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

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Mediterranean subpopulation of fin whale Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758) has recently been listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of threatened species. The species is also listed as species in need of strict protection under the Habitat Directive and is one of the indicators for the assessment of Good Environmental Status under the MSFD. Reference values on population abundance and trends are needed in order to set the threshold values and to assess the conservation status of the population.

Methods

Yearly summer monitoring using ferries as platform of opportunity was performed since 2008 within the framework of the FLT Med Network. Data were collected along several fixed transects crossing the Western Mediterranean basin and the Adriatic and

SUBMITTER: Tepsich P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7745674 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature