First underwater sighting of Shepherd’s beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi)

Thompson, Chris; Bouchet, Phil J.; Meeuwig, Jessica J.

doi:10.1186/s41200-019-0165-6

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…One beaked whale was sighted in the 2018 survey, but the sea state was too high for it to be identified to species. Tristan da Cunha is also a known location for beaked whale strandings, and the first live sighting of Shepherd's beaked whale since 2012 was recorded in 2017 (Best et al, 2009;Thompson et al, 2019), confirming the persistence of a population in Tristan da Cunha waters.…”

Section: Tristan Da Cunhamentioning

confidence: 86%

Cetaceans Sightings During Research Cruises in Three Remote Atlantic British Overseas Territories

Martin¹,

Söffker

Schofield

et al. 2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Marine mammal sightings were recorded during research cruises to three remote, mid-ocean British Overseas Territories in the South Atlantic and Southern Ocean. In March to April 2018 and 2019, the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of tropical St Helena and temperate Tristan da Cunha were surveyed. The sub-polar waters of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) were surveyed in February to March 2019. At St Helena in 2018, five species were recorded during 11 sightings, and in 2019, four species, with one additional unidentified species, during seven sightings. Most of these sightings were of dolphin species, which are known to be resident around the Island and seamounts. In Tristan da Cunha in 2018, a total of five identified and one unidentified species were recorded during six sightings, half of which were associated with the Islands or seamounts. In 2019, due to rough weather, no sightings were recorded in the Tristan da Cunha waters. Around SGSSI, 162 sightings of 236 cetaceans were made in 2019, mostly of baleen whales, with seven species identified with certainty. Sightings around the southern South Sandwich Islands included beaked whales and large dolphins, whereas baleen whales dominated in the northern South Sandwich Islands. These results provide new data for rarely surveyed regions, helping to build a spatial picture of important areas for marine mammals, which will help inform marine spatial protection strategies.

show abstract

Section: Tristan Da Cunhamentioning

confidence: 86%

Cetaceans Sightings During Research Cruises in Three Remote Atlantic British Overseas Territories

Martin¹,

Söffker

Schofield

et al. 2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Stereo‐BRUVS are a non‐destructive, cost‐effective method for studying marine fauna (Cappo et al, 2006 ; Letessier et al, 2013 ; Letessier, Juhel, et al, 2015 ). They have been used to study abundance, biomass, diversity, distribution, and behavior in animals ranging from fish and sharks, to turtles, moray eels, and marine mammals (Barley et al, 2016 ; Letessier, Bouchet, et al, 2015 ; Spaet et al, 2016 ; Thompson et al, 2019 ; Whitmarsh et al, 2017 ). Seabed stereo‐BRUVS have been adapted to mid‐water environments, making them a useful tool for documenting highly mobile and elusive species (Bouchet et al, 2018 ; Letessier et al, 2013 ; Thompson et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They have been used to study abundance, biomass, diversity, distribution, and behavior in animals ranging from fish and sharks, to turtles, moray eels, and marine mammals (Barley et al, 2016 ; Letessier, Bouchet, et al, 2015 ; Spaet et al, 2016 ; Thompson et al, 2019 ; Whitmarsh et al, 2017 ). Seabed stereo‐BRUVS have been adapted to mid‐water environments, making them a useful tool for documenting highly mobile and elusive species (Bouchet et al, 2018 ; Letessier et al, 2013 ; Thompson et al, 2019 ). BRUVS‐derived data should be interpreted recognizing the potential impact of variable bait plumes (Whitmarsh et al, 2017 ), the potential higher representation of piscivores, and the relative nature of abundance estimates in contrast with density estimates generated by, for instance, underwater visual census (UVC, Langlois et al, 2010 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stereo-BRUVS are a non-destructive, cost-effective method for studying marine fauna (Cappo et al, 2006;Letessier et al, 2013;Letessier, Juhel, et al, 2015). They have been used to study abundance, biomass, diversity, distribution, and behavior in animals ranging from fish and sharks, to turtles, moray eels, and marine mammals (Barley et al, 2016;Letessier, Bouchet, et al, 2015;Spaet et al, 2016;Thompson et al, 2019;Whitmarsh et al, 2017).…”

Section: Stereo-baited Underwater Video Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Offshore platforms as novel ecosystems: A case study from Australia’s Northwest Shelf

Elden

Meeuwig

Hobbs

2022

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The decommissioning of offshore oil and gas platforms typically involves removing some or all of the associated infrastructure and the consequent destruction of the associated marine ecosystem that has developed over decades. There is increasing evidence of the important ecological role played by offshore platforms. Concepts such as novel ecosystems allow stakeholders to consider the ecological role played by each platform in the decommissioning process. This study focused on the Wandoo field in Northwest Australia as a case study for the application of the novel ecosystem concept to the decommissioning of offshore platforms. Stereo‐baited remote underwater video systems were used to assess the habitat composition and fish communities at Wandoo, as well as two control sites: a sandy one that resembled the Wandoo site pre‐installation, and one characterized by a natural reef as a control for natural hard substrate and vertical relief. We found denser macrobenthos habitat at the Wandoo site than at either of the control sites, which we attributed to the exclusion of seabed trawling around the Wandoo infrastructure. We also found that the demersal and pelagic taxonomic assemblages at Wandoo more closely resemble those at a natural reef than those which would likely have been present pre‐installation, but these assemblages are still unique in a regional context. The demersal assemblage is characterized by reef‐associated species with higher diversity than those at the sand control and natural reef control sites, with the pelagic community characterized by species associated with oil platforms in other regions. These findings suggest that a novel ecosystem has emerged in the Wandoo field. It is likely that many of the novel qualities of this ecosystem would be lost under decommissioning scenarios that involve partial or complete removal. This study provides an example for classifying offshore platforms as novel ecosystems.

show abstract

“…On smaller scales (10-50 km), mid-water BRUVS have helped quantify the pelagic fish assemblage structure of seamounts and other seabed features (Bouchet et al, 2020). Further assistance on MPA planning comes from an improved understanding of how cryptic and rare species use the vastness of this space: mid-water BRUVS have provided insight into the distribution and behavior of cryptic species such as turtles (Letessier et al, 2015a) and beaked whales (Thompson et al, 2019). They have also been used to identify nursery areas for pelagic sharks (Forrest, 2019) analogous to the use of seabed BRUVS in identifying coastal shark nurseries (Oh et al, 2017).…”

Section: Examples Of Important Ecological Insightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pulling Back the Blue Curtain: A Pelagic Monitoring Program for the Blue Belt

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ocean health is fundamental to human prosperity. However, fisheries exploitation, industrialization and climate change imperil our oceans. Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established in coastal habitats since the 1970s and the ongoing monitoring of these MPAs has shown their general ecological and economic value. Demonstrable benefits can include biodiversity conservation, fisheries enhancement and climate resilience. Since the 2000s, large scale MPAs (LSMPAs) are increasingly established, with new parks including extensive areas of pelagic habitat. Seminal was the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) MPA created in 2010. In 2016, the United Kingdom Government established the Blue Belt Programme to provide long-term protection of the marine environment across the United Kingdom Overseas Territories and LSMPAs have now been established or designated in a number of these territories. However, empirical data for the Blue Belt LSMPAs are needed to test their effectiveness in conserving pelagic species and to allow managers to monitor and assess the LSMPAs based on the best available evidence. This Perspective presents current advances in video-based monitoring of pelagic wildlife and provides examples of key ecological insights gained from their use that are relevant to LSMPA planning and management. We present a case study from the BIOT MPA and finally generalize with respect to key learning’s that will support planning and monitoring of LSMPAs within the Blue Belt Programme.

show abstract

First underwater sighting of Shepherd’s beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi)

Cited by 6 publications

References 27 publications

Cetaceans Sightings During Research Cruises in Three Remote Atlantic British Overseas Territories

Cetaceans Sightings During Research Cruises in Three Remote Atlantic British Overseas Territories

Offshore platforms as novel ecosystems: A case study from Australia’s Northwest Shelf

Pulling Back the Blue Curtain: A Pelagic Monitoring Program for the Blue Belt

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About