Field Techniques

and Survey
Methods

Importance of Abundance and

Distribution
Trends in abundance are used to assess human
impacts and to identify threatened populations.
Absolute population size is used to assess
whether known numbers of human-caused deaths
(such as fisheries by-catch) are sustainable.
Distribution data allow us to determine where
human activities and whales are of most concern.
Abundance is critical to understanding the
ecosystem role of cetaceans.

Field techniques

Two major methods

Markrecapture method
re-sightings of naturally or artificially marked
individuals are used to calculate abundance
Sighting surveys
animals are counted in order to assess their
density
(Seber, 1982)

Distance sampling
Most widely used technique to determine the abundance of cetaceans
Two primary methods:
Line transect sampling- common method used to assess marine mammal populations
(Buckland et al. 2001).
Estimates the size of the population within the study area during the survey interval
(Barlow, 2004).
Require measurement of the perpendicular distance from the track line to each sighting.
Have the further advantage of maximizing sample size, because sightings outside the strip
width are not ignored.
In line-transect surveys strip width is not assumed, but empirically estimated from the
sighting data.
Strip transect sampling- seldom been applied to marine mammal population.
Animals are counted within a specific distance either side of the track line.
Probability of detection is assumed to be one, or at least constant, from the track line out
to the edge of the strip.
Recommended only in special cases.
Used to supplement a line-transect survey of river dolphins in the Amazon because of
stratification of a very narrow strip along the river banks (Vidal et al., 1997).

Survey Methods

Interview Survey
Land-based survey
Ship/boat line transect method
Aircraft survey

Interview Survey
Process of obtaining and examining
information on the occurrence and
distribution of species by consulting
people
One of the least expensive methods

Land based survey

Employs observers on fixed shorebased platform to identify species,
estimate group size, study the
behavior and ecology of coastal
marine mammals
Has been used to estimate the
abundance of bowhead whales
(Balaena mysticetus) and Gray
whales (Eschrichtius robustus).

Ship/boat based survey

Employs observer(s) on each side of
the vessel
Used to identify and estimate group
size of marine mammals (with
naked eye/aid of binoculars)
Often used to collect data for photoidentification studies

A figure showing ship based

survey.
http://phys.org/news/2013-03-endangeredwhales-ships-southern-california.html

Aircraft survey
One of the most reliable methods
for estimating the abundance of
large marine mammals inhabiting in
a large area
Like ship/boat survey, it needs
observers to identify and count
marine mammals from a moving
platform

Schematic diagram of the arrangement and

duties of crews in aerial surveys.

References:
Barlow, J., J. Calambokidis, et al. 2011. Humpback whale
abundance in the North Pacific estimated by
photographic capture-recapture with bias correction
from simulation studies. Marine Mammal Science
27(4):793-818.
Buckland, S. T., et al. 2001. Introduction to Distance
Sampling:
Estimating
abundance
of
biological
populations. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 432pp.
Buckland, S. T., et al. 1993 Estimated population size of the
California gray whale. Mar. Mamm. Sci. 9(3):235-249.
Seber, G. A. F. 2002. The Estimation of Animal Abundance
and Related Parameters. Blackburn Press, New Jersey.
654pp.