Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T05:34:42.680Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Identifying key habitat and seasonal patterns of a critically endangered population of killer whales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2013

Ruth Esteban ,
Philippe Verborgh ,
Pauline Gauffier ,
Joan Giménez ,
Isabel Afán ,
Ana Cañadas ,
Pedro García ,
Jose Luis Murcia ,
Sara Magalhães  and
Ezequiel Andreu
...Show all authors
Ruth Esteban*
Affiliation:
CIRCE, Conservation Information and Research on Cetaceans, C/Cabeza de Manzaneda 3, Algeciras-Pelayo, 11390 Cadiz, Spain
Philippe Verborgh
Affiliation:
CIRCE, Conservation Information and Research on Cetaceans, C/Cabeza de Manzaneda 3, Algeciras-Pelayo, 11390 Cadiz, Spain
Pauline Gauffier
Affiliation:
CIRCE, Conservation Information and Research on Cetaceans, C/Cabeza de Manzaneda 3, Algeciras-Pelayo, 11390 Cadiz, Spain
Joan Giménez
Affiliation:
GEMA, Grupo de Ecología Marina Aplicada, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC; C/Americo Vespucio, s/n, 41092, Isla de la Cartuja, Sevilla, Spain
Isabel Afán
Affiliation:
LAST, Laboratorio de SIG y Teledetección, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC; C/Americo Vespucio, s/n, 41092, Isla de la Cartuja, Sevilla, Spain
Ana Cañadas
Affiliation:
Alnilam Research and Conservation, Cándamo 116, 28240 Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid, Spain
Pedro García
Affiliation:
ANSE Asociación de Naturalistas del Sureste Plaza Pintor José María Párraga, 11, Bajo, 30002, Murcia, Spain
Jose Luis Murcia
Affiliation:
ANSE Asociación de Naturalistas del Sureste Plaza Pintor José María Párraga, 11, Bajo, 30002, Murcia, Spain
Sara Magalhães
Affiliation:
MAR ILIMITADO Porto da Baleeira de Sagres, 8650-368 Sagres, Portugal
Ezequiel Andreu
Affiliation:
TURMARES (Turísmo Maritimo del Estrecho), Avd/Alcalde Juan Nuñez 3, 11380 Tarifa, Cadiz, Spain
Renaud de Stephanis
Affiliation:
GEMA, Grupo de Ecología Marina Aplicada, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC; C/Americo Vespucio, s/n, 41092, Isla de la Cartuja, Sevilla, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: R. Esteban, CIRCE, Conservation Information and Research on Cetaceans, C/Cabeza de Manzaneda 3, Algeciras-Pelayo, 11390 Cadiz, Spain email: ruth@circe.info
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Killer whales have been described in the Gulf of Cadiz, southern Spain, in spring and in the Strait of Gibraltar in summer. A total of 11,276 cetaceans sightings coming from different sources (dedicated research surveys, whale watching companies and opportunistic observations) were used to create two presence–‘pseudo-absence’ predictive generalized additive models (GAM), where presence data were defined as sightings of killer whales and ‘pseudo-absence’ data as sightings of other cetacean species. One model was created using spring data when killer whales’ main prey, Atlantic bluefin tuna, enter the Mediterranean Sea, and the other model used summer data when Atlantic bluefin tuna return to the Atlantic Ocean. Both model predictions show that killer whales are highly associated with a probable distribution of bluefin tuna during their migration throughout the study area, constraining their distribution to the Gulf of Cadiz in spring and the Strait of Gibraltar in spring and summer. Knowledge of the distribution of killer whales in the study area is essential to establish conservation measures for this population.

Keywords

killer whaleOrcinus orcadistributionspatial modellinggeneralized additive models (GAM)cetaceanStrait of Gibraltarsouthern Iberian Peninsula
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 94 , Issue 6 , September 2014 , pp. 1317 - 1325
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

Aloncle, H. (1964a) Premières observations sur les petits cétacés des côtes marocaines. Bulletin d l'Institut des Pêches Maritimes du Maroc 12, 21–42.Google Scholar
Aloncle, H. (1964b) Note sur le thon rouge de la Baie Ibéro-Marocaine. Bulletin de l'Institut des Pêches Maritimes du Maroc 12, 43–59.Google Scholar
Amante, C. and Eakins, B. (2009) ETOPO1 1 Arc-minute global relief model: procedures, data sources and analysis. NOAA Technical Memorandum NESDIS NGDC-24, 19 pp. March 2009.Google Scholar
Baird, R.W. and Dill, L.M. (1995) Occurrence and behaviour of transient killer whales: seasonal and pod-specific variability, foraging behaviour, and prey handling. Canadian Journal of Zoology, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 73, 1300–1311.Google Scholar
Baraza, J., Ercilla, G. and Nelson, C.H. (1999) Potential geologic hazards on the eastern Gulf of Cadiz slope (SW Spain). Marine Geology 155, 191–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, M. and Mullin, K. (2001) Cetacean habitats in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Fisheries Bulletin 99, 219–239.Google Scholar
Bayed, A. and Beaubrun, P. (1987) Les mammifères marins du Maroc: inventaire préliminaire. Mammalia 51, 437–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowers, C.A. and Henderson, R.S. (1972) Project Deep Ops: deep object recovery with pilot and killer whales. San Diego, CA: Naval Undersea Center.Google Scholar
Braham, H.W. and Dahlheim, M.E. (1982) Killer whales in Alaska documented in the Platforms of Opportunity Program. Report of the International Whaling Commission. Cambridge: IWC.Google Scholar
Carder, K., Chen, F., Lee, Z., Hawes, S. and Cannizzaro, J. (2003) MODIS Ocean Science Team Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document, ATBD-MOD-19, Ver. 7. Available at: http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/atbd/atbd_mod19.pdf (accessed 17 July 2013).Google Scholar
Cañadas, A. and de Stephanis, R. (2006) Killer whale, or Orca Orcinus orca (Strait of Gibraltar subpopulation). In Reeves, R.R. and Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. (eds) The status and distribution of cetaceans in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Malaga: IUCN, Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, pp. 34–38.Google Scholar
Cañadas, A. and Hammond, P. (2006) Model-based abundance estimates for bottlenose dolphins off southern Spain: implications for conservation and management. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 8, 13–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cañadas, A., Sagarminaga, R., de Stephanis, R., Urquiola, E. and Hammond, P.S. (2005) Habitat preference modelling as a conservation tool: proposals for marine protected areas for cetaceans in southern Spanish waters. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 15, 495–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casinos, A. and Vericad, J.R. (1976) The cetaceans of the Spanish coasts: a survey. Mammalia 40, 267–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cetti, F. (1777) Storia naturale di Sardegna. III. Anfibi e Pesci. Cagliari, Italy: Tip. Giuseppe Piattoli, 208 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collette, B., Amotin, A.F., Boustanu, A., Carpenter, K.E., De Oliveira Leite, N. Jr, Di Natale, A., Die, D., Fox, W., Fredou, F.L., Graves, J., Viera Hazin, F.H., Hinton, M., Juan Jorda, M., Schratwieser, J., Texeira Lessa, R.P., Pires Ferreira Travassos, P.E. and Uozumi, Y. (2012) Thunnus thynnus. In IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. Gland: IUCN.Google Scholar
Cort, J. (1990) Biología y pesca del atún rojo, ‘Thunnus thynnus’(L.), del mar Cantábrico. Publicaciones Especiales. Instituto Español de Ocenografia 4, 272.Google Scholar
D'Amico, A., Bergamasco, A., Zanasca, P., Carniel, S., Nacini, E., Portunato, N., Teloni, V., Mori, C. and Barbanti, R. (2003) Qualitative correlation of marine mammals with physical and biological parameters in the Ligurian Sea. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 28, 29–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de la Serna, J.D., Alot, E., Majuelos, E. and Rioja, P. (2004) La migración trófica post reproductiva del atún rojo (Thunnus thynnus) a través del estrecho de Gibraltar. Collective Volume of Scientific Papers ICCAT 56, 1196–1209.Google Scholar
de Stephanis, R., Cornulier, T., Verborgh, P., Salazar Sierra, J., Pérez Gimeno, N. and Guinet, C. (2008a) Summer spatial distribution of cetaceans in the Strait of Gibraltar in relation to the oceanographic context. Marine Ecology Progress Series 353, 275–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Stephanis, R., García-Tiscar, S., Verborgh, P., Esteban Pavo, R., Pérez, S., Minvielle-Sebastia, L. and Guinet, C. (2008b) Diet of the social groups of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar. Marine Biology 154, 603–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dicenta, A. and Piccinetti, C. (1978) Desove del atun (Thunnus thynnus) en el Mediterráneo occidental y evaluacion directa del stock de reproductores, basado en la abundancia de sus larvas. Collective Volume of Scientific Papers ICCAT 7, 389–395.Google Scholar
Dwyer, S. and Visser, I. (2011) Cookie cutter shark (Isistius sp.) bites on cetaceans, with particular reference to killer whales (orca) (Orcinus orca). Aquatic Mammals 37(2), 11–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elith, J. and Leathwick, J. (2007) Predicting species distributions from museum and herbarium records using multiresponse models fitted with multivariate adaptive regression splines. Diversity and Distributions 13, 265–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ercilla, G., Alonso, B. and Baraza, J. (1992) Sedimentary evolution of the northwestern Alboran Sea during the Quaternary. Geo-Marine Letters 12, 144–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Esteban, R. (2008) Abundancia, Estructura social y Parámetros demográficos de la orca (Orcinus orca) en el Estrecho de Gibraltar. Master's thesis. Universidad de Cádiz, Spain.Google Scholar
Foote, A., Vilstrup, J., de Stephanis, R., Verborgh, P., Nielsen, S.C.A., Deaville, R., Kleivane, L., Martín, V., Miller, P.J.O., Øien, N., Pérez-Gil, M., Rasmussen, M., Reid, R.J., Robertson, K.M., Rogan, E., Similä, T., Tejedor, M.L., Vester, H., Víkingsson, G.A., Willerslev, E., Gilbert, M.T.P. and Piertney, S.B. (2011) Genetic differentiation among North Atlantic killer whale populations. Molecular Ecology 20, 629–641.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forney, K.A. and Wade, P. (2007) Worldwide distribution and abundance of killer whales. In Estes, J. (ed.) Whales, whaling and ocean ecosystems. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pp. 145–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fromentin, J.M. and Powers, J.E. (2005) Atlantic bluefin tuna: population dynamics, ecology, fisheries and management. Fish and Fisheries 6, 281–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García-Tiscar, S. (2009) Interacciones entre delfines mulares y orcas con pesqeuerías en el Mar de Alborán y Estrecho de Gibraltar. PhD thesis. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.Google Scholar
Guinet, C., Domenici, P., de Stephanis, R., Barrett-Lennard, L., Ford, J.K.B. and Verborgh, P. (2007) Killer whale predation on bluefin tuna: exploring the hypothesis of the endurance–exhaustion. Marine Ecology Progress Series 347, 111–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamazaki, T. (2002) Spatiotemporal prediction models of cetacean habitats in the mid-western North Atlantic ocean (from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA to Nova Scotia, Canada). Marine Mammal Science 18, 920–939.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hastie, T. and Tibshirani, R. (1990) Generalized additive models. Monographs on statistics and applied probability, 43. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman & Hall/CRC Press.Google Scholar
Hernández-Molina, F.J. (1993) Dinámica sedimentaria y evolución durante el Pleistoceno Terminal–Holoceno del margen noroccidental del Mar de Alboran. Modelo de estratigrafia secuencial de muy alta resolución en plataformas continentales. Master's thesis. Universidad de Granada, Spain.Google Scholar
Hernández-Molina, F., Somoza, L., Rey, J. and Pomar, L. (1994) Late Pleistocene–Holocene sediments on the Spanish continental shelves: Model for very high resolution sequence stratigraphy. Marine Geology 120, 129–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heyning, J.E. and Dahlheim, M.E. (1988) Orcinus orca. Mammalian Species 304, 1–9.Google Scholar
Hirzel, A.H., Helfer, V. and Metral, F. (2001) Assessing habitat-suitability models with a virtual species. Ecological Modelling 145, 111–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooker, S.K., Whitehead, H. and Gowans, S. (1999) Marine Protected Area design and the spatial and temporal distribution of cetaceans in a submarine canyon. Conservation Biology 13, 592–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horozco, A. (1598) Historia de la ciudad de Cádiz. 2nd edition. Cadiz, Spain: El Excmo. Ayuntamiento de esta M.N.. M. L. y M. H. Ciudad.Google Scholar
Iñiguez, M.A. (2001) Seasonal distribution of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Northern Patagonia, Argentina. Aquatic Mammals 27, 154–161.Google Scholar
Leatherwood, J.S. and Dalheim, M.E. (1978) Worldwide distribution of pilot whales and killer whales. Naval Ocean Systems Center Technical Report 443, pp. 1–39.Google Scholar
Lozano, F. (1958) Los escómbridos de las aguas españolas y marroquíes y su pesca. Trabajos Instituto Español de Oceanografia 25, 254.Google Scholar
Lütolf, M., Kienast, F. and Guisan, A. (2006) The ghost of past species occurrence: improving species distribution models for presence-only data. Journal of Applied Ecology 43, 802–815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackenzie, K. (1999) Parasites as biological tags in population studies of marine organisms. Parasitology 124, S153–S163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malod, J.A. (1982) Comparaison de l’évolution des marges continentales au Nord et au Sud de la Péninsule Ibérique. PhD thesis. Université Curie, Paris, France.Google Scholar
Mather, F., Mason, J. and Jones, A. (1995) Historical document: life history and fisheries of Atlantic bluefin tuna. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-370, 163 pp.Google Scholar
Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. (1987) Killer whale, Orcinus orca, in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Mammal Science 3, 356–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. and Birkun, A.J. (2010) Conserving whales, dolphins and porpoises in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. ACCOBAMS status report. Monaco: ACCOBAMS, 212 pp.Google Scholar
Phillips, S.J. and Dudík, M. (2008) Modeling of species distributions with Maxent: new extensions and a comprehensive evaluation. Ecography 31, 161–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quílez-Badia, G., Cermeño, P. and Tudela, S. (2012) Movements of bluefin tuna revealed by electronic tagging in the Mediterranean sea and in Atlantic waters of Morocco in 2011. ICCAT SCRS/2012/123.Google Scholar
Raga, J.A., Raduán, A. and Blanco, C. (1985) Contribución al estudio de la distribución de cetàceos en el Mediterráneo y Atlantico Ibérico. Miscelánia Zoológica 9, 361–366.Google Scholar
Ravier, C. and Fromentin, J.-M. (2001) Long-term fluctuations in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna population. ICES Journal of Marine Science 58, 1299–1317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, J., Evans, P.G.H. and Northridge, S.P. (2003) Atlas of cetacean distribution in north-west European waters. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), 82 pp.Google Scholar
Roberts, D.G. (1970) The Rif–Betic orogen in the Gulf of Cadiz. Marine Geology 9(5), M31–M37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez-Roda, J. (1964) Talla, peso y edad de los atunes, Thunnus thynnus (L.), capturados por la almadraba de Barbate (costa sudatlántica de España) en 1963 y comparación. Investigación Pesquera 26, 3–48.Google Scholar
Schneider, D.C. (2008) Habitat selection by marine birds in relation to water depth. Ibis 139, 175–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sella, M. (1929) Migrazioni e habitat del tonno (Thunnus thynnus L) studiati col metodo degli ami, con osservazioni su l'accrescimento, sul regime delle tonnare ecc. Venice: Univ.-Bibliothek Frankfurt an Main.Google Scholar
Selzer, L.A. and Payne, P.M. (1988) The dsitribution of white-sided (Lagenorhynchus acutus) and common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) VS. environmental features of the continental shelf of the Northeastern United States. Marine Mammal Science 4, 141–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sigurjónsson, J. and Leatherwood, S. (1988) The Icelandic live-capture fishery for killer whales, 1976–1988. Rit Fiskideildar 11, 307–316.Google Scholar
Srour, A. (1994) Développment de la nouvelle pêcherie artisanale au thon rouge dans la région de Ksar sghir. Note d'Information ISPM 26, 10–11.Google Scholar
Stockwell, D. (1999) The GARP modelling system: problems and solutions to automated spatial prediction. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 13, 143–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torres, L.G., Rosel, P.E., D'Agrosa, C. and Read, A.J. (2003) Improving management of overlapping bottlenose dolphin ecotypes through spatial analysis and genetics. Marine Mammal Science 19, 502–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VanDerWal, J., Shoo, L. and Januchowski, S. (2010) SDM Tools. Species Distribution Modelling Tools: tools for processing data associated with species distribution modelling exercises. R package version 1. Available at: https://www.rforge.net/SDMTools/ (accessed 17 July 2013).Google Scholar
Verborgh, P., de Stephanis, R., Pérez, S., Yaget, Y., Barbraud, C. and Guinet, C. (2009) Survival rate, abundance, and residency of long-finned pilot whales in the Strait of Gibraltar. Marine Mammal Science 25, 523–536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, E.J., Holmes, E.E. and Balcomb, K.C. (2009) Quantifying the effects of prey abundance on killer whale reproduction. Journal of Applied Ecology 46, 632–640.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, S. and Block, B. (2009) Habitat use in Atlantic bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus inferred from diving behavior. Endangered Species Research 10, 355–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, S. (2000) Modelling and smoothing parameter estimation with multiple quadratic penalties. Statistical Society: Series B 62, 413–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, S. (2001) mgcv: GAMs and generalized ridge regression for R. R News 1(2), 20–25.Google Scholar
Wood, S. (2006) On confidence intervals for generalized additive models based on penalized regression splines. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics 48, 445–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaniewski, A.E., Lehmann, A. and Overton, J.M. (2002) Predicting species spatial distributions using presence-only data: a case study of native New Zealand ferns. Ecological Modelling 157, 261–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar