TY - JOUR
T1 - The effects of seismic surveying and environmental variables on deep diving odontocete stranding rates along Ireland's coast
AU - McGeady, Ryan
AU - McMahon, Barry J.
AU - Berrow, Simon
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Acoustical Society of America.
PY - 2016/7/10
Y1 - 2016/7/10
N2 - Most deep diving toothed whales rarely come into contact with humans due to their preference for deep offshore waters. In recent years many studies have connected underwater acoustic disturbances with unusual stranding events of deep diving species. Strandings can provide a valuable opportunity to learn about the ecology of stranded specimens and investigate the cause of mortality. The study determines how environmental and anthropogenic variables such as sea surface temperature, wave height, wave period, wind direction and seismic surveying can influence strandings events of deep diving odontocetes. The results of these analyses suggest that the occurrence of offshore seismic surveying operations increase the number of strandings of long-finned pilot whales, which are probably the most abundant deep diving species in the north Atlantic. The study also demonstrates the value of cetacean stranding schemes and how they can be utilised to establish the natural and anthropogenic processes that contribute to stranding events.
AB - Most deep diving toothed whales rarely come into contact with humans due to their preference for deep offshore waters. In recent years many studies have connected underwater acoustic disturbances with unusual stranding events of deep diving species. Strandings can provide a valuable opportunity to learn about the ecology of stranded specimens and investigate the cause of mortality. The study determines how environmental and anthropogenic variables such as sea surface temperature, wave height, wave period, wind direction and seismic surveying can influence strandings events of deep diving odontocetes. The results of these analyses suggest that the occurrence of offshore seismic surveying operations increase the number of strandings of long-finned pilot whales, which are probably the most abundant deep diving species in the north Atlantic. The study also demonstrates the value of cetacean stranding schemes and how they can be utilised to establish the natural and anthropogenic processes that contribute to stranding events.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85011028247&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1121/2.0000281
DO - 10.1121/2.0000281
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85011028247
SN - 1939-800X
VL - 27
JO - Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics
JF - Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics
IS - 1
M1 - 040006
T2 - 4th International Conference on the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life 2016
Y2 - 10 July 2016 through 16 July 2016
ER -