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Background to the NECP
• Regular pelagic trips into the North Sea since 1998 (NTBC trips since 1987)
• White-beaked Dolphins found in 2003, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
• MARINElife project in Lyme Bay
Why study White-beaked Dolphins?
• European Protected Species (Annexe IV, Habitats Directive)
• Favourable Conservation Status assessed every 6 years
• SCANS (1994) estimated 7856 for North Sea and Channel
• SCANS II (2005) estimated central/northern North Sea population as 10,562
• 2007 – ‘Favourable with no significant future threats’
• However...
Do we really know how many White-beaked Dolphins there are?
• Large confidence intervals in abundance estimates
• Local studies and wider distribution data suggest range contraction
• Vulnerable to climate change (rising sea temperature), habitat degradation, bycatch, overfishing of prey species, acoustic pollution, biocontamination
Survey method
• 3/4 observers (leader/photographer, cetaceans/effort data, ESAS, scribe)
• Effort data; position, heading, sea state, swell height, wind speed/direction, precipitation
• …it isn’t easy to write ‘heavy snow’ when you’re in a white-out
Survey Work
• 6 boat-based surveys carried out during winter 2009/10, severely hampered by the weather
• Regular transect surveys on PV St Oswald in 2011/12/13, occasionally hampered by the weather
• Transect surveys of the Farne Deeps in August 2012 and March/April 2013
Harbour Porpoise
• Most frequently recorded cetacean 2003-2009, 341 sightings
• Under-reported due to regular presence around the Farne Islands and Druridge Bay
• Sightings seem to be on a steep downslide at Whitburn
Bottlenose Dolphin
• Second most frequently recorded cetacean 2003-2009, 133 sightings
• First recorded in north east England 1966 • 10 records prior to 2000
Relative sightings rate by month – casual sightings 2003-2009
00.05
0.10.15
0.20.25
0.30.35
0.4M
arch
Apr
il
May
June July
Aug
ust
Sep
tem
ber
Oct
ober
Nov
embe
r
Minke whale
Relative sightings rate 2003-2009 – casual sightings
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8 20
03
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
White - beaked dolphin
Relative sightings rate 2003-2009 – Farne Islands
0
0.020.04
0.06
0.08
0.10.12
0.14
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
White-beaked dolphin
Risso’s Dolphin
• Fifth most frequently recorded cetacean 2003-2009, 6 sightings of 20 animals
• 13 sightings in total for north east England • First English east coast record was as
recent as 1996 • Calves seen near the Farne Islands in
2006 and 2007 • Recorded on NECP transect survey
October 2013
Common Dolphin
• 6 records of 16-19 animals 2003-2009; July/August 2004 (Cullercoats), July 2009 (Tynemouth), February 2010 (Farne Deeps), March 2010 (Farne Deeps)
• 2 animals 1nm E of Beadnell June 2013, 2 animals south past Tynemouth July 2013
Killer Whale
• 4 records of 5 animals 2003-2009; November 2004 (Tynemouth), September 2005 (Tynemouth), December 2006 (Hartlepool), August 2008 (Druridge Bay)
• Only 17 additional records for north east England from 1863-2012
• Recorded from pelagic trip off Boulmer August 2013
• This doesn’t tally well with anecdotal ‘evidence’ available by a quick search of the internet…
Long-finned Pilot Whale
• 2 sightings 2003-2009, March 2007 (Blyth) and March 2009 (Cresswell)
• May occur regularly in the North Sea • Pod of 63 killed at Shoreston, 29/07/1734 • Three records of live strandings 1991-
2002
Humpback Whale
• 4 sightings 2003-2009; 07/09/06 (Hartlepool), 07/09/09 (Lindisfarne), 13/09/09 (Longstone, Farne Islands), 19/09/09 (Newton Point)
• Whitburn 01/01/11, Whitburn 06-07/08/11, Whitburn and Cresswell 03/08/13
Sperm Whale
• 2 sightings 2003-2009; 2004 (Farne Islands), 03/04/08 (Whitburn)
• Tideline corpse Beadnell, January 2010 • One feeding with Gannets 2miles E of
Cresswell 31/05/12
Striped Dolphin
• Live stranded calf at Whitley Bay, April 2006
• Strandings also at Blyth (October 1991), Seaburn (December 1999), Dunstanburgh (April 2003)
White-sided Dolphin
• 1 sighting 2003-2009, July 2007 (Sunderland)
• 5 tideline corpses between 1990-1994; Amble (December 1990), Beadnell Bay (2, September 1993), Old Law (July 1994), St Mary’s Island (April 1994)
Sei Whale
• One record, June 2009 (Cresswell) • One stranded Amble, February 1912 • One stranded, Druridge Bay, September
2012
The stuff of dreams... • Beluga – South Shields 1903, Hadston 1988, Co.
Durham late ‘80s/early ‘90s • Northern Bottle-nosed Whale – Hartley 1744, River Tyne
1857, Blyth 1914, Seal Sands 1958 • Fin Whale – Holy Island 1810, 1831, Amble 1915 • Bowhead Whale – Tynemouth 1532, Newbiggin 1869 • False Killer Whale – Berwick upon Tweed 1935, Beal
1935 • Sowerby’s Beaked Whale – West Hartlepool 1940,
Whitburn 1978, Holy Island 2006
The future
• Completion of the Northumberland White-beaked Dolphin photo-ID catalogue
• New collaborative projects • Marine Mammal and Seabird Surveyor
Training Courses with the Wildlife Trusts • Further surveys of the Farne Deeps
Acknowledgements • Natural England, Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club,
National Trust, Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, North Sea Wildlife Trusts, Berwickshire and North Northumberland EMS, ORCA
• Dr Colin McLeod, University of Aberdeen • Dr Tom Brereton, MARINElife • Rob Deaville, CSIP • Allan Skinner/SarahJFK • Dennis Harrison/Shokwave • William Shiel/Glad Tidings • The NECP volunteers • All of you for listening