Identifying hotspots for cetaceans and helping the management of marine protected areas

This project aims to identify biological hotspots for cetaceans and help the management of marine protected areas, using Earth Observation and other collaborative network’s data. Remotely sensed environmental parameters have the potential to identify biological hotspots for cetaceans and to therefore establish areas of marine conservation priority. Satellite measurements of ocean have proved an effective tool to map the environmental variables and processes occurring. It is the main tool for measuring ocean productivity (ocean colour) and its response to climate change/variability. Other variables also related with the presence and movements of cetaceans can be measured from space, e.g. sea surface temperature, sea surface height, etc.