Report of a cetacean survey in the Western Approaches of the ...

METHODOLOGYSurvey designThe 2005 survey was conducted from the MV Esperanza, a 72.3m Expedition/Research vessel whichtraveled at either a ‘fast’ average speed of 8.6 knots or a ‘slow’ average speed of 5.3 knots. Data werecollected mainly in the ‘passing mode’, where the vessel did not deviate from the track-line.The surveys took place between 17 th February and 26 th March 2005 in the Western Approaches of theEnglish Channel. The main Survey Area (an area where survey transects and strata were placed) wasbetween 49°20’N-50°20’N and 3°26’W-6°10’W (see Fig. 1). The western stratum (Stratum W)extended to the west, between 49°26’N and 50°06’N and 006°06’W and 4°42’W and covered4,743km 2 . The eastern stratum (Stratum E) lay between 49°33’ and 50°54’N and 005°02’W and3°36’W and covered 4,129km 2 .Fig. 1. The main survey area (boxed in blue) with transects (thin black lines) and the two survey strata(in red: the western stratum to the west and the eastern stratum to the right).Cetacean sighting methodologyTo facilitate systematic data collection, the data-logging program ‘Logger 2000’ (developed by IFAWto promote benign, non-invasive research) ran continuously throughout the survey on a laptopcomputer which was linked to the ship’s Global Position System (a Furuno GP-80 satellite navigationsystem) through an NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association) interface. This programautomatically recorded the ship’s location every 15 seconds and provided a continuous visual displayof the vessel’s track on a map of the area. Data concerning sightings and the environment weremanually entered.The methodology used in the 2004 survey (see de Boer et al., 2005) was based on the line-transectdistance sampling method (Buckland et al., 2002). In the 2005 survey, the methodology also followedthe Mark Recapture Distance Sampling (Buckland and Turnock, 1992; termed the BT methodhereafter). According to this method, observations are carried out from two platforms. Observers fromthe secondary or ‘tracking’ platform search an area ahead of the ‘primary’ survey area and sufficientlywide to ensure that animals are detected prior to any responsive movement to the ship, and to allow thetracking of animals until they are detected by the primary platform. The primary survey area is widerand possibly has a lower probability of detection. The observers from the primary platform searchindependently of the tracking platform.6