MoHaBa project: Modeling habitat Preferences baleen whales in the Southern Ocean

The MoHaBa project (Modellierung ganzjähriger Habitatpräferenzen von Blau-, Finn-, Zwerg- und Buckelwalen im zirkumpolaren Südozean, BMEL-Projekt; 2018-2022) was a project financially supported by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) through the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE).

The main objective of the MoHaBa project was to provide detailed, quantitative knowledge about the spatial and temporal distribution of baleen whales in the Southern Ocean. The project focuses on modelling the dynamic habitat suitability of four baleen whale species in the Southern Ocean using visual sightings and passive acoustics data:

• Antarctic Minke Whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis);
• Antarctic Blue Whales (B. musculus intermedia);
• Fin Whales (B. physalus);
• Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)]

The main results of the project are presented in the following papers:

• El-Gabbas A, Thomisch K, Van Opzeeland I, Burkhardt E, Boebel O (2023) Dynamic species distribution models of Antarctic blue whales in the Weddell Sea using visual sighting and passive acoustic monitoring data. Diversity and Distributions 30(1): 87-105.

• El-Gabbas A, Van Opzeeland I, Burkhardt E, Boebel O (2021) Dynamic species distribution models in the marine realm: predicting year-round habitat suitability of baleen whales in the Southern Ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science 8.

• El-Gabbas A, Van Opzeeland I, Burkhardt E, Boebel O (2021) Static species distribution models in the marine realm: the case of baleen whales in the Southern Ocean. Diversity and Distributions 27(8):1536-1552.

Datasets / posters

• Thomisch K, El-Gabbas A, Spiesecke S, Boebel O (2023) Daily acoustic presence of Antarctic blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia) within a 10 km radius of recording sites in the Weddell Sea, based on passive acoustic monitoring data from 2008 to 2013. PANGAEA (dataset bundle).
• El-Gabbas A, Van Opzeeland I, Burkhardt E, Boebel O (2022) Year-round habitat suitability of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Southern Ocean. PANGAEA (dataset).
• El-Gabbas A, Van Opzeeland I, Burkhardt E, Boebel O (2022) Year-round habitat suitability of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the Southern Ocean. PANGAEA (dataset).
• El-Gabbas A, Van Opzeeland I, Burkhardt E, Boebel O (2022) Year-round habitat suitability of Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) in the Southern Ocean. PANGAEA (dataset).
• El-Gabbas A, Van Opzeeland I, Burkhardt E, Boebel O (2022) Year-round habitat suitability of Antarctic blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia) in the Southern Ocean. PANGAEA (dataset).
• El-Gabbas A, Van Opzeeland I, Burkhardt E, Boebel O (2022) Year-Round Habitat Suitability of Baleen Whales in the Southern Ocean. Figshare (dataset).
• El-Gabbas A, Van Opzeeland I, Burkhardt E, Boebel O (2019) Modelling habitat suitability of whales in the Southern Ocean. World Marine Mammals Conference (WMMC), Barcelona, Spain. December 9-12, 2019.
• Duengen D, El-Gabbas A, Burkhardt E (2019) Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) distribution modelling in the Nordic Seas & adjacent waters. World Marine Mammals Conference (WMMC), Barcelona, Spain. December 9-12, 2019.

Other publications

• Duengen D, Burkhardt E, El-Gabbas A (2022) Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) distribution modeling on their Nordic and Barents Seas feeding grounds. Marine Mammal Science 38(4):1583-1608.
• Schall E, Thomisch K, Boebel O, Gerlach G, Woods SM, El-Gabbas A, Van Opzeeland I (2021) Multi-year presence of humpback whales in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean but not during El Niño. Nature Communications Biology 4, Article number: 790.