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Cetacean Abundance In Hawaiian Waters Estimated From A Summer/Fall Survey In 2002, Jay Barlow

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Cetacean abundance is estimated for the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around the Hawaiian Islands based on a ship line-transect survey from August to November, 2002. Sighting detection functions are estimated from this and other NOAA research surveys from 1986 to 2002 using a new, multiple-covariate approach. Twenty-four species were seen on this survey, including two species (Fraser’s dolphin [Lagenodelphis hosei] and sei whale [Balaenoptera borealis]) that had not been previously documented to occur in Hawaiian waters. The most abundant large whales are sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni). The most …