North Atlantic right whale density surface model for the US Atlantic evaluated with passive acoustic monitoring
In March, an open-access paper documenting the North Atlantic right whale version 12 density model was published in Marine Ecology Progress Series.
Absolute density of the species was modeled using spatial, temporal, and environmental covariates at a monthly time step and predicted density maps were produced. Results were evaluated using independently collected passive acoustic monitoring data.
This is the first study to quantify the concurrence of visual and acoustic observations of this species in US waters. Azura is proud to be part of the team of collaborators who contributed data to the analysis, which included 2.9 million kilometers of visual line-transect survey effort conducted in 2003-2020. The results quantify the distribution shifts and provide effort- and bias-corrected density surfaces to inform risk assessments, take estimations, and marine spatial planning.
Roberts, J.J., T.M. Yack, E. Fujioka, P.N. Halpin…A.D. Whitt, and A.M. Zoidis. 2024. North Atlantic right whale density surface model for the US Atlantic evaluated with passive acoustic monitoring. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 732:167-192. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14547