Lennon Rachel L, Williams Rosie S, Allan Kathryn J, Ten Doeschate Mariel T I, Davison Nicholas J, Babayan Simon A, Brownlow Andrew C
School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK.
Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK.
Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 20;15(1):28417. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-12928-1.
Growing anthropogenic pressures increasingly impact marine wildlife, with cetaceans being particularly vulnerable to cumulative effects of stressors due to their position as top predators. As sensors and sentinels of ocean health, cetaceans offer critical insight into known and emerging threats to marine ecosystems. Stranding schemes provide a cost-effective means to assess mortality rates and population demographics, offering insights that are often challenging to obtain through live monitoring. Using a 30-year dataset from the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) we demonstrate how opportunistically obtained stranding data can be used to monitor populations and guide conservation strategies. Species were clustered into broad ecological groups - baleen whales, short-beaked common dolphins, deep divers, harbour porpoises and pelagic dolphins - for spatiotemporal analysis of stranding patterns. All groups showed increases in annual stranding rates over the study period, with common dolphins and baleen whales exhibiting exponential increases, suggesting these species may be facing heightened pressures. Distinct seasonal and spatial trends were detected, with harbour porpoises predominantly stranding on the east coast and other groups clustering to Scotland's west coast. Identifying these trends helps focus surveillance and mitigation efforts, underscoring the importance of this approach for monitoring vulnerable species.
日益增长的人为压力对海洋野生动物的影响越来越大，由于鲸类作为顶级捕食者的地位，它们特别容易受到压力源累积效应的影响。作为海洋健康的传感器和哨兵，鲸类为了解已知和新出现的海洋生态系统威胁提供了关键见解。搁浅监测计划提供了一种经济有效的方法来评估死亡率和种群结构，提供了通过现场监测往往难以获得的见解。利用来自苏格兰海洋动物搁浅监测计划（SMASS）的30年数据集，我们展示了如何利用机会获得的搁浅数据来监测种群并指导保护策略。物种被分为广泛的生态组——须鲸、短喙普通海豚、深潜者、港湾鼠海豚和远洋海豚——用于搁浅模式的时空分析。在研究期间，所有组的年度搁浅率都有所增加，普通海豚和须鲸呈指数增长，这表明这些物种可能面临更大的压力。检测到明显的季节性和空间趋势，港湾鼠海豚主要在东海岸搁浅，其他组则聚集在苏格兰西海岸。识别这些趋势有助于集中监测和缓解工作，强调了这种方法对监测脆弱物种重要性。
