Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site and requirements for trilateral monitoring

M Scheidat; J Vrooman; J Teilmann; J Baltzer; CB Thostesen; B Diederichs; R Dietz; SCV Geelhoed; A Gilles; LL Ijsseldijk; GO Keijl; J Nabe-Nielsen; A Ruser; J Schnitzler; S Sveegaard; U Siebert

doi:10.1007/s12526-024-01428-6

Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site and requirements for trilateral monitoring

M Scheidat, J Vrooman, J Teilmann, J Baltzer, CB Thostesen, B Diederichs, R Dietz, SCV Geelhoed, A Gilles, LL Ijsseldijk, GO Keijl, J Nabe-Nielsen, A Ruser, J Schnitzler, S Sveegaard, U Siebert

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is considered part of the ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ characterising the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site (WS WHS). The Trilateral Wadden Sea Plan aims to preserve the conservation status of the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation Area, encompassing the WS WHS. The plan has specified two conservation targets for the harbour porpoise: (1) viable stocks and a natural reproduction capacity and (2) conservation of habitat quality for its conservation. To assess the current occurrence of the harbour porpoise in the Wadden Sea area, we collated and analysed data from regional and national research projects using telemetry, aerial surveys, strandings and passive acoustic monitoring, obtained over the years 1990–2020. The results illustrate that porpoises occur in both offshore and intertidal waters, showing seasonal movements and changes in local occurrence over time. Some porpoises displayed limited home ranges throughout the year, suggesting a possible residency for some of the animals using the Wadden Sea area. We also showed that methods, frequency and spatial coverage of monitoring activities vary among the countries Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. We discuss the suitability of the different methods both regarding the challenges of monitoring in the complex Wadden Sea habitat as well as their ability to target the conservation aims of the WHS. We give several recommendations to assess the status of the species to meet the identified conservation aims.

Original language	English
Article number	42
Number of pages	24
Journal	Marine Biodiversity
Volume	54
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-024-01428-6
Publication status	Published - Jun 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

Funding

In Denmark, porpoise tracking data were collected as part of the DEPONS project funded by the offshore wind developers Vattenfall, Forewind, ENECO Luchterduinen, \u00D8rsted and Scottish Power Renewables ( www.depons.au.dk ). The Danish National Contingency Plan concerning strandings of marine mammals is funded by the Danish government and is run jointly by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency; Danish Nature Agency; the Fisheries and Maritime Museum; the Natural History Museum of Denmark; the Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University and the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen (previously, the Center for Diagnostic DTU and Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, were also involved). \uFEFF\uFEFFIn Germany, funding is provided by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. In Schleswig\u2013Holstein, health monitoring is funded by the Ministry for Energy Transition, Climate Protection, Environment and Nature (MEKUN), POD-Monitoring by the National Park Administration, LKN.SH. In the Netherlands, funding for aerial surveys is provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. Post-mortem examinations are conducted at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University, also commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, and since 2016 embedded under the Statutory Research Tasks Unit for Nature and the Environment of Wageningen UR (project reference numbers WOT-04\u2013009-045).\uFEFF\uFEFF

Funders	Funder number
Ministry for Energy Transition
Center for Diagnostic DTU
National Park Administration
Department of Ecoscience
Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen
Aarhus Universitet
Danish government
Miljøstyrelsen
Fisheries and Maritime Museum
Statens Naturhistoriske Museum
Danish Nature Agency
Scottish Power Renewables

Keywords

Aerial surveys
Conservation
Harbour porpoise
MPA
Marine mammals
Monitoring methods
Passive acoustic monitoring
Strandings
Telemetry
Trilateral monitoring
Wadden Sea
World Heritage Site

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/s12526-024-01428-6Licence: CC BY

s12526-024-01428-6Final published version, 5.08 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Scheidat, M., Vrooman, J., Teilmann, J., Baltzer, J., Thostesen, CB., Diederichs, B., Dietz, R., Geelhoed, SCV., Gilles, A., Ijsseldijk, LL., Keijl, GO., Nabe-Nielsen, J., Ruser, A., Schnitzler, J., Sveegaard, S., & Siebert, U. (2024). Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site and requirements for trilateral monitoring. Marine Biodiversity, 54(3), Article 42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-024-01428-6

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abstract = "The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is considered part of the {\textquoteleft}Outstanding Universal Value{\textquoteright} characterising the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site (WS WHS). The Trilateral Wadden Sea Plan aims to preserve the conservation status of the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation Area, encompassing the WS WHS. The plan has specified two conservation targets for the harbour porpoise: (1) viable stocks and a natural reproduction capacity and (2) conservation of habitat quality for its conservation. To assess the current occurrence of the harbour porpoise in the Wadden Sea area, we collated and analysed data from regional and national research projects using telemetry, aerial surveys, strandings and passive acoustic monitoring, obtained over the years 1990–2020. The results illustrate that porpoises occur in both offshore and intertidal waters, showing seasonal movements and changes in local occurrence over time. Some porpoises displayed limited home ranges throughout the year, suggesting a possible residency for some of the animals using the Wadden Sea area. We also showed that methods, frequency and spatial coverage of monitoring activities vary among the countries Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. We discuss the suitability of the different methods both regarding the challenges of monitoring in the complex Wadden Sea habitat as well as their ability to target the conservation aims of the WHS. We give several recommendations to assess the status of the species to meet the identified conservation aims.",

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Scheidat, M, Vrooman, J, Teilmann, J, Baltzer, J, Thostesen, CB, Diederichs, B, Dietz, R, Geelhoed, SCV, Gilles, A, Ijsseldijk, LL, Keijl, GO, Nabe-Nielsen, J, Ruser, A, Schnitzler, J, Sveegaard, S & Siebert, U 2024, 'Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site and requirements for trilateral monitoring', Marine Biodiversity, vol. 54, no. 3, 42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-024-01428-6

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AU - Scheidat, M

AU - Vrooman, J

AU - Teilmann, J

AU - Baltzer, J

AU - Thostesen, CB

AU - Diederichs, B

AU - Dietz, R

AU - Geelhoed, SCV

AU - Gilles, A

AU - Ijsseldijk, LL

AU - Keijl, GO

AU - Nabe-Nielsen, J

AU - Ruser, A

AU - Schnitzler, J

AU - Sveegaard, S

AU - Siebert, U

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/6

Y1 - 2024/6

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KW - Marine mammals

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KW - Strandings

KW - Telemetry

KW - Trilateral monitoring

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Harbour porpoise (<i>Phocoena phocoena</i>) in the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site and requirements for trilateral monitoring