Cetacean Research & Rescue Uni
Project Host
Cetacean Research & Rescue Uni
Revenue
80493
Charity Number
SC035473
Project aims
The regional movements and distribution of coastal minke whales within a newly-designated Marine Protected Area in northeast Scotland
Project description
Baleen whales are ecosystem engineers, whose behaviour helps transfer nutrients throughout the oceans, sequestering carbon and helping to mitigate against climate change. The minke whale is the only nearshore baleen whale commonly occurring in UK waters and the highly productive waters of the Moray Firth in northeast Scotland attract large numbers of these whales, affording rich feeding grounds for the species. Accordingly, the Southern Trench, a 350 square mile area of coastline in the Moray Firth, was recently designated as the first ever UK Marine Protected Area (MPA) for the protection of these whales based entirely upon the long-term research and monitoring studies carried out by CRRU since 2000. This project will focus on habitat quality and prey distribution as well as new field research techniques to increase our understanding of the usage of the MPA by minke whales as a protected feature and to address knowledge gaps in relation to their movements throughout the wider Northeast Atlantic.
Contact name
Dr Kevin Robinson
Phone
07875105506
Email
kev.robinson@crru.org.uk
Website
crru.org.uk
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