Article
Limnology
Erin L. Meyer-Gutbrod, Kimberley T. A. Davies, Catherine L. Johnson, Stephane Plourde, Kevin A. Sorochan, Robert D. Kenney, Christian Ramp, Jean-Francois Gosselin, Jack W. Lawson, Charles H. Greene
Summary: Changes in physical oceanography in the Northwest Atlantic have impacted the foraging ecology and distribution of North Atlantic right whales. The study analyzed right whale sightings from 1990 to 2018 and found significant differences in foraging habitats over three decades. The analysis also revealed that changes in foraging habitats were driven by a decline in prey in traditional habitats, rather than an increase in prey in new habitats.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Emmaline Marotte, Andrew J. Wright, Heather Breeze, Jessica Wingfield, Leanna P. Matthews, Denise Risch, Nathan D. Merchant, David Barclay, Clair Evers, Jack Lawson, Veronique Lesage, Hilary Moors-Murphy, Veronique Nolet, James A. Theriault
Summary: Anthropogenic underwater noise poses a serious threat to the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, and there is currently insufficient understanding of the specific noise sources impacting them in their Canadian habitat. This study provides recommended metrics to better characterize the types of noise of greatest concern for conservation efforts and sets the stage for more targeted research and effective management and protection of the species.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Richard E. Danielson, Hui Shen, Jing Tao, William Perrie
Summary: Coherent filaments at the ocean surface are transient watermass boundaries that exhibit enhanced biological activity in the upper water column. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) allows for the observation of these filaments, with a proposed wind speed adjustment to account for filament length. By examining dependence measures, an inverse relationship between SAR contrast and wind speed is quantified, providing insights for the search of prey aggregations of the North Atlantic right whale in specific regions.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
Michael J. Moore
Summary: With only 340 North Atlantic right whales left, they are close to extinction as three animals die for every calf born. It is crucial to reduce mortality and enhance reproduction through conservation measures, especially focusing on reducing sub-lethal trauma such as entanglement. Consumers should demand broader protections from legislators, endangered species managers, and suppliers to ensure the recovery of these whales.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Leanna P. Matthews, Susan E. Parks
Summary: Baseline understanding of communicative signals and perceptual abilities is crucial for understanding a species' life history, especially for at-risk species. Marine mammals communicate primarily through acoustic modalities, which are impacted by ambient noise levels in their underwater environment. Noise pollution poses a threat to acoustically communicating marine mammal species, highlighting the importance of monitoring and conservation efforts.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Marine
Jing Tao, Hui Shen, Richard E. Danielson, William Perrie
Summary: Physical ocean circulation features, especially the intrusion of the Gaspe Current, play a crucial role in influencing the whale foraging habitat in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This study uses satellite altimetry-derived indices to monitor the interannual variations in the intensity of the Gaspe Current in the North Atlantic Right Whale habitat. The results show a correlation between altimetric indices and zooplankton abundance, suggesting that variations in physical processes can impact the distribution patterns of whale sightings.
JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Oceanography
Olga Koubrak, David L. VanderZwaag, Boris Worm
Summary: North Atlantic right whales are critically endangered marine animals with a global population of around 400 individuals, facing increased mortality risk from human activities due to climate-driven shifts in distribution. Canada's measures to decrease overlap between these whales and threats proved effective in reducing regional mortality to zero in 2018, but were costly and caused tensions with affected sectors. Modifications to the measures in 2019 were less effective, leading to additional right whale deaths and highlighting the need to strengthen the role of Canada's Species at Risk Act in future conservation efforts.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Delphine Durette-Morin, Clair Evers, Hansen D. Johnson, Katie Kowarski, Julien Delarue, Hilary Moors-Murphy, Emily Maxner, Jack W. Lawson, Kimberley T. A. Davies
Summary: This study used passive acoustic monitoring data to characterize the spatial and temporal variation in the distribution of North Atlantic right whales (NARW). The results show that the population mainly resides in temperate latitudinal ranges and the northward range shift is likely driven by energetic requirements to minimize the distance between foraging habitat and calving grounds.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Joshua D. Stewart, John W. Durban, Amy R. Knowlton, Morgan S. Lynn, Holly Fearnbach, Jacob Barbaro, Wayne L. Perryman, Carolyn A. Miller, Michael J. Moore
Summary: Whales are now largely protected from direct harvest, but still face threats from human activities such as vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Climate-driven changes are affecting their foraging grounds, leading to direct mortality. The study found that entanglements in fishing gear are associated with shorter whales and have negative impacts on their reproductive success, posing a threat to vulnerable populations in their recovery efforts.
Article
Ecology
Bruno Padovese, Oliver S. Kirsebom, Fabio Frazao, Clair H. M. Evers, Wilfried A. M. Beslin, Jim Theriault, Stan Matwin
Summary: Passive acoustic monitoring is crucial for studying marine mammals, but analyzing large acoustic datasets manually is impractical. The use of deep neural networks can greatly aid this analysis, but their performance is restricted by the availability and environment of the training data. To address this, transfer learning was employed to adapt a trained deep neural network to a different acoustic environment with limited training data. The experiments showed a substantial improvement in recall and a low false-positive rate, demonstrating the effectiveness of the methodology for creating tailored acoustic detectors and classifiers for marine mammal calls.
ECOLOGICAL INFORMATICS
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
K. A. Sorochan, S. Plourde, C. L. Johnson
Summary: In August 2019, variations in depth-integrated abundance and vertical distribution of Calanus spp. were quantified in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. While C. finmarchicus was the most abundant, the larger C. hyperboreus was prominent in the Shediac Valley, contributing a median of 55% estimated depth-integrated biomass of Calanus spp. Near-bottom aggregations of Calanus spp. occurred primarily at depths ranging from 70 to 90 m, likely due to ontogenetic and diel vertical migrations.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Annabel Westell, Taiki Sakai, Robert Valtierra, Sofie M. Van Parijs, Danielle Cholewiak, Annamaria DeAngelis
Summary: Sperm whales are an ideal species for studying with passive acoustic technology, and using acoustic line transect data can improve abundance estimation and provide population-level insights into their foraging ecology.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Review
Fisheries
K. A. Sorochan, S. Plourde, M. F. Baumgartner, C. L. Johnson
Summary: The study reviews the factors that promote suitable foraging habitat for the North Atlantic right whale, emphasizing the importance of prey depth, supply, and aggregation for facilitating suitable foraging habitat. It also highlights information gaps that hinder rapid and dynamic prediction of suitable foraging habitat.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Leigh N. Torres, Clara Bird, Fabian Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Fredrik Christiansen, Lars Bejder, Leila Lemos, Steven Swartz, Amy Willoughby, Joshua Hewitt, KC. Bierlich
Summary: This study investigates the changes in body condition of Eastern North Pacific gray whales in different locations and times, revealing divergent responses among different sub-groups. The study also demonstrates the value of using unmanned aircraft systems to monitor the physiological response of whales to climate change.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alyson Fleming, Briana Pobiner, Savannah Maynor, David Webster, Nicholas D. Pyenson
Summary: This article reports the discovery of an incomplete skeleton of a Holocene grey whale in North Carolina, USA, which is the most complete North Atlantic grey whale specimen found so far. The provenance of the specimen is consistent with previous research in the southeastern USA, suggesting human exploitation of the grey whale may have started around 500 years prior to its extinction in the North Atlantic.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Amy R. Knowlton, Jooke Robbins, Scott Landry, Henry A. McKenna, Scott D. Kraus, Timothy B. Werner
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2016)
Article
Ecology
Rosalind M. Rolland, Robert S. Schick, Heather M. Pettis, Amy R. Knowlton, Philip K. Hamilton, James S. Clark, Scott D. Kraus
MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES
(2016)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Elizabeth A. Burgess, Kathleen E. Hunt, Scott D. Kraus, Rosalind M. Rolland
GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2017)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Kelsey M. Stone, Sarah M. Leiter, Robert D. Kenney, Brooke C. Wikgren, Jessica L. Thompson, Jessica K. D. Taylor, Scott D. Kraus
JOURNAL OF COASTAL CONSERVATION
(2017)
Article
Fisheries
Michael F. Tlusty, Brooke Wikgren, Kerry Lagueux, Hauke Kite-Powell, Di Jin, Porter Hoagland, Robert D. Kenney, Scott D. Kraus
REVIEWS IN FISHERIES SCIENCE & AQUACULTURE
(2018)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Heather M. Pettis, Rosalind M. Rolland, Philip K. Hamilton, Amy R. Knowlton, Elizabeth A. Burgess, Scott D. Kraus
ENDANGERED SPECIES RESEARCH
(2017)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
S. M. Leiter, K. M. Stone, J. L. Thompson, C. M. Accardo, B. C. Wikgren, M. A. Zani, T. V. N. Cole, R. D. Kenney, C. A. Mayo, S. D. Kraus
ENDANGERED SPECIES RESEARCH
(2017)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Peter Corkeron, Rosalind M. Rolland, Kathleen E. Hunt, Scott D. Kraus
CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY
(2017)
Article
Fisheries
L. M. Crowe, O. O'Brien, T. H. Curtis, S. M. Leiter, R. D. Kenney, P. Duley, S. D. Kraus
JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elizabeth A. Burgess, Kathleen E. Hunt, Scott D. Kraus, Rosalind M. Rolland
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2018)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Genevieve E. Davis, Mark F. Baumgartner, Julianne M. Bonnell, Joel Bell, Catherine Berchok, Jacqueline Bort Thornton, Solange Brault, Gary Buchanan, Russell A. Charif, Danielle Cholewiak, Christopher W. Clark, Peter Corkeron, Julien Delarue, Kathleen Dudzinski, Leila Hatch, John Hildebrand, Lynne Hodge, Holger Klinck, Scott Kraus, Bruce Martin, David K. Mellinger, Hilary Moors-Murphy, Sharon Nieukirk, Douglas P. Nowacek, Susan Parks, Andrew J. Read, Aaron N. Rice, Denise Risch, Ana Sirovic, Melissa Soldevilla, Kate Stafford, Joy E. Stanistreet, Erin Summers, Sean Todd, Ann Warde, Sofie M. Van Parijs
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2017)
Review
Ecology
Enrico Pirotta, Cormac G. Booth, Daniel P. Costa, Erica Fleishman, Scott D. Kraus, David Lusseau, David Moretti, Leslie F. New, Robert S. Schick, Lisa K. Schwarz, Samantha E. Simmons, Len Thomas, Peter L. Tyack, Michael J. Weise, Randall S. Wells, John Harwood
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2018)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Laurens E. Howle, Scott D. Kraus, Timothy B. Werner, Douglas P. Nowacek
MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE
(2019)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Amy R. Knowlton, James S. Clark, Philip K. Hamilton, Scott D. Kraus, Heather M. Pettis, Rosalind M. Rolland, Robert S. Schick
Summary: North Atlantic right whales are frequently entangled in fishing gear, leading to negative effects on their health, survival, and reproduction. Severe entanglements result in worsened health and increased mortality risk. Decreased reproductive rates and declining health may be associated with entanglements. Additionally, the health of the overall population has declined over time, with entangled whales showing a more significant decline in health.
CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Brooke C. Hodge, Daniel E. Pendleton, Laura C. Ganley, Orfhlaith O'Brien, Scott D. Kraus, Ester Quintana-Rizzo, Jessica Redfern
Summary: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are important for conserving biodiversity, including features that support marine mammal foraging. This study evaluated the diversity of marine mammals in a specific MPA and compared it to other areas along the east coast of the United States. The findings identified drivers of biodiversity and showcased the importance of the MPA in protecting a diverse and unique marine mammal community.
CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
(2022)