The Davis Strait - DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi
The Davis Strait - DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi
The Davis Strait - DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi
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Figure 4.8.6. <strong>The</strong> main frequency<br />
range of sounds used by cetaceans<br />
in the assessment area.<br />
See also Table 4.8.1 <strong>for</strong> details.<br />
Frequenzy (Hz)<br />
10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000<br />
Recent knowledge about the distribution and abundance of cetaceans in the<br />
assessment area comes from aerial surveys carried out by GINR in September<br />
2005, April 2006 and September 2007, as well as from passive acoustic<br />
monitoring (PAM) moored across the <strong>Davis</strong> <strong>Strait</strong>, at the northern edge of<br />
the assessment area, recording continuously from October 2006 to September<br />
2008. Additional in<strong>for</strong>mation about the seasonality, distribution and biol<strong>og</strong>y<br />
of cetaceans comes from a variety of sources, including scientific studies,<br />
catch statistics and observations from marine mammal observers on<br />
board seismic surveys.<br />
With the exception of blue whales, sei whales and sperm whales, which are<br />
protected by law, and bottlenose whale, whose blubber has a laxative effect,<br />
all cetaceans are hunted in Greenland and are considered as an important<br />
resource <strong>for</strong> both economic and cultural reasons. Hunting is explained in<br />
more detail in chapter 5.<br />
4.8.4 Baleen whales (Mysticeti)<br />
Habour porpoise<br />
White beaked dolphin<br />
Long-finnes pilot whale<br />
Narwhal<br />
Beluga<br />
Killer whale<br />
Northern bottlenose whale<br />
Sperm whale<br />
Minke whale<br />
Sei whale<br />
Humpback whale<br />
Fin whale<br />
Blue whale<br />
Bowhead whale<br />
<strong>The</strong> six species of baleen whales occurring in the assessment area belong to<br />
two families: rorquals (Balaenopteridae, five species) and right whales<br />
(Balaenidae, one species). Among the rorquals, minke whales (Balaenoptera<br />
acutorostrata), fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), humpback whales (Megaptera<br />
novaeangliae) and sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis) are seasonal inhabitants<br />
and relatively abundant. Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) are rare,<br />
but also seasonally present. <strong>The</strong> bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) migrates<br />
seasonally through the assessment area. <strong>The</strong> bowhead whale is one of<br />
the two species of the right whale family that inhabit the North Atlantic. <strong>The</strong><br />
critically endangered northern right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) may have<br />
used the assessment area in the past, but its current distribution in Greenland<br />
may be limited to the Cape Farewell area, south of the assessment area.<br />
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