Investigating minke whale acoustic and foraging ecology to underpin MPA-based

North Atlantic minke whales in Scottish waters face a diversity of anthropogenic threats, including entanglement in fisheries, collision risk with vessels and offshore devices such as tidal turbines, and chemical and noise pollution. Throughout its range, the species is also threatened by large-scale ecosystem change caused by global climate change.

Next to a better understanding of the year-round distribution, ecology, and behaviour of the species, effective conservation requires a robust quantification of human impacts on this and other species inhabiting Scottish seas. Such information is urgently needed for successful monitoring and management of the two Scottish minke whale pMPAs, recently proposed.

Building on existing SAMS-HWDT-MSS collaborations, this project will have access to unique, long-term acoustic and visual datasets from Scottish waters. These data will serve to explore potential changes in minke whale distribution across the last two decades and the potential environmental and anthropogenic drivers for observed patterns. Species distribution and habitat models will be underpinned with field studies collecting new information on several aspects of minke whale ecology.

Objective 1: Modelling long-term minke whale distribution patterns on the west coast of Scotland

Objective 2: Investigating the use of long-term passive acoustics for monitoring minke whale distribution and underwater noise impacts within Scottish pMPAs Objective 3: Investigating minke whale dive, feeding and associated acoustic behaviour Objective 4: Quantifying minke whale size, behaviour and health using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)