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Predictive Marine Mammal Modeling for Queen Charlotte Basin, British Columbia
Technical Report
Benjamin Best Patrick Halpin Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab Nicholas School of the Environment Duke University Marine Lab
Page 3 of 120
TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword...................................................................................................................................................................2 List of Figures...........................................................................................................................................................5 List of Tables ..........................................................................................................................................................10
Introduction to the Project .......................................................................................................................................11 Survey Design.........................................................................................................................................................12 Species Observed and Conservation Status ............................................................................................................14 Abundance Estimation............................................................................................................................................19
TIER A. ESTIMATING ABUNDANCE .......................................................................... 21
Product 1. Using Conventional Distance Sampling ................................................................................................21 Methods ..................................................................................................................................................................21 Results ....................................................................................................................................................................22 Discussion...............................................................................................................................................................32
Product 2. Using Density Surface Models and Identifying Hotspots ....................................................................36 Methods ..................................................................................................................................................................36 Results ....................................................................................................................................................................40 Abundance Estimates..............................................................................................................................................42 Discussion...............................................................................................................................................................46
TIER B. COMPOSITE RISK MAP AND VESSEL ROUTING ....................................... 47
Introduction ...............................................................................................................................................................47
Methods ......................................................................................................................................................................48 Product 3. Composite Risk Map .............................................................................................................................48 Product 4. Vessel Routing.......................................................................................................................................49
Results.........................................................................................................................................................................50
Discussion ...................................................................................................................................................................55
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................. 56
APPENDIX 1. BRITISH COLUMBIA NAUTICAL CHARTS ......................................... 61
APPENDIX 2. MAPS OF OBSERVATIONS ................................................................. 68
Harbour porpoise ......................................................................................................................................................68
Dall’s porpoise ...........................................................................................................................................................69
Pacific white-sided dolphin .......................................................................................................................................70
Humpback whale .......................................................................................................................................................71
Fin whale ....................................................................................................................................................................72
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Killer whale ................................................................................................................................................................73
Minke whale ...............................................................................................................................................................74
Harbour seal, haul-out ..............................................................................................................................................75
Harbour seal, in-water ..............................................................................................................................................76
Stellar sea lion, haul-out............................................................................................................................................77
Steller sea lion, in-water............................................................................................................................................78
Elephant seal ..............................................................................................................................................................79
APPENDIX 3. MAPS OF ENVIRONMENTAL COVARIATES ...................................... 80
Depth...........................................................................................................................................................................80
Slope............................................................................................................................................................................81
Distance to Coast .......................................................................................................................................................82
Dynamic Variables: SST, Chl...................................................................................................................................83
APPENDIX 4. DENSITY SURFACE MODEL OUTPUTS ............................................. 84
Harbour Porpoise ......................................................................................................................................................84
Dall’s porpoise ...........................................................................................................................................................87
Pacific white-sided dolphin .......................................................................................................................................90
Humpback whale .......................................................................................................................................................93
Fin whale ....................................................................................................................................................................97
Killer whale ..............................................................................................................................................................100
Minke whale .............................................................................................................................................................103
Harbour seal, haul-out ............................................................................................................................................106
Harbour seal, in-water ............................................................................................................................................109
Stellar sea lion, haul-out..........................................................................................................................................112
Steller sea lion, in-water..........................................................................................................................................115
Elephant seal ............................................................................................................................................................118
