Temporal and spatial analysis of Marinelife and Orca white-beaked dolphin data from Northumberland and adjacent sea areas (NECR289)

Anecdotal sightings suggests that there are higher abundances of white-beaked dolphins off the coast of Northumberland, England, compared to elsewhere in the English North Sea. To determine whether this assumption was correct, and whether further protection for the species is warranted in this region, effort and sightings data were collated and analysed and compared against the rest of the North Sea.
This report provides an initial review of effort related sightings data for northeast England, produces abundance / density maps and investigates annual variability in white-beaked dolphin distribution and density. Future work should look at combining these data with other data available for the region (not available for this project), to improve the spatial and temporal resolution of these results.