Description
Since 1994, summer surveys in the North Sea and wider European Atlantic have been conducted to generate data that allow the robust estimation of abundance and modelling the distribution of cetacean species. There have now been four surveys: in 1994, 2005/07, 2016 and 2022. The overall motivation is two-fold: to increase understanding of cetacean ecology, and to provide information for assessment of conservation status and the impact of human activities. This talk will describe the background to the surveys and the methodology employed, and present results from the most recent survey in the context of previous surveys. It will highlight the challenges of supporting infrequent surveys over the long-term and discuss appropriate use of the outputs from the surveys.
Philip Hammond is emeritus professor at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. His primary interest is in population dynamics and ecology, in particular the applied aspects of
how seals and cetaceans interact with human activities. Research foci include investigating habitat use, foraging ecology and diet of marine mammals, estimating abundance, survival and reproductive rates, and modelling population dynamics. He co-founded the Scottish east coast bottlenose dolphin project in 1989 which continues to study the dynamics of a small coastal population in a changing environment. He co-initiated the series of SCANS cetacean surveys to estimate abundance and model distribution of cetaceans in European Atlantic waters, coordinating the first three surveys in 1994, 2005/07 and 2016. He has supervised >40 PhD students working throughout the world and published >150 research papers. He has served as a member of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group and the SMM Conservation
Committee, and as an associate editor of Marine Mammal Science.
Dr. Anita Gilles is a marine biologist with expertise in the biology, ecology, monitoring and conservation of marine mammals. Her academic background is in Marine Biology and Zoology. She studied in Kiel/Germany and Aberdeen/Scotland and after her PostDoc in San Diego/USA with NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Scripps, she is now research group lead for “Abundance and distribution of marine mammals” at the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) of University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover in Büsum. Her research focus
is on population dynamics, ecological modelling, feeding ecology and impacts of human activities (e.g. fisheries or expansion of offshore renewable energy). She is engaged in the series of SCANS surveys to estimate abundance and model distribution of cetaceans in European Atlantic waters. She is also actively involved in transferring scientific advice into policy and management and, among her current commitments, she is the chair of the OSPAR marine mammal expert group, co-
indicator lead for HELCOM and member of the IUCN SSC Species Monitoring Specialist Group and Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force.
