Fin Whale

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.

Jul 21, 2024

Aug 26, 2022

Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) distribution modeling on their Nordic and Barents Seas feeding grounds Diandra Duengen, Elke Burkhardt, Ahmed El-Gabbas Ocean Acoustics Group, Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany Klußmannstraße 3d, DE-27570 Bremerhaven, Germany Understanding cetacean distribution is essential for conservation planning and decision-making, particularly in regions subject to rapid environmental changes.

May 6, 2022

Dec 26, 2021

Static species distribution models in the marine realm: the case of baleen whales in the Southern Ocean Running title: Static SDMs in dynamic marine realm Authors: Ahmed El-Gabbas; Ilse Van Opzeeland; Elke Burkhardt; Olaf Boebel Ocean Acoustics Group, Alfred-Wegener-Institut (AWI), Helmholtz Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany.

Apr 15, 2021

Dynamic species distribution models in the marine realm: predicting year-round habitat suitability of baleen whales in the Southern Ocean Species distribution models (SDMs) relate species information to environmental conditions to predict potential species distributions.

Apr 15, 2021

Detailed information on cetacean distribution is crucial to identify large-scale conservation actions and management decisions. Understanding the ecological drivers behind their spatial patterns in the Southern Ocean is complicated by whales’ mobility and the logistic restrictions in collecting data in polar environments.

Dec 8, 2019

Understanding the dynamics of cetacean distribution in ecologically vulnerable regions is essential to interpret the impact of environmental changes on species ecology and ecosystem functioning. Species distribution models (SDMs) are helpful tools that link species occurrences to environmental variables in order to predict a species’ potential distribution.

Dec 8, 2019