Key cetacean feeding habitats identified in Iceland: a multi-model ensemble approach using opportunistic behavioural and ecogeographical data
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Understanding the biological and ecological factors influencing cetacean behaviour, ecology and survival is crucial for identifying priority conservation areas and supporting effective place-based management strategies for cetacean populations. This study investigates the ecological relationship between eight environmental factors (aspect, chlorophyll-a concentration, depth, distance from shore, sea surface temperature, slope, tidal cycle and tidal height) and the surface-feeding patterns of four cetacean species (common minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata, harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena, humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae and white-beaked dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris) in Icelandic coastal waters. Data were collected onboard commercial whale-watching boats in Faxaflói (SW coast) and Skjálfandi (NE coast) across 4 years (2010–2014). The analysis aimed to identify seasonal shifts (between boreal spring and autumn) in feeding habitats and identify sites with optimal feeding habitats in less accessible locations. Feeding habitat suitability was projected across seven bays using an ensemble species distribution model (BIOMOD). There are significant seasonal shifts in feeding habitat areas between bays for harbour porpoises, humpback whales and minke whales. Cetaceans fed more inshore during autumn, except humpback whales, which were restricted to steeper slopes within all bays. Associations between feeding group size and environmental factors were identified for all species except humpback whales, with group size primarily linked to changes in tidal cycle and chlorophyll-a concentrations. Additionally, negative values indicated a disassociation for all species feeding events, suggesting that the different species may partition feeding areas likely due to spatial or temporal segregation to reduce competition. This highlights the importance of western and northern Icelandic bays for feeding cetaceans in the Arctic, particularly during autumn. Based on regular and predictable feeding behaviour, Faxaflói and Skjálfandi Bays could be proposed as important areas for four cetacean species. Other Icelandic bays appear to contain optimal feeding habitats which could benefit from place-based conservation approaches.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".