Principal Investigator: Joanna Alfaro Shigueto
Funding year: 2022
Main objectives:
- Design and trial boat-based visual and passive acoustic survey methods suitable to determine distribution and abundance of Burmeister’s porpoises in open coast shelf-waters.
- Determine distribution and abundance of Burmeister’s porpoises and sympatric delphinids (e.g. dusky dolphins) in two pilot survey areas that represent different environmental characteristics.
- Assess the range and intensity of anthropogenic threats to small cetaceans in the two pilot study areas during the at-sea surveys.
- Complement at-sea data collection on the distribution of and threats to the focal species with fishers’ local knowledge by conducting interview-based surveys in relevant fishing communities.
- Build regional capacity in survey techniques relevant to cost-effective, regionally appropriate monitoring of the population status of Burmeister’s porpoises including development of a Spanish language best practice guide for small cetacean monitoring.
- Enhance awareness of the general public and relevant stakeholders (fishermen, government agencies, local universities) of Burmeister’s porpoises (and other small cetacean species) and their conservation needs.
Main outcomes:
To follow.
Reports/Papers:
Report to follow.