Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T17:16:16.420Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cetacean diversity at the west coast of La Palma Island (Canary Islands)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2008

Claudia Pérez-Vallazza ,
Rosana Álvarez-Vázquez ,
Laura Cardona ,
Clara Pintado  and
Joaquín Hernández-Brito
Claudia Pérez-Vallazza*
Affiliation:
Canary Institute of Marine Sciences, Ctra. De Taliarte s/n, 35200 Telde, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Rosana Álvarez-Vázquez
Affiliation:
Canary Institute of Marine Sciences, Ctra. De Taliarte s/n, 35200 Telde, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Laura Cardona
Affiliation:
Canary Institute of Marine Sciences, Ctra. De Taliarte s/n, 35200 Telde, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Clara Pintado
Affiliation:
Canary Institute of Marine Sciences, Ctra. De Taliarte s/n, 35200 Telde, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Joaquín Hernández-Brito
Affiliation:
Canary Institute of Marine Sciences, Ctra. De Taliarte s/n, 35200 Telde, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Claudia Pérez-Vallazza, Canary Institute of Marine Sciences, Ctra. De Taliarte s/n, 35200 Telde, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Little is known about cetacean communities around La Palma Island. Therefore, and in order to determine the presence and distribution of the cetacean species on its west coast, daily censuses were carried out from November 2003 to April 2005. The platform used was a whale watching vessel certified by the Canary Government. Data collected included time, position, species identity, group size and, in some cases, the presence of calves and/or any other outstanding parameter. During the study period, 570 sightings were made, with a mean sighting success of 1.7 sightings per day, showing a high cetacean presence in the area. Thirteen species and one genus (Globicephala spp.) were positively matched, three of them included in the Mysticeti suborder and the other ten in the Odontoceti one. The four most sighted species, in decreasing order, correspond to Tursiops truncatus, Steno bredanensis, Globicephala spp. and Stenella frontalis. Diversity of sighted species shows a moderate peak during spring time, which is in agreement with the presence of occasional species. Most sightings were located off the central west coast of the island, exceeding 1.5 nautical miles. This is particularly outstanding in relation to Franja Marina de Fuencaliente SCI, where 90% of all sightings were located outside its boundaries. High cetacean presence and diversity off the west coast of La Palma Island seem to be connected with oceanographic and ecological features. Results gained provide, for this region, baseline data on cetacean populations and a useful tool in conservation plans.

Keywords

cetacean diversitycetacean distributionCanary IslandsLa Palma
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Special Issue 6: Marine Mammals , September 2008 , pp. 1289 - 1296
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anguita, F. and Hernán, F. (2000) The Canary Islands origin: a unifying model. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 103, 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arístegui, J., Sangrá, P., Hernández-León, S., Hernández-Guerra, A. and Kerling, J.L. (1994) Island-induced eddies in the Canary Islands. Deep-Sea Research I 41, 1509–1525.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arístegui, J., Tett, P., Hernández-Guerra, A., Basterretxea, G., Montero, M.F., Wild, K., Sangrá, P., Hernández-León, S., Cantón, M., García-Braun, J.A., Pacheco, M. and Barton, E.D. (1997) The influence of island-generated eddies on chlorophyll distribution: a study of mesoscale variation around Gran Canaria. Deep-Sea Research I 44, 71–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barton, E.D., Arístegui, J., Tett, P., Canton, M., García-Braun, J., Hernández-León, S., Nykjaer, L., Almeida, C., Almunia, J., Ballesteros, S., Basterretxea, G., Escánez, J., Garcia-Weill, L., Hernández-Guerra, A., López Laatzen, F., Molina, R., Montero, M.F., Navarro-Pérez, E., Rodríguez, J.M., Van Lenning, K., Vélez, H. and Wild, K. (1998) The transition zone of the Canary Current upwelling region. Progress in Oceanography 41, 455–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvet, F., Cabrera, M.C., Carracedo, J.C., Mangas, J., Pérez-Torrado, F.J., Recio, C. and Travé, A. (2003) Beachrocks from the island of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain). Marine Geology 197, 75–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrillo, M. (2003) Presence and distribution of the Ziphiidae family in the south west coast of Tenerife. Canary Islands. In Proceedings of 17 Conference of the European Cetacean Society.Google Scholar
Carrillo, M. and Tejedor, M.L. (2004) La familia Ziphiidae (Cetacea) en las Islas Canarias. Distribución, dinámica poblacional y estado de conservación en la isla de Tenerife y La Palma. Tenerife Conservación, 91 pp.Google Scholar
Carwardine, M. (1995) Whales, dolphins and porpoises. New York: Dorling Kindersley.Google Scholar
Castro, J.J. (1991) Ecología trófica de la caballa (Scomber japonicus Houttuyn, 1792), en aguas del Archipiélago canario. PhD thesis, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Islas Canarias, España.Google Scholar
Council Directive 92/43/EEC, of 21 May 1992. On the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (Official Journal L 206, 22/07/1992 P. 0007 - 0050).Google Scholar
Decree 178/2000, of 6 September 2000. Regulating whale watching activities (BOC nº 133 of 1.10.2000).Google Scholar
Díaz López, B. and Bernal Shirai, J.A. (2006) Diurnal and nocturnal behaviour of bottlenose dolphin groups with emphasis on foraging activity on the northeastern coast of Sardinia (Italy). In European Cetacean Society Proceedings—20th Annual Conference ECS Gdynia, Poland. Oxford: European Cetacean Society.Google Scholar
Evans, P.G.H. and Hammond, P.S. (2004) Monitoring cetaceans in European waters. Mammal Review 34, 131–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gómez, M.M. (1991) Biomasa y actividad metabólica del zooplancton en relación con un efecto de masa de isla en aguas de Gran Canaria. PhD thesis, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Islas Canarias, España.Google Scholar
Gómez de Segura, A., Crespo, E.A., Pedraza, S.N., Hammond, P.S. and Raga, J.A. (2006) Abundance of small cetaceans in waters of the central Spanish Mediterranean. Marine Biology 150, 149–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
González Ramos, A.J. (1992) Bioecología del listado (Katsuwonus pelamis Linnaeus, 1758) en el área de Canarias: modelos de gestión y explotación mediante el uso de la teledetección. PhD thesis, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Islas Canarias, España.Google Scholar
Hoyt, E. (2001) Whale watching 2001: worldwide tourism numbers, expenditures, and expanding socioeconomic benefits. Yarmouth Port, MA, USA: International Fund for Animal Welfare.Google Scholar
Hoyt, E. (2005a) Marine Protected Areas for whales, dolphins and porpoises. A world handbook for cetacean habitat conservation. London: Earthscan, James & James.Google Scholar
Hoyt, E. (2005b) Sustainable ecotourism on Atlantic Islands, with special reference to whale watching, marine protected areas and sanctuaries for cetaceans. Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 105B, 141–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
López, A., Pierce, G.J., Valeiras, X., Santos, M.B. and Guerra, A. (2004) Distribution patterns of small cetaceans in Galician waters. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 84, 283–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacLeod, C.D., Hauser, N. and Peckham, H. (2004) Diversity, relative density and structure of the cetacean community in summer months east of Great Abaco, Bahamas. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 84, 469–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montero, R. and Arechavaleta, M. (1996) Distribution patterns: relationships between depths, sea surface temperature, and habitat use of short-finned pilot whales south-west of Tenerife. European Research on Cetaceans— Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 193–198.Google Scholar
Mullin, K.D. and Fulling, G.L. (2003) Abundance of cetaceans in the southern U.S. North Atlantic Ocean during summer 1998. Fishery Bulletin 101, 603–613.Google Scholar
Pérez-Marrero, J., Llinás, O., Maroto-Goikoetxea, L., Cardona, L., Rueda, M.J., Barrera, C. and Villagarcía, M. (2005) Una Herramienta de fusión de datos oceanográficos obtenidos mediante satélite. Teledetección. Avances en la Observación de la Tierra. XI Congreso Nacional de Teledetección, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, España, 167–170.Google Scholar
Pérez-Vallazza, C. and Haroun, R. (2005) Estudio de comunidades de cetáceos y tortugas marinas en los LIC Franja Marina de Mogán y Sebadales de Playa del Inglés. Caracterización, ordenación y gestión de Áreas Marinas Protegidas de la Macaronesia. PARQMAR 03/MAC/4.2/M9, 107 pp.Google Scholar
Plasencia, M., Rodríguez, J.L., Herrera, R. and Delgado, A. (2001) Observación de cetáceos en Canarias: apuntes para una nueva reglamentación. Galemys 13 (Special Issue).Google Scholar
Politi, E., Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. and Mazzanti, C. (1997) Cetaceans found in the waters surrounding Lanzarote, Canary Islands. European Research on Cetaceans 10, 107–112.Google Scholar
Ritter, F. (2001) 21 cetacean species off La Gomera (Canary Islands): possible reasons for an extraordinary species diversity. In European Research on Cetaceans—Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Rome (ed. Evans, P.G.H. et al. ). Oxford: European Cetacean Society.Google Scholar
Ritter, F. and Brederlau, B. (1998) First report of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) frequenting the Canary Islands waters. World Marine Mammal Science Conference, 20–24 January, 1998. Monaco.Google Scholar
Silva, M.A., Prieto, R., Magalhaes, S., Cabecinhas, R., Cruz, A., Gonçalves, J.M. and Santos, R.S. (2003) Occurrence and distribution of cetaceans in the waters around the Azores (Portugal), summer and autumn 1999–2000. Aquatic Mammals 29, 77–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thiele, D. and Gill, P.G. (1999) Cetacean observations during a winter voyage into Antarctic sea ice south of Australia. Antarctic Science 11, 48–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Violette, P.E. (1974) A satellite-aircraft thermal study of the upwelled waters off Spanish Sahara. Journal of Physical Oceanography 4, 676–684.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weir, C.R., Pollock, C., Cronin, C. and Taylor, S. (2000) Cetaceans of the Atlantic frontier, north and west of Scotland. Continental Shelf Research 21, 1047–1071.CrossRefGoogle Scholar