The Rufford Foundation Final Report

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1 The Rufford Foundation Final Report Congratulations on the completion of your project that was supported by The Rufford Foundation. We ask all grant recipients to complete a Final Report Form that helps us to gauge the success of our grant giving. The Final Report must be sent in word format and not PDF format or any other format. We understand that projects often do not follow the predicted course but knowledge of your experiences is valuable to us and others who may be undertaking similar work. Please be as honest as you can in answering the questions remember that negative experiences are just as valuable as positive ones if they help others to learn from them. Please complete the form in English and be as clear and concise as you can. Please note that the information may be edited for clarity. We will ask for further information if required. If you have any other materials produced by the project, particularly a few relevant photographs, please send these to us separately. Please submit your final report to jane@rufford.org. Thank you for your help. Josh Cole, Grants Director Grant Recipient Details Your name Project title María Belén Argüelles Urban Southern right whales: pattern use of Bahía Nueva and collision risk with ships in a traffic maritime area in Patagonia, Argentina. RSG reference Reporting period August 2015 August 2016 Amount of grant 4900 Your address Date of this report belenarguelles@gmail.com August

2 Fully achieved Partially achieved Not achieved 1. Please indicate the level of achievement of the project s original objectives and include any relevant comments on factors affecting this. Objective Comments measuring the effects of navigation on the distribution, abundance and behavior of whales in Golfo Nuevo -23 days from April to December of fieldwork were done. -19 days of fieldwork were done to study distribution and abundance patterns. -3 days of field work were done to tag whales. -During whale season 2015, a total of 19 surveys were conducted inside Bahía Nueva, Golfo Nuevo in order to study distribution, abundance and behavior patterns of Southern right whales (Figure 1). -Line transects were conducted to determine usage patterns of Bahía Nueva by whales and ships and consisted of the navigation of straight lines with a semi-rigid boat. -The amount of whales and boats and how both of them use the area was determined. -A total of 678 whales were sighted, with a maximum of 98 whales sighted inside Bahía Nueva the same day (Figure 2). -73% of the whales were solitary individuals, 21.2% were mother with calf and 4.8% were mating groups (Figure 3). -Surface activity was the most performed by whales (70%), followed by travelling (19%) and resting (11%) (Figure 4). -A total of 100 ships were identified in Bahía Nueva. -58% of the ships were nautical, 39% commercial and 3% corresponded to ships from the Argentinan maritime coastguard. -Travelling activity (66%) was the predominant activity performed by ships, followed by anchored (34%).

3 to describe movements patterns of diving whales in Golfo Nuevo and evaluate if diving behavior is associated with a feeding behavior -3 days of field work were done to tag whales. -A new device to tag whales was developed. This device called raspiwhale (rw1) is a non-invasive tag used for measuring physiological, behavioural and environmental parameters in whales using an open source microcomputer Raspberry pi. The model rw1 was specifically developed for measuring temperature, pressure, 3 - dimensional movements (speed, rotation, and pitch), sound and video recording. rw1 is attached to the whales via suction cups that are released from the whale by a programmable electronic system. rw1 has operating autonomy, is waterproof, withstands pressure to 100 m deep and fleet what permit it to be recovered and reused (Figure 5). -rw1 was attached to Southern right whales at Península Valdés (Figure 6 and 7). -rw1 placement maneuverer included the selection of the target whale, the approach to the whale at constant speed up to 3 or 4 m from it, and the positioning of rw1 on the whale s back (Figure 8). -rw1 was deployed from a semi-rigid haul boat of 5.6 m powered by a 90 HP outboard engine in an area with depths between 80 and 120 m. -rw1 has filmed Puerto Madryn city for the first time and onboard a whale!!.

4 -rw1 development could be followed at -This objective was partially achieved because field work planned to evaluate if diving behaviour is associated with a feeding behaviour could not be done. Even it was possible to tag whales, we did not find whales in the area estimated at the time estimated (according with our observations in previous whales seasons). Although this objective was not fully achieved in this opportunity, it is partially achieved because we count on with previous information (2013 and 2014 seasons). We estimate that by the end of the year we would be providing results to this. -In previous seasons another non-invasive tag developed by us were used to study diving patterns (Argüelles et al Diving behaviour of Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) in a maritime traffic area in Patagonia, Argentina. Aquatic Mammals 42(1): , DOI /AM ). -5 Southern right whales were tag, a total of 1:11:50 h of dive duration data were recorded from the TDR. Dive duration, average and maxi-mum depth, and ascent rate were recorded for all the tagged whales. -To our knowledge, these data are the first record concerning the diving profiles for southern right whales worldwide.

5 to evaluate the risks of collision between whales and ships -Whales are distributed mainly at coastal waters with depths between m (Figure 9). -By the end of the whale season (October onwards), whales move away to deep waters with depths between m. -Whales and ship used the same area, both at coastal and deep waters (Figure 10). -Maps of whales and ship distribution were done. - Bahía Nueva was divided in sites with different uses (Figure 11). -At coastal waters whales interact mainly with nautical and commercial ships. -At deep waters whales perform long dives for periods of about 20 min and then return to surface abruptly to breathe. Diving behaviour is performed near the route that commercial ships use to enter Puerto Madryn ports. This increase the risk of collision between whales and ship when whales emerge at breathe. -At coastal waters whales could be seen when they are on surface but a lot of time whales are submerged.

6 2. Please explain any unforeseen difficulties that arose during the project and how these were tackled (if relevant). Every year we have to deal with adverse weather conditions. Even whale season extends from May to December, the predominant winds difficult the access to the study area. In the 2015 whale season we could access to the study area 22 days, 19 days from the 20 estimated to study distribution and abundance patterns and 3 days to tag whales. It was not possible to solve the problem for achieved objective 2, we expect to find whales on November in the same area every year (according with our previous observations), but 2015 whale season was particularly different, whales left the area before in the season, we did not found whales in late November and December in the feeding area. Nevertheless, we will try to achieve this objective in 2016 whale season. 3. Briefly describe the three most important outcomes of your project. 1. Risk maps show the areas that are shared by whales and ships. Whales are distributed mainly in three sites inside Golfo Nuevo, in Puerto Pirámides, El Doradillo and Puerto Madryn. Anthropic activities in Golfo Nuevo occurred in different ways and with different intensities. On one hand, El Doradillo is a natural protected area where has place coastal whale watching and the navigation is prohibited and there is a controlled navigation in Puerto Pirámides, where only whale watching activity is licensed. On the other hand, in Bahía Nueva there is a free nautical navigation and a controlled commercial navigation with a corridor for ships to enter Puerto Madyn port. Nautical navigation was mainly represented by diving activity. Commercial ships in Bahía Nueva had a variable movement along the whale season, being fishing ships (82%) which more contributed with these variations due to it marked seasonal, with picks in September and October. General cargo ships represented only the 5.5% of the port movement and showed a constant temporary use. The maximum number of fishing ships analyzed with the annual statistics provided by Puerto Madryn Port Administration coincided with the maximum number of fishing ships registered in the census. 2. A new area adjacent to Bahía Nueva is being used by southern right whales. In this area whales dive for long periods at depths between 70 and 120 m and then return abruptly to surface to breathe. To our knowledge, these data are the first record concerning the diving profiles for Southern right whales worldwide. In the study area, the fact that whales dive for long periods and abruptly return to the surface to breath reinforces the need of gathering scientific data to address potential problems related to the use of space involving whales and ships near Puerto Madryn city in commercial maritime trade and port areas. An understanding of whale diving behaviors and the evaluation of risks of collision and management of

7 the resource is crucial to ensure whale protection. 3. This area is near the route used by ships to enter to Puerto Madryn, increasing the collision risk with vessels when whales emerge to breathe. Collisions are not only a threat to whales, but also can pose a risk to humans that sail in small vessels and kayaks around the harbors. Understanding their area usage and diving patterns, and planning spatially explicit strategies should be the next steps to avoid conflicts. 4. A new no-invasive tag to study whales was developed. rw is the first tag in the world created using the technology of an open source computer. rw is attached to the whales via suction cups. This system is non-invasive and does not harm the whales unlike other satellite tracking systems. 5. The first paper about diving behavior of Southern right whales in Golfo Nuevo was published. To our knowledge it is the first register worldwide. The paper about raspiwhale is in preparation. 6. rw won the prize INNOVAR 2015, a National Innovation Competition organized by the National Program Popularization Science and Innovation Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation of Argentina. 4. Briefly describe the involvement of local communities and how they have benefitted from the project (if relevant). Local community was involved actively during the whale season by providing information about their activities. Local community is benefitted in different ways. On one hand, the community involved in nautical activities is benefitted through the knowledge of how whales behave in presence of small vessels (windsurf boards, kayaks, sailboats) and in where sites of the bay whales are distributed more frequently. On the other hand, the community involved in commercial activities is benefitted through the knowledge of which is the site near the bay where whales dive. What is more, Tourism Ministry of Chubut Province is benefitted with this information in order to improve management actions. An understanding of whale distribution, abundance and diving patterns will be useful for predicting the potential consequences of the human activities on the population. Then the collision risk evaluation and the resource management are crucial to ensure the whale protection. 5. Are there any plans to continue this work? Yes, there are many plans to continue and improve this work. We have been doing this project since 2013 and we will continue improving it. Our plans for the future are very similar to the ones from last year, as in to continue this research boat-based and adding new technology to study whales distribution using drones and to develop new skills of raspiwhale. Moreover we will extend the project to Puerto Pirámides area, the only area licensed in Chubut Province for whale watching. We will assess the real impact of whale watching through the measurement of whales threedimensional movements (speed, rotation and pitch), using raspiwhale. Puerto

8 Pirámides represent a relevant area for the protection and conservation of whales because it is part of the Península Valdés Protected Area, declared World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999 and Biosphere Reserve in We are organizing a workshop with the actors involved directly in this project (nautical operators, dive operators, Puerto Madryn Port Administration, Argentinian coastguard, South Atlantic Nautical Club and Tourism Ministry of Chubut Province) in order to present the results and to listen to the demands and needs of these actors. Our proposal is to attend the demands every actor have and set up some regulations for activities in Golfo Nuevo that could include reorganize nautical activities and prepare brochures with information about whales. We will focus to improve scientific information, increase the public s awareness and achieve political decisions in order to safeguard the whales in the region. 6. How do you plan to share the results of your work with others? The results of this research were shared to presentations at congress, scientific papers that are in preparation, notes in local and national newspapers, magazines and radios, reports presented to Dirección de Fauna y Flora Silvestre y Ministerio de Turismo, Subsecretaría de Conservación y Áreas Protegidas de Chubut, participation in documental, presentations in CENPAT abierto (our research centre every year open its doors to receive the local community to know what we are doing), presentation in INNOVAR, a National Science Meeting. Figures Participation in documental filmed by Lomas de Zamora University. - Notes in local newspaper Diario Jornada. - Notes in local newspaper Diario de Madryn. - Interview to FM Rufino - Website - Participation in documental Equilibrios by Encuentro Channel. - Participation in CENPAT abierto. - Participation in Jornada de Ballenas, informative talks in Puerto Pirámides. - Interview to Noche Polar Magazine. - Interview Eco Ambiental Newspaper. - Interview to Madryn TV Channel. - Participation in Jornada de Becarios CENPAT. - Participation in VII Jornadas de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Patagonia. Dinámica de las Instituciones y Producción Científica y Tecnológica en Chubut. - Participation in XVII Workshop de Investigadores en Ciencias de la Comunicación WICC Participation in 1 Encuentro Patagónico de Gestores Tecnológicos. - Participation in INNOVAR.

9 7. Timescale: Over what period was The Rufford Foundation grant used? How does this compare to the anticipated or actual length of the project? The Rufford Foundation grant was used for one year period (one whale season). The whale season extends from April to December. We have been doing this project since 2013, and the RSG was used for 2015 season. 8. Budget: Please provide a breakdown of budgeted versus actual expenditure and the reasons for any differences. All figures should be in sterling, indicating the local exchange rate used. exchange rate: 1 Sterling Pound = 19 Argentine Pesos Item Budgeted Amount Actual Amount Difference Comments gps no comments reticular binocular no comments batteries SCD a battery less was bought suction cup no comments viatic nautical personal ( 100/day per canon boat and pickup ( 1.1/day per 20 days 22) Fuel ground transportation ( 20/day per 20 days 400) Fuel boat transportation ( 50/day per 20 days 1000) food for assistants at field ( 20/day per 20 days 400) no comments no comments there was an increase in fuel price there was an increase in fuel price no comments Total Looking ahead, what do you feel are the important next steps? It is important to continue scientific research in Bahía Nueva regarding interactions between whales and anthropic activities in order to organize nautical and commercial activities in the area. The next steps are:

1. Go ahead with the workshop. 2. Elaborate a protocol of navigation with the actors involved. 3. Include Puerto Pirámides area. 4. Improve raspiwhale to other uses. 10.

10 1. Go ahead with the workshop. 2. Elaborate a protocol of navigation with the actors involved. 3. Include Puerto Pirámides area. 4. Improve raspiwhale to other uses. 10. Did you use The Rufford Foundation logo in any materials produced in relation to this project? Did the RSGF receive any publicity during the course of your work? We have send three updates of our Project to The Rufford Foundation and we used The Rufford Foundation Logo in the following occasions, in the website on all the posters and oral presentations in Congress and informative talks. The support of the Rufford Small Grants will be mentioned in the papers in preparation. 11. Any other comments? Distinction received by the Government of Chubut Province by provincial contribution to scientific knowledge (Figure 18-20). rw won the prize INNOVAR 2015, a National Innovation Competition organized by the National Program Popularization Science and Innovation Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation of Argentina (Figure 12). Figures Figura 1. Study area Bahía Nueva, Golfo Nuevo

11 Figure 2. Number of whales in Bahía Nueva per survey. Figure 3. Percentage of group whales in Bahía Nueva. GC = mating groups, IS = solitary individuals, MC = mother with calf

12 Figure 4. Predominant activity performed by whales in Bahía Nueva. AS = surface activity, D = resting, T = travelling. Figure 5. raspiwhale, a non-invasive tag for whales.

13 Figure 6. Tagging area near Bahía Nueva

14 Figure 7. Placement of rw and whale tagged.

15 Figure 8. Placement maneuver of rw. Figure 9. Whale s distribution in Bahía Nueva. Figure 10. Ships distribution in Bahía Nueva.

16 Figure 11. Areas inside Bahía Nueva. Figure 12. raspiwhale won INNOVAR From left to right: Daniel Pérez Martínez, Marcelo Bertellotti, María Belén Argüelles, Lino Barañao (Minister of Science and Technology from Argentina).

17 Figure 13. CENPAT abierto. Figure 14. Interview Noche Polar Magazine.

18 Figure 15. Poster raspiwhale.

19 Figure 16. Interview Eco Ambiental newspaper. Figure 17. Day of the Whale Informative talks.

20 Figure 18. Whales of Bahía Nueva. Figure 19. Field work.

21 Figure 20. Distinction received for Chubut Province.

Congratulations on the completion of your project that was supported by The Rufford Small Grants Foundation.

The Rufford Small Grants Foundation Final Report Congratulations on the completion of your project that was supported by The Rufford Small Grants Foundation. We ask all grant recipients to complete a Final