Cetaceans and conservation in the Canary islands

Abstract

Canary Islands (Spain), in the Lower North Atlantic, are a well-known hot spot for eetaeean diversity. Nevertheless, no official species list has been compi!ed up to date. For the proscnt analysis three sourees were used: I) 1.833 sightings recorded in different mu\tispecie.􀑎 studies rea!ir.ed by SECAC between 1999 and 2009. 2) 2.100 opportnnistic sightings sinee 1995, 3) 850 specimcns stranded between 1980 y 2008 from SECAC and IUSA's databases. Thc stranding record ineludcd mass strandings of G. ,nacrorhynch11s, T. 1nmca1us aud S. /ongiros1ris, and a die-off episode of S. bredane11sis in 2007, und 1 1 atypieal mass stmndings of beaked whales. Currently, 28 cctacean &􀔊ies have been recordcd iu this Archipelago. The most frequent speeics in the sight:ing record are G. macrorhynch11s, T. trunca tu., and S. Jrontali$. Toe most lrequent species in the stnmding recon! are S. coeroleoalba, D. delphis and S. frontali,,. Sightlng and stmnding data analysis show that: 1) T. troncatus, G. macrorhy11chus, S. coendeoalba, G. griseus, P. ,nacrocephalus, K. breviceps, Z. carirostris, M. densirossris and M. e11rop11e11s aro regu!afiy present year-ro11nd; 2) S. Jrontalis, S. bredaneMis. B. brydeiore seasoually present, with slight variations bet􀖩cn years; 3) D. ddphis and B. physa/us show a strong seasonality; 4) L hasei and K. simn are instead rare species; 5) thrcc rccords of each specics eonfü:mcd the prcscncc of E. glacial is and B. musculus in the last 15 years; 6) P. plwcoena, M. bidens, G. melas and S. langirostris are extralimita] records. Toe presence of M. mirns is still doubtfu!. Conccm for conservation oí cetaecans in !he Canary lslands is relalcd to habitaL degradation duc to sinergie lhreaths for lo􀙤al populations of bolllenose dolphins (e.g., small confliets with 1mditional fishery, maritime tmffic, whalc-wntching), antropogenie noise for beaked whales and collisions, especially with sperm whale.