Using existing data and focused surveys to highlight Cuvier’s beaked whales favourable areas: A case study in the central Tyrrhenian Sea

This study focuses on the necessary elements to implement strategic mitigation in order to avoid Cuvier’s beaked whale (CBW) strandings linked to intense sound sources, such as military active sonars, in the Mediterranean Sea. A careful review of stranding data and the analysis of existing survey results are required to highlight the main characters of the species regional distribution. Focused and repeated surveys are needed to confirm that possible favourable areas, such as the Balearic, Tyrrhenian or Aegean Seas, are really favourable CBW habitats. These surveys should be carried out with sea states 0 to 1 in order to minimize the risk of false absence data. Among the regions of interest, the central Tyrrhenian Sea was surveyed with a 12 m sailboat in 2007 and 2008. With 907 km of effective effort, a mean sighting rate of 1.9 CBW school/100 km was obtained, which is amongst the highest densities recorded in the Mediterranean.