Coming full circle: using data collected by mariners to mitigate vessel-related threats to cetaceans

Presentation Abstract

The Salish Sea is host to high densities of both cetaceans and maritime traffic, with approximately 11,000 large vessels transiting through the area each year. As such, cetaceans in the region are vulnerable to anthropogenic threats, including entanglement, large vessel disturbance and vessel strikes. These threats can have grave consequences for individuals, such as serious injury or mortality, and may cause lasting population-level effects for species with reduced numbers. Mitigating these threats is high priority for conservationists, policy makers and scientists, but taking action to do so is complicated by the widespread and temporally-variable distributions of cetaceans and vessels. Using data collected over a long-term period to identify specific areas where high densities of marine mammals and vessels overlap can make this task easier. The B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network, a 15 year old citizen science initiative, used its opportunistically- collected cetacean sightings dataset and spatially-explicit estimate of relative observer effort to undertake a hotspot analysis for five species of cetaceans listed as “at-risk” under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. The results of this analysis were combined with fishing and shipping vessel traffic distribution data to create maps highlighting where cetacean dense areas corresponded with heavy vessel traffic, indicating areas of high risk for the aforementioned threats. The Network focused mitigation-related outreach on mariners that frequent the identified high-risk areas. Directly reaching these target groups maximizes the impact of educational outreach efforts – an important consideration for fund-limited organizations undertaking such efforts.

Session Title

Tools and Strategies for Growing Citizen Science

Conference Track

Engagement

Conference Name

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)

Document Type

Event

Start Date

2016 12:00 AM

End Date

2016 12:00 AM

Location

2016SSEC

Type of Presentation

Oral

Genre/Form

conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)

Contributing Repository

Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Subjects – Topical (LCSH)

Cetacea populations--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Marine mammals--Conservation--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Ships--Environmental aspects--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)

Geographic Coverage

Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)

Comments

The B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network is a research and conservation program of the Vancouver Aquarium, in collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Rights

This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Type

Text

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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Coming full circle: using data collected by mariners to mitigate vessel-related threats to cetaceans

2016SSEC

The Salish Sea is host to high densities of both cetaceans and maritime traffic, with approximately 11,000 large vessels transiting through the area each year. As such, cetaceans in the region are vulnerable to anthropogenic threats, including entanglement, large vessel disturbance and vessel strikes. These threats can have grave consequences for individuals, such as serious injury or mortality, and may cause lasting population-level effects for species with reduced numbers. Mitigating these threats is high priority for conservationists, policy makers and scientists, but taking action to do so is complicated by the widespread and temporally-variable distributions of cetaceans and vessels. Using data collected over a long-term period to identify specific areas where high densities of marine mammals and vessels overlap can make this task easier. The B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network, a 15 year old citizen science initiative, used its opportunistically- collected cetacean sightings dataset and spatially-explicit estimate of relative observer effort to undertake a hotspot analysis for five species of cetaceans listed as “at-risk” under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. The results of this analysis were combined with fishing and shipping vessel traffic distribution data to create maps highlighting where cetacean dense areas corresponded with heavy vessel traffic, indicating areas of high risk for the aforementioned threats. The Network focused mitigation-related outreach on mariners that frequent the identified high-risk areas. Directly reaching these target groups maximizes the impact of educational outreach efforts – an important consideration for fund-limited organizations undertaking such efforts.