Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T11:42:18.678Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Abundance and distribution of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) on the north coast of Anglesey, Wales, UK

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2008

Richard Shucksmith ,
Nia H. Jones ,
George W. Stoyle ,
Andrew Davies  and
Emily F. Dicks
Richard Shucksmith*
Affiliation:
Scottish Association for Marine Science, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Oban, Argyll, PA37 1QA
Nia H. Jones
Affiliation:
Marine Awareness North Wales, 376 High Street, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 1YE
George W. Stoyle
Affiliation:
Marine Awareness North Wales, 376 High Street, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 1YE
Andrew Davies
Affiliation:
Scottish Association for Marine Science, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Oban, Argyll, PA37 1QA
Emily F. Dicks
Affiliation:
Marine Awareness North Wales, 376 High Street, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 1YE
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Richard Shucksmith, Scottish Association for Marine Science, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Oban, Argyll, PA37 1QA email: Richard.shucksmith@sams.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A three year study was undertaken during 2002 to 2004 from May to September to estimate abundance and density of harbour porpoises on the north coast of Anglesey, Wales, UK. There were no ecological data regarding the harbour porpoises in Anglesey waters so the ability to influence conservation measures was highly constrained.

Boat based transects using distance sampling techniques were applied so a robust estimate of density and abundance could be attained. The study area consisted of a block approximately 489 km2 extending from the east of Point Lynas to the west of South Stack on north coast of Anglesey. The study area was divided into 5 blocks consisting of 31 perpendicular transect lines to the shore. Each of the transect lines were surveyed 1–5 times by the end of the three year study.

Based on the assumption that g(0) = 1 the density of harbour porpoises for the 489 km2 study site was estimated to be 0.630 individuals/km2 (CV = 0.20) and the abundance is estimated to be 309 individuals (CV = 0.20). Heterogeneity in density and abundance was observed across the 5 blocks which showed Point Lynas and South Stack to have the highest densities. This distribution was closely associated to fine-scale oceanographic features which cause prey to be concentrated and may facilitate foraging for harbour porpoises. The study showed that Anglesey provides coastal habitats for the harbour porpoise and was the first study of this kind in North Wales, UK.

Keywords

distance samplingline transectcetaceanhabitat
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Special Issue 5: Cetaceans , August 2009 , pp. 1051 - 1058
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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

Barlow, J. (1988) Harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, abundance estimation for California, Oregon, and Washington: I. Ship Surveys. Fishery Bulletin 86, 417–432.Google Scholar
Barlow, J., Gerrodette, T. and Forcada, J. (2001) Factors affecting perpendicular sighting distances on shipboard line-transect surveys for cetaceans. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 3, 201–212.Google Scholar
Borchers, D.L., Buckland, S.T., Goedhart, P.W., Clarke, E.D. and Hedley, S.L. (1998) Horvitz–Thompson estimators for double-platform line transects surveys. Biometrics 54, 1221–1237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Börjesson, P. and Read, A.J. (2003) Variation in timing of conception between populations of the harbour porpoises. Journal of Mammalogy 84, 948–955.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckland, S.T., Anderson, D.R., Burnham, K.P., Laake, J.L., Borchers, D.L. and Thomas, L. (2001) Introduction to distance sampling: estimating abundance of biological populations. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, J., Joyce, A.E., Aldridge, J.N., Young, E.F., Fernand, L. and Gurbutt, P.A. (1999) Further identification and acquisition of bathymetric data for Irish Sea modelling. DETR research contract CW075Google Scholar
Calderan, S.V. (2003) Fine-scale temporal distribution by harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in North Wales: acoustic and visual survey techniques. MSc thesis. University of Wales, Bangor.Google Scholar
Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May (1992) On the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31992L0043:EN:HTMLGoogle Scholar
de Boer, M. (2001) Bardsey Island cetacean survey (August–September 2001). A report by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.Google Scholar
Hammond, P.S., Berggren, P., Benke, H., Borchers, D.L., Collet, A., Heide-Jorgensen, M.P., Heimlich, S., Hiby, A.R., Leopold, F.M. and Oien, N. (2002) Abundance of harbour porpoise and other small cetaceans in the North Sea and adjacent waters. Journal of Applied Ecology 39, 361–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hastie, G., Barton, T.R., Grellier, K., Hammond, P.S., Swift, R.J., Thompson, P.M. and Wilson, B. (2003) Distribution of small cetaceans within a candidate Special Area of Conservation; implications for management. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 5, 261–266.Google Scholar
Hydrographic Department of Great Britain (1993) West coasts of England and Wales and south coast of Scotland from Cape Cornwall to Mull of Galloway including Isle of Man. 12th edition. London: Hydrographer to the Navy.Google Scholar
Johnston, W.D., Westgate, A.J. and Read, A.J. (2005) Effects of fine-scale oceanographic features on the distribution and movements of harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena in the Bay of Fundy. Marine Ecology Progress Series 295, 279–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraus, S.D., Gilbert, R.J. and Prescott, H.J. (1983) A comparison of aerial, shipboard and land based survey methodology for the harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena. Fisheries Bulletin 81, 910–913.Google Scholar
Koopman, H.N. (1998) Topographical distribution of the blubber of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Journal of Mammalogy 79, 260–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leeney, R. (2003) Harbour porpoise distribution: patterns in space and time on the north coast of Anglesey. Sightings in Wales 4, 10–11.Google Scholar
Lockyer, C., Heide-Jørgensen, M.P., Jensen, J., Kinze, C.C. and Buus Sørensen, T. (2001) Age, length and reproductive parameters of harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena (L.) from West Greenland. ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 58, 154–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLeod, C.R., Yeo, M., Brown, A.E., Burn, A.J., Hopkins, J.J. and Way, S.F. (2002) The Habitats Directive: selection of Special Areas of Conservation in the UK. 2nd edition. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee.Google Scholar
Mann, K.H. and Lazier, J.R.N. (1996) Dynamics of marine ecosystems. Biological–physical interactions in the oceans. Malden, MA: Blackwell Science.Google Scholar
Oxley, R. (2006) An overview of marine renewables in the UK: a synopsis of Michael Hay's presentation. Ibis 148, 203–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierpoint, C., Baines, M. and Earl, S. (1998) The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in West Wales. A briefing report to the Joint Marine Partnership of the Wildlife Trusts and WWF-UK, in support of a Special Area of Conservation for the harbour porpoises at Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire.Google Scholar
Redfern, J.V., Ferguson, M.C., Becker, E.A., Hyrenbach, K.D., Good, C., Barlow, J., Kaschner, K., Baumgartner, M.F., Forney, K.A., Ballance, L.T., Fauchald, P., Halpin, P., Hamazaki, T., Pershing, A.J., Qian, S.S., Read, A., Reilly, S.B., Torres, L. and Werner, F. (2006) Techniques for cetacean-habitat modeling. Marine Ecology Progress Series 310, 271–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, J., Evans, P.G.H. and Northridge, S.P. (2003) Cetecean distribution atlas. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee.Google Scholar
St John, M.A. and Pond, S. (1992) Tidal plume generation around promontory: effects on nutrient concentrations and primary productivity. Continetal Shelf Research 12, 261–274.Google Scholar
St John, M.A., Harrison, P.J. and Parsons, T.R. (1992) Tidal wake mixing: localized effects on primary production and zooplankton distributions in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 164, 261–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, L., Laake, J.L., Strindberg, S., Marques, F.F.C., Buckland, S.T., Borchers, D.L., Anderson, D.R., Burnham, K.P., Hedley, S.L., Pollard, J.H., Bishop, J.R.B. and Marques, T.A. (2005) Distance 5.0 Beta. Release 1. Research Unit for Wildlife Population Assessment, University of St Andrews, UK. http://www.ruwpa.st-and.ac.uk/distance/Google Scholar
United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (1997) Admiralty Chart: Holyhead to Great Ormes Head. London: Hydrographer to the Navy.Google Scholar
Verfuß, U.K., Honnef, C.G., Meding, A., Dähne, M., Mundry, R. and Harald Benke, H. (2007) Geographical and seasonal variation of harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) presence in the German Baltic Sea revealed by passive acoustic monitoring. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 87, 165–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weare, J. (2003) Abundance and habitat use of harbour porpoise off Point Lynas, Anglesey. MSc thesis. University of Wales, Bangor.Google Scholar
Wilson, B., Batty, R.S., Daunt, F. and Carter, C. (2007) Collision risks between marine renewable energy devices and mammals, fish and diving birds. Report to the Scottish Executive. Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, Scotland, PA37 1QA.Google Scholar
Wilson, B., Reid, R.J., Grellier, K., Thompson, P.M. and Hammond, P.S. (2004) Considering the temporal when managing the spatial: a population range expansion impacts protected areas-based management for bottlenose dolphins. Animal Conservation 7, 331–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolanski, E. and Hamner, W.M. (1988) Topographically controlled fronts in the ocean and their biological influence. Science 241, 177–181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed