cedarleaf, Andrea Jacqueline García Chavez, Jens Currie, Rouenne Camille De Castro, Joëlle De Weerdt, Nicole Doe, Thomas Doniol-Valcroze, Karina Dracott, Olga Filatova, Rachel Finn, Kiirsten R. Flynn, John Ford, Astrid Frisch-Jordán, Chris Gabriele, Beth Goodwin, Craig Hayslip, Jackie Hildering, Marie C. Hill, Jeff K. Jacobsen, M. Esther Jiménez-López, Meagan Jones, Nozomi Kobayashi, Marc Lammers, Edward Lyman, Mark Malleson, Evgeny Mamaev, Pamela Martínez Loustalot, Annie Masterman, Craig O. Matkin, Christie McMillan, Jeff Moore, John Moran, Janet L. Neilson, Hayley Newell, Haruna Okabe, Marilia Olio, Christian D. Ortega-Ortiz, Adam A. Pack, Daniel M. Palacios, Heidi Pearson, Ester Quintana-Rizzo, Raul Ramírez Barragán, Nicola Ransome, Hiram Rosales-Nanduca, Fred Sharpe, Tasli Shaw, Ken Southerland, Stephanie Stack, Iain Staniland, Janice Straley, Andrew Szabo, Suzie Teerlink, Olga Titova, Jorge Urban-Ramirez, Martin van Aswegen, Marcel Vinicius, Olga von Ziegesar, Briana Witteveen, Janie Wray, Kymberly Yano, Igor Yegin, Denny Zwiefelhofer and Phil Clapham Lol that’s longer than the abstract. Ain’t science fun!? Yay whales :) Ted — Ted Cheeseman t...@happywhale.com www.Happywhale.com https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/ Support ocean conservation science! https://donorbox.org/donate-to-the-whales-of-guerrero-and-happy-whale?default_interval=m Happywhale on CBS Sunday Morning: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/identifying-individual-humpback-whales-online-happywhale Recent publications: Bellwethers of Change: North Pacific humpback whale climate response: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.231462 Humpback whale automated image recognition: https://rdcu.be/cCOtw Multi-species image recognition: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10./2041-210X.14167 ** know your whales :) ** — I live and play on unceded lands of the Ohlone. smime.p7s Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] New publication of an AI image recognition algorithm for multi-species cetacean photo-ID
Dear friends, We are pleased to share announcement of publication in Methods in Ecology and Evolution of: A deep learning approach to photo–identification demonstrates high performance on two dozen cetacean species This open access paper led by Phil Patton of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, with 55 co-authors, describes the development, testing, accuracy and initial implementations of a tool that colleagues may find useful for individual recognition of any cetacean ID-able from dorsal fin / lateral view photos. Available here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10./2041-210X.14167 Abstract Researchers can investigate many aspects of animal ecology through noninvasive photo–identification. Photo–identification is becoming more efficient as matching individuals between photos is increasingly automated. However, the convolutional neural network models that have facilitated this change need many training images to generalize well. As a result, they have often been developed for individual species that meet this threshold. These single-species methods might underperform, as they ignore potential similarities in identifying characteristics and the photo–identification process among species. In this paper, we introduce a multi-species photo–identification model based on a state-of-the-art method in human facial recognition, the ArcFace classification head. Our model uses two such heads to jointly classify species and identities, allowing species to share information and parameters within the network. As a demonstration, we trained this model with 50,796 images from 39 catalogues of 24 cetacean species, evaluating its predictive performance on 21,192 test images from the same catalogues. We further evaluated its predictive performance with two external catalogues entirely composed of identities that the model did not see during training. The model achieved a mean average precision (MAP) of 0.869 on the test set. Of these, 10 catalogues representing seven species achieved a MAP score over 0.95. For some species, there was notable variation in performance among catalogues, largely explained by variation in photo quality. Finally, the model appeared to generalize well, with the two external catalogues scoring similarly to their species' counterparts in the larger test set. From our cetacean application, we provide a list of recommendations for potential users of this model, focusing on those with cetacean photo–identification catalogues. For example, users with high quality images of animals identified by dorsal nicks and notches should expect near optimal performance. Users can expect decreasing performance for catalogues with higher proportions of indistinct individuals or poor quality photos. Finally, we note that this model is currently freely available as code in a GitHub repository and as a graphical user interface, with additional functionality for collaborative data management, via Happywhale.com. UH Mānoa published a press release about the work here: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2023/07/19/whale-dolphin-facial-recognition/ The development and implementation efforts have very much been modeled on the success of Happywhale’s humpback fluke ID AI work, with the intent to create broadly usable tools and collaborative accessibility. For any correspondence feel free to be in touch with me (t...@happywhale.com) re: usage and Phil (patt...@hawaii.edu) re: technical aspects. Yay whales! Ted — Ted Cheeseman t...@happywhale.com www.Happywhale.com https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/ Read our recent publications - humpback whale automated image recognition: https://rdcu.be/cCOtw, multi-species image recognition: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10./2041-210X.14167 and humpbacks of the North Pacific: https://rdcu.be/dfdPF ** know your whales :) ** — I live and play on unceded lands of the Ohlone. ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] New publication announcement: North Pacific Humpback Whale Photo-ID collaborative dataset
Dear friends of whales and photo-ID automation, On behalf of my 68 co-authors(!!), I am pleased to announce the open access publication in Scientific Reports of the second paper to come from our broad collaboration: A collaborative and near-comprehensive North Pacific humpback whale photo-ID dataset Abstract We present an ocean-basin-scale dataset that includes tail fluke photographic identification (photo-ID) and encounter data for most living individual humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the North Pacific Ocean. The dataset was built through a broad collaboration combining 39 separate curated photo-ID catalogs, supplemented with community science data. Data from throughout the North Pacific were aggregated into 13 regions, including six breeding regions, six feeding regions, and one migratory corridor. All images were compared with minimal pre-processing using a recently developed image recognition algorithm based on machine learning through artificial intelligence; this system is capable of rapidly detecting matches between individuals with an estimated 97-99% accuracy. For the 2001 to 2021 study period, a total of 27,956 unique individuals were documented in 157,350 encounters. Each individual was encountered, on average, in 5.6 sampling periods (i.e., breeding and feeding seasons), with an annual average of 87% of whales encountered in more than one season. The combined dataset and image recognition tool represents a living and accessible resource for collaborative, basin-wide studies of a keystone marine mammal in a time of rapid ecological change. Available here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-36928-1, or I’m happy to send a pdf Citation: Cheeseman, T., Southerland, K., Acebes, J.M. et al. A collaborative and near-comprehensive North Pacific humpback whale photo-ID dataset. Sci Rep 13, 10237 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36928-1 Yay whales! :) Ted — Ted Cheeseman t...@happywhale.com www.Happywhale.com https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/ Read our recent publications - humpback whale automated image recognition: https://rdcu.be/cCOtw and humpbacks of the North Pacific: https://rdcu.be/dfdPF ** know your whales :) ** — I live and play on unceded lands of the Ohlone. ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] New publication: First humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) re-sighting between Azorean waters and the Barents Sea (Murman coast, northwestern Russia)
Dear MARMAM readers, on-behalf of lead author Rui Peres dos Santos and co-authors, I am pleased to share our new publication: First humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) re-sighting between Azorean waters and the Barents Sea (Murman coast, northwestern Russia) Authors: Rui Peres dos Santos, Rafael Martins, Anton Chaiko, Ted Cheeseman, Lindsey S. Jones & Frederick W. Wenzel Mamm Biol 2021 1–15. doi: 10.1007/S42991-021-00180-9 Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are one of the most well studied baleen whales worldwide and one of the species targeted during the historic North Atlantic whaling period. Northwestern Russia (Barents Sea), a poorly studied region for humpbacks, is recognized as an important fishing area for their prey capelin (Mallotus villosus). In the last century, this fish species collapsed, possibly due to overfishing both in Russian and Norwegian waters, which led to these governments imposing strict fishing restrictions. In past decades the southern part of the Barents Sea has faced warming ocean temperatures and less sea ice. Here, we present the first humpback photographic match between the Azores and northwestern Russia (Murmansk, Barents Sea). A humpback whale sighted on 14 March 2019 in the Azorean waters, was resighted opportunistically on 21 June, 2019 off the Murman coast, Russia. The estimated distance between the two sites is approximately 6778 km, representing a migratory speed of 2.88 km·h−1. Strict regulations on the summer capelin fisheries in the Murman coastline and Barents Sea, along with global warming may lead to new habitats for both fish prey and predators (i.e., humpback whales) to return to this region. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-021-02998-y Either Rui (natureby...@gmail.com) or I (t...@happywhale.com) would be pleased to send a full version on request. Good health and great whales to all, Ted — Ted Cheeseman t...@happywhale.com www.Happywhale.com https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/ Read our recent publication about humpback whale automated image recognition: https://rdcu.be/cCOtw ** know your whales :) ** ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] New publication: Advanced image recognition: a fully automated, high-accuracy photo-identification matching system for humpback whales
Dear MARMAM readers, on-behalf of my co-authors, I am pleased to share our new publication: Advanced image recognition: a fully automated, high-accuracy photo-identification matching system for humpback whales. Authors: Cheeseman T, Southerland K, Park J, Olio M, Flynn K, Calambokidis J, Jones L, Garrigue C, Frisch Jordán A, Howard A, Reade W, Neilson J, Gabriele C, Clapham P (2021) Mamm Biol 2021 1–15. doi: 10.1007/S42991-021-00180-9 An online (but not downloadable) full version is available here: https://rdcu.be/cCOtw or send me an email if you’d like a pdf We describe the development and application of a new convolutional neural network-based photo-identification algorithm for individual humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The method uses a Densely Connected Convolutional Network (DenseNet) to extract special keypoints of an image of the ventral surface of the fluke and then a separate DenseNet trained to look for features within these keypoints. The extracted features are then compared against those of the reference set of previously known humpback whales for similarity. This offers the potential to successfully automate recognition of individuals in large photographic datasets such as in ocean basin-wide marine mammal studies. The algorithm requires minimal image pre-processing and is capable of accurate, rapid matching of fair to high-quality humpback fluke photographs. In real world testing compared to manual image matching, the algorithm reduces image management time by at least 98% and reduces error rates of missing potential matches from approximately 6–9% to 1–3%. The success of this new system permits automated comparisons to be made for the first time across photo-identification datasets with tens to hundreds of thousands of individually identified encounters, with profound implications for long-term and large population studies of the species. …or more succinctly: we built a magic box that can ID most any humpback whale fluke nearly instantly and have now aggregated in Happywhale.com a database of over 64000 individuals in one global dataset. We believe this tool is bettering the lot of marine conservation; that’s the goal. Yay whales :) Ted — Ted Cheeseman t...@happywhale.com www.Happywhale.com https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/ ** know your whales :) ** ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] New publication: Acoustic detections of beaked whales, narrow-band high-frequency pulses and other odontocete cetaceans in the Southern Ocean using an autonomous towed hydrophone recorder
Dear MARMAM readers, On-behalf of my co-authors, I am pleased to share our new publication: Acoustic detections of beaked whales, narrow-band high-frequency pulses and other odontocete cetaceans in the Southern Ocean using an autonomous towed hydrophone recorder https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1dtZl3Ruf1FyOn Abstract: Encased in a streamlined, flooded housing, a SoundTrap ST300HF hydrophone recording system was towed on voyages to South Georgia Island and the South Sandwich Islands and to the Antarctic Peninsula in December 2019–February 2020. Recordings were analyzed to identify acoustic detections of cetacean species. Acoustically identified species included sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), southern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon planifrons), Arnoux's beaked whales (Berardius arnuxii), killer whales (Orcinus orca), and long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas). Acoustic detections also included several recognized types of beaked whale echolocation pulses (BW37/39 and BW58) as well as two likely beaked whale echolocation pulse types that do not match any previous descriptions. Narrow-band high-frequency echolocation signals (NBHF) (typical of porpoises and some dolphin species) were detected in many locations, and one of these coincided with a sighting of hourglass dolphins (Lagenorhynchus cruciger). This study shows the utility of an autonomous towed hydrophone system on a vessel of opportunity to study the distribution of cetaceans in rough seas that are difficult to study by visual survey methods. …which is to say, beaked whales are awesome even when you can’t see em. Email me if you’d like a pdf, and especially if you have a plan to sail a vessel at <= 10kn across big remote oceans, have a fondness for slightly punishing gear deployments at all hours, and want to do something like we did :-) Good health and great whales to all, Ted — Ted Cheeseman t...@happywhale.com www.Happywhale.com https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/ ** know your whales :) ** ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] New publication: First evidence of interchange of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) between the Magellan Strait and Antarctic Peninsula feeding grounds / Primera evidencia de intercamb
My co-authors and I are pleased to bring your attention to a recently published short note: Acevedo, J., Capella, J., Cheeseman, T., Monnahan, C.C., Southerland, K., Acuña, P., Aguayo-Lobo, A., 2021. First evidence of interchange of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) between the Magellan Strait and Antarctic Peninsula feeding grounds. Polar Biol. 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02827-2 Primera evidencia de intercambio de ballenas jorobadas (Megaptera novaeangliae) entre las áreas de alimentación del estrecho de Magallanes y Península Antártica Abstract Eastern South Pacific humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) migrate to three distinct mid- to high-latitude feeding areas. While movements between local breeding sites have been reported, interchange among the feeding areas has not been documented and thus has assumed not to exist. Identifying photographs of 187 humpback whales in the Magellan Strait were compared with 2,553 whales from the Antarctic Peninsula feeding area, resulting in two matches. Additionally, 37 skin samples collected at the Magellan Strait were analyzed for carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, resulting in evidence that two other individuals traveled to the Antarctic Peninsula. Our findings provide the first known evidence of interchange between two of these feeding areas in the eastern South Pacific. The data suggest a very limited interchange, but demonstrate that some whales may permanently leave the Magellan Strait, or perform short, round-trip movement between these areas. This previously undocumented interchanges do not necessarily change existing management recommendations that the Magellan Strait is a demographically independent feeding area, but does suggest that future abundance estimate models should assume low immigration rates. Further research to better understand the extent and frequency of interchange in the austral region of South America is needed, as this will further clarify the population structure of these whales leading to more accurate scientific knowledge supporting the conservation and management of the species. Resumen Las ballenas jorobadas (Megaptera novaeangliae) del Pacífico Suroriental migran a tres diferentes áreas de alimentación localizadas en latitudes medias y altas. Mientras los movimientos entre los sitios de reproducción han sido informados, el intercambio entre las áreas de alimentación no ha sido documentado y ha sido asumido a no ocurrir. Fotografías de 187 ballenas jorobadas identificados en el estrecho de Magallanes fueron comparados con 2.553 ballenas del área de alimentación de la Península Antártica, resultando en dos recapturas. Adicionalmente, 37 muestras de piel colectados en el estrecho de Magallanes fueron analizados para isótopos estables de carbono y nitrógeno, resultando en evidencias que otros dos individuos viajaron de ida y vuelta a la Península Antártica. Nuestros hallazgos proveen la primera evidencia de intercambio entre dos de estas áreas de alimentación en el Pacífico Suroriental. Los datos sugieren un muy limitado intercambio, pero demuestra que algunas ballenas pueden abandonar permanentemente el estrecho de Magallanes, o realizar cortos viajes entre estas áreas. El intercambio documentado no necesariamente cambia las recomendaciones de manejo existente de que el estrecho de Magallanes es un área de alimentación demográficamente independiente, pero sugiere que futuros modelos de estimados de abundancia deben asumir una baja tasa de inmigración. Mayor investigación para comprender mejor la extensión y frecuencia de intercambio en la región austral de América del Sur es requerida, ya que permitirá aclarar aún más la estructura de la población de estas ballenas y de un conocimiento científico más preciso que respalde la conservación y el manejo de la especie. For a pdf or correspondence please contact Jorge Acevedo or myself, Ted Cheeseman mailto:t...@happywhale.com>> Good health and great whales to all :) Ted — Ted Cheeseman t...@happywhale.com www.Happywhale.com https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/ ** know your whales :) ** ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] Cetacean photo-ID algorithm development collaboration invitation - lateral view / dorsal fin ID
ation (re-assigned to have no relation to IDs in existing datasets, whether public or private), and one set as test data, with no ID information. It should be recognized that while these images are stripped of all context, they will be made public for the sake of access by competitors. For a well written exploration of the competition process, from the point of view of the 10th place finisher in the previous effort, here’s a recently published read: https://towardsdatascience.com/a-gold-winning-solution-review-of-kaggle-humpback-whale-identification-challenge-53b0e3ba1e84 <https://towardsdatascience.com/a-gold-winning-solution-review-of-kaggle-humpback-whale-identification-challenge-53b0e3ba1e84>. Your use of images will not be limited in any way, apart from if you have an online catalog with the same images present, we should look at if this will potentially create a conflict that could allow ID process cheating among competitors. From you we would like to have as many images as possible, with a maximum of 20,000 ID’d images per species. For rare / difficult to photo-ID species there may be no minimum — this will be case specific — but for more commonly photographed species, a minimum contribution should be in the range of a few hundred individuals each photographed in different encounters. The ideal dataset includes a mix of cropped and uncropped images and a range of quality from very high to very poor. For simplicity, there should be just one individual in any image, cropped or uncropped. We want a natural distribution of images; some individuals should be represented by only one image (forcing competitors to accommodate the realistic designation of a ’new individual’ class), while some should be represented by many images (from separate encounters, to avoid any contextual matching, such as similar water texture / color). Because a lateral view inherently has the right-dorsal and left-dorsal set, two semi-independent classes per individual, we’d want a mix here as well. If you would like to join as a collaborator, we will need images by mid-August, sooner if possible so that the Kaggle team can begin preparing and developing the competition infrastructure (there’s some interesting questions on this end, such as dealing with some weighing of species by different data set sizes etc). Images can come to us as jpgs either (1) with the IDs indicated in a clear consistent format in the filename, (2) with IDs in a spreadsheet correlated by exact filenames, or (3) as a set of images with ID + date/location attributes that we’d then integrate into Happywhale (as a private dataset at least during the term of the competition) to format for the competition. We do not need annotation of R/L dorsal, etc. We will strip all metadata before adding images to the competition dataset. Of course I am available to discuss any questions, concerns or ideas around this. I am excited for your participation and hopeful for a very constructive outcome. With thanks for your interest, Ted — Ted Cheeseman t...@happywhale.com www.Happywhale.com https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/ ** know your whales :) ** smime.p7s Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] Ship strike risk reduction measure adopted by Antarctic expedition tourism operators
Dear Marmam community, We are very pleased to share news of a recent step taken by Antarctic expedition tour operators to proactively manage risk to whales from ship operations on the Antarctic Peninsula. The following short working paper is being tabled at IWC presently: Ship Strike Risk Mitigation by Antarctic Expedition Tourism Vessels Ted Cheeseman(1),(2), Amanda Lynnes(2) and Lisa Kelley(2) 1Happywhale (www.happywhale.com) and Southern Cross University, New South Wales, Australia 2International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, 50 South Commons Way, Unit E-5B, South Kingstown, RI, 02879, USA The Antarctic Peninsula region is an area of significant and growing human activity, including science, fishing and tourism. While no cetacean population along the Antarctic Peninsula has been comprehensively assessed, anecdotal evidence and extremely high pregnancy rates (Pallin et al., 2018) leave little question that humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) populations are enjoying rapid growth rates as well. Recognizing that increased shipping has the potential to lead to an increase in whale strikes, especially in the whale rich waters of the Gerlache Strait, members of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) voted at their recent annual meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, to adopt mandatory measures to mitigate ship strike risk from ship operations. IAATO members operate under a mandate to keep the impact of tourism “less than minor or transitory”, an ethos that motivated IAATO efforts to find ship strike risk reduction solutions, without having comprehensive data for whale distributions exist to support spatial planning in the manner of van der Hoop et al. (2012), for example. IAATO member operators represent the large majority of all tour operators operating in Antarctica, including all commercial SOLAS passenger ship operators. The association has reported nine ship strikes to IWC since 2001. In May 2019, IAATO members voted unanimously to adopt the following measure: For the 2019-20 season, IAATO Operators are instructed to commit to one of the following: 1. A 10kn speed restriction within the Geofenced time-area proposed. *This excludes emergency or other extenuating circumstances. OR for IAATO Operators who have a whale strike mitigation training program: 2. An extra watchman on the bridge for the sole purpose of being on whale lookout within the Geofenced time-area proposed. Appropriate records of this action must be recorded in the ship’s log. This is a mandatory measure; all IAATO Operators will participate by taking one of these two actions during the 2019-20 season. The geofenced time/area is as follows: • January 1 through May 30 in the Gerlache Strait and adjacent waters, in the area between 63.65S and 65.35S, including Dallmann Bay west to 64.2W • February 1 through May 30 in the Marta Passage entering Crystal Sound, 67.8W to 67.0W Further, the IAATO secretariat has been tasked with studying the implications of this proposal, including what observer-based whale strike mitigation training programs exist within IAATO member bridge teams, and their expected efficacy, as well as information gaps that limit a more refined and evidence-based whale strike risk mitigation system. References - Pallin, L. J., Baker, C. S., Steel, D., Kellar, N. M., Robbins, J., Johnston, D. W., … Friedlaender, A. S. (2018). High pregnancy rates in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) around the western antarctic peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population. Royal Society Open Science, 5(5), 180017. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180017 - van der Hoop, J. M., Vanderlaan, A. S. M., & Taggart, C. T. (2012). Absolute probability estimates of lethal vessel strikes to North Atlantic right whales in Roseway Basin, Scotian Shelf. Ecological Applications, 22(7), 2021–2033. https://doi.org/10.1890/11-1841.1 — Ted Cheeseman t...@happywhale.com www.Happywhale.com https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/ ** know your whales :) ** ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] Ship strike risk reduction measure adopted by Antarctic expedition tourism operators
Dear Marmam community, We are very pleased to share news of a recent step taken by Antarctic expedition tour operators to proactively manage risk to whales from ship operations on the Antarctic Peninsula. The following short working paper is being tabled at IWC presently: Ship Strike Risk Mitigation by Antarctic Expedition Tourism Vessels Ted Cheeseman(1),(2), Amanda Lynnes(2) and Lisa Kelley(2) 1Happywhale (www.happywhale.com) and Southern Cross University, New South Wales, Australia 2International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, 50 South Commons Way, Unit E-5B, South Kingstown, RI, 02879, USA The Antarctic Peninsula region is an area of significant and growing human activity, including science, fishing and tourism. While no cetacean population along the Antarctic Peninsula has been comprehensively assessed, anecdotal evidence and extremely high pregnancy rates (Pallin et al., 2018) leave little question that humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) populations are enjoying rapid growth rates as well. Recognizing that increased shipping has the potential to lead to an increase in whale strikes, especially in the whale rich waters of the Gerlache Strait, members of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) voted at their recent annual meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, to adopt mandatory measures to mitigate ship strike risk from ship operations. IAATO members operate under a mandate to keep the impact of tourism “less than minor or transitory”, an ethos that motivated IAATO efforts to find ship strike risk reduction solutions, without having comprehensive data for whale distributions exist to support spatial planning in the manner of van der Hoop et al. (2012), for example. IAATO member operators represent the large majority of all tour operators operating in Antarctica, including all commercial SOLAS passenger ship operators. The association has reported nine ship strikes to IWC since 2001. In May 2019, IAATO members voted unanimously to adopt the following measure: For the 2019-20 season, IAATO Operators are instructed to commit to one of the following: 1. A 10kn speed restriction within the Geofenced time-area proposed. *This excludes emergency or other extenuating circumstances. OR for IAATO Operators who have a whale strike mitigation training program: 2. An extra watchman on the bridge for the sole purpose of being on whale lookout within the Geofenced time-area proposed. Appropriate records of this action must be recorded in the ship’s log. This is a mandatory measure; all IAATO Operators will participate by taking one of these two actions during the 2019-20 season. The geofenced time/area is as follows: • January 1 through May 30 in the Gerlache Strait and adjacent waters, in the area between 63.65S and 65.35S, including Dallmann Bay west to 64.2W • February 1 through May 30 in the Marta Passage entering Crystal Sound, 67.8W to 67.0W Further, the IAATO secretariat has been tasked with studying the implications of this proposal, including what observer-based whale strike mitigation training programs exist within IAATO member bridge teams, and their expected efficacy, as well as information gaps that limit a more refined and evidence-based whale strike risk mitigation system. References - Pallin, L. J., Baker, C. S., Steel, D., Kellar, N. M., Robbins, J., Johnston, D. W., … Friedlaender, A. S. (2018). High pregnancy rates in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) around the western antarctic peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population. Royal Society Open Science, 5(5), 180017. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180017 - van der Hoop, J. M., Vanderlaan, A. S. M., & Taggart, C. T. (2012). Absolute probability estimates of lethal vessel strikes to North Atlantic right whales in Roseway Basin, Scotian Shelf. Ecological Applications, 22(7), 2021–2033. https://doi.org/10.1890/11-1841.1 — Ted Cheeseman t...@happywhale.com www.Happywhale.com https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/ ** know your whales :) ** ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
