Mate Bruce R.

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Mate
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Bruce R.
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  • Article
    Striking the right balance in right whale conservation
    (NRC Research Press, 2009-08-14) Schick, Robert S. ; Halpin, Patrick N. ; Read, Andrew J. ; Slay, Christopher K. ; Kraus, Scott D. ; Mate, Bruce R. ; Baumgartner, Mark F. ; Roberts, Jason J. ; Best, Benjamin D. ; Good, Caroline P. ; Loarie, Scott R. ; Clark, James S.
    Despite many years of study and protection, the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) remains on the brink of extinction. There is a crucial gap in our understanding of their habitat use in the migratory corridor along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Here, we characterize habitat suitability in migrating right whales in relation to depth, distance to shore, and the recently enacted ship speed regulations near major ports. We find that the range of suitable habitat exceeds previous estimates and that, as compared with the enacted 20 nautical mile buffer, the originally proposed 30 nautical mile buffer would protect more habitat for this critically endangered species.
  • Article
    Summer and fall habitat of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) inferred from satellite telemetry
    (National Research Council Canada, 2005-04-12) Baumgartner, Mark F. ; Mate, Bruce R.
    Satellite-monitored radio tags were attached to North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Grand Manan Basin of the lower Bay of Fundy during the summer and early fall seasons of 1989–1991 and 2000. Monte Carlo tests were used to examine the distribution of the tagged whales in space and time and with respect to a variety of environmental variables to characterize right whale habitat on their northern feeding grounds. These environmental variables included depth, depth gradient, climatological surface and bottom hydrographic properties, and remotely sensed surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration, and their respective horizontal gradients. Site fidelity in the Bay of Fundy was very low during 1989–1991 and high during 2000. When the tagged animals left the Bay, they did not frequently visit the deep basins of the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf, where abundances of their primary copepod prey, Calanus finmarchicus, are thought to be high. Instead, right whales visited areas characterized by low bottom water temperatures, high surface salinity, and high surface stratification. No evidence was found that the tagged right whales associated with oceanic fronts or regions with high standing stocks of phytoplankton.