Estimation of minke whale abundance from an acoustic line transect survey of the Mariana Islands

摘要: The minke whale is one of the most abundant species baleen whales worldwide, yet rarely sighted in subtropical waters. In North Pacific, they produce a distinctive sound known as “boing,” which can be used to acoustically localize individuals. A vessel-based survey using both visual and passive acoustic monitoring was conducted during spring 2007 large (616,000 km2) study area encompassing Mariana Islands. We applied line transect methods data collected from towed hydrophone array estimate abundance calling our area. No were sighted, but there hundreds detections boings. Computer algorithms developed recordings, resulting over 30 independent localizations, six-fold increase those estimated survey. two best estimates determined 80 91 animals (0.13 0.15 per 1,000 km2, respectively; CV = 34%). These are first density for surveys, this Islands region. considered minimum true number