Looking beyond the horizon: An early warning system to keep marine mammal information relevant for conservation

Abstract

Important marine mammal areas (IMMAs) are discrete portions of habitat, important to marine mammal species, that have the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation. Although IMMAs are not a blueprint for marine protected areas or other conservation designations, they are useful for providing a foundation for marine spatial planning and systematic conservation planning that can then lead to protected areas or special spatial regulations. To be most useful for supporting management and conservation, however, the information coming out of IMMAs needs to reflect current conditions. An ‘early warning system’ is proposed with a generic set of indicators to flag when marine mammal species in IMMAs require management interventions due to changing distributions or decreasing populations. Rather than signifying that quantitative thresholds have been reached, these indicators comprise alerting information derived from visual or acoustic census, satellite imagery analysis, whale‐watching logs, or increases in mortality reported by stranding networks that can trigger additional targeted research. Although it is possible that in some regions data will be sufficient to provide quantifiable indicators, the system is meant to rely on existing data sources, and be adaptable to the circumstances of each region. Regional expert groups can utilize early warning system information and feed it into IMMA‐related spatial planning in two ways: by nominating additional areas of interest, and by providing a scientific rationale for revising IMMA boundaries, to be considered at the next decadal IMMA regional expert workshop. IMMA‐driven consolidation of information that is as current as possible will prove valuable for enhancing regional cooperation to conserve marine mammals, and will be useful as countries implement new protected areas to conserve marine mammals and other marine biodiversity.

Species distribution modelling of Bryde’s whales, humpback whales, southern right whales, and sperm whales in the southern African region to inform their conservation in expanding economies

“…IMMAs do not have the same regulatory jurisdiction as MPAs over the protection of marine fauna, but they can aid in marine spatial planning, conservation and management of the oceans ( Agardy et al, 2019 ). Delineation of IMMAs is based on four categories, (1) species status based on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature red list, (2) marine mammal distribution and abundance, (3) critical life stage habitats for behaviours such as breeding, feeding and migrating and (4) unique characteristics such as species richness and diversity ( Agardy et al, 2019 ). Recently these criteria were used to identify two IMMAs in South Africa.…”

Trends in summer presence of fin whales in the Western Mediterranean Sea Region: new insights from a long-term monitoring program

“…The highest variability recorded in the Western Pelagos sub-area can then be due to the mixing of the NENA and the MED subpopulation, occurring when the NENA fin whales travel further east than their usual distribution. It also needs to be underlined that the Western Pelagos together with the Pelagos Sanctuary sub-areas are recognized as an Important Marine Mammal Area for the Mediterranean sea ( Agardy et al, 2019 ).…”

Predicting suitable coastal habitat for sei whales, southern right whales and dolphins around the Falkland Islands

“…The delineation of discrete spatial areas that support high species densities is a fundamental component of effective marine spatial planning (MSP), particularly when designating areas of marine biodiversity for protection and in mitigating potential conflicts between human activities and marine species. Regionally, a number of marine protected areas, special areas of conservation, ecologically or biologically significant areas, and important marine mammal areas, have been designated for cetacean species and communities, which help to focus management where it is most needed [ 1 , 2 ]. Most such designations are based on the identification of nationally or regionally significant cetacean occurrence, incorporating factors including conservation status, distribution, habitat use, abundance and key life-cycle activities such as reproduction, migration and feeding.…”