Investigating minke whale acoustic and foraging ecology to underpin MPA-based

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Title
Investigating minke whale acoustic and foraging ecology to underpin MPA-based

CoPED ID
fa0e3672-c2d0-4e52-8916-049b017817d0

Status
Active

Funders

Value
No funds listed.

Start Date
Sept. 30, 2021

End Date
Sept. 29, 2025

Description

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North Atlantic minke whales in Scottish waters face a diversity of anthropogenic threats, including entanglement in fisheries, collision risk with vessels and offshore devices such as tidal turbines, and chemical and noise pollution. Throughout its range, the species is also threatened by large-scale ecosystem change caused by global climate change. Next to a better understanding of the year-round distribution, ecology, and behaviour of the species, effective conservation requires a robust quantification of human impacts on this and other species inhabiting Scottish seas. Such information is urgently needed for successful monitoring and management of the two Scottish minke whale pMPAs, recently proposed.
Building on existing SAMS-HWDT-MSS collaborations, this project will have access to unique, long-term acoustic and visual datasets from Scottish waters. These data will serve to explore potential changes in minke whale distribution across the last two decades and the potential environmental and anthropogenic drivers for observed patterns. Species distribution and habitat models will be underpinned with field studies collecting new information on several aspects of minke whale ecology.

Objective 1: Modelling long-term minke whale distribution patterns on the west coast of Scotland
Objective 2: Investigating the use of long-term passive acoustics for monitoring minke whale distribution and underwater noise impacts within Scottish pMPAs
Objective 3: Investigating minke whale dive, feeding and associated acoustic behaviour
Objective 4: Quantifying minke whale size, behaviour and health using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

Denise Risch SUPER_PER
Timothy Awbery STUDENT_PER

Subjects by relevance
  1. Climate changes
  2. Whales
  3. Distribution
  4. Conservation of the seas
  5. Environmental changes
  6. Whaling
  7. Noise
  8. Seas

Extracted key phrases
  1. Term minke whale distribution pattern
  2. Scottish minke whale pmpa
  3. Minke whale acoustic
  4. Minke whale ecology
  5. North Atlantic minke whale
  6. Minke whale dive
  7. Minke whale size
  8. Term passive acoustic
  9. Term acoustic
  10. Acoustic behaviour
  11. Scottish water
  12. Scottish pmpas
  13. Scottish sea
  14. Round distribution
  15. Species distribution

Related Pages

UKRI project entry

UK Project Locations