Dear Colleagues, On behalf of my co-authors I am pleased to bring your attention to our recently published paper, Behavioral responses affect distribution analyses of bowhead whales in the vicinity of seismic operations. Robertson FC, Koski WR, Trites AW (2016). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 549:243-262 Abstract Aerial surveys are sometimes used to assess the densities of wide-ranging whales, as well as changes in their distributions in response to human activity. Such surveys also provide data used to estimate numbers of animals exposed to different received levels of seismic sound, as required by regulators. However, estimates of abundance are often biased because they fail to account for the effects of seismic operations on the surfacing and diving behavior of whales. Our objective was to determine the extent to which analyses of the distribution of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus are affected by changes in visual 'availability' caused by seismic operations. We used aerial survey data collected during seismic operations in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea from late August to early October 2008 and fit spatial density surface models to bowhead sighting data to predict whale density in an ensonified area. We also incorporated availability correction factors to determine the sensitivity of density estimates to changes in surfacing and diving behavior caused by seismic operations. The influence of altered whale behavior was then evaluated by comparing a series of realistic simulated scenarios in which models incorporated undisturbed or seismic disturbance-related correction factors. Results suggest that the numbers of bowhead whales present in the vicinity of seismic operations during the bowhead autumn migration are underestimated if the behavioral effects of seismic operations on whales are ignored. Our study highlights the importance of accounting for changes in whale behavior that can affect sightability when estimating numbers and distribution of whales in the vicinity of industrial activity. This paper is available to download at: http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v549/p243-262/ If you are unable to download a copy I am happy to send it, please email me at: fcr@smruconsulting.com<mailto:fcr@smruconsulting.com> Best wishes, Frances Frances Robertson Research Scientist [1452885119590_PastedImage] SMRU Consulting North America Canada: 1529 West 6th Avenue | Suite 510 | Vancouver, BC | V6J 1R1 | Tel: +1 (604) 737-7678 USA: PO Box 764 | Friday Harbor, WA | 98250 | Tel: +1 (360) 370-5493 Email: fcr@smruconsulting.com<mailto:fcr@smruconsulting.com> | Cell: +1 604 339 4967 Website: www.smruconsulting.com<http://www.smruconsulting.com/> | [1452885138120_PastedImage] @SMRU_Consulting | [cid:image003.png@01D1AAAA.605991A0] www.linkedin.com/company/smru-consulting<http://www.linkedin.com/company/smru-consulting> P Please consider whether you really need a hard copy of this email before printing it. Thank you. NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY: This message, and any attachments, are intended solely for the addressee and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. If you believe that you have received this email in error, please contact the sender immediately and destroy this email. Although we have taken steps to ensure that this email and any attachments are free from any virus, we advise that, in keeping with good computing practice, the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free. SMRU Canada Limited is a limited company registered in Canada, Registered Number: 793035-6. Registered Office: 1529 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V6J 1R1, Canada SMRU, LLC is a limited company registered in the USA, Registered Number: 8527865. Registered Office: 2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400, Wilmington, DE, 19808, USA
