Dear Marmam members, The following paper has recently been published- Faustino, C.E.S., Silva, M.A., Marques, T.A. and Thomas, L. 2010. Designing a shipboard line transect survey to estimate cetacean abundance off the Azores archipelago. Arquipélago. Life and Marine Sciences 27: 49-58. You can download it from http://www.horta.uac.pt/intradop//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=... or request to cf@smru.co.uk Abstract Management schemes dedicated to the conservation of wildlife populations rely on the effective monitoring of population size, and this may require the accurate and precise estimation of this parameter. Line transect distance sampling can be an effective approach for estimating abundance. Little information is available regarding cetacean abundance in the Azores. This paper had two aims: 1) to design a line transect shipboard survey to estimate the absolute abundance of the most common cetaceans off the Azores; and 2) to provide a set of potential survey effort scenarios to policy makers and environmental managers. Three survey scenarios are assessed, and one detailed survey design is presented. A total of 8,800 km of survey effort is recommended; at this level the expected coefficient of variation of estimates is less than 0.3 for most species. However, if logistic constraints prevent this, at least 5,000 km of survey effort should be used to achieve minimum sample size requirements; this is estimated to take 36 days of effort. It is also recommended to conduct a pilot survey. This would provide more detailed information that could be used to improve the survey design of what would be the first survey of this magnitude ever to be implemented in the Azores. best regards! Cláudia Faustino Research Scientist Scottish Oceans Institute SMRU Limited New Technology Centre North Haugh ST ANDREWS Fife KY16 9SR email: cf@smru.co.uk www.smru.co.uk http://soi.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Tel: + 44 (0) 1334 466 900 Fax: + 44 (0) 1334 477 878 Notice of Confidentiality: this email has been sent by SMRU Limited, Registered Company No: 296937. 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.