Risk mapping for sensitive species to underwater anthropogenic sound emissions: model development and validation in two Mediterranean areas.

Recent observations of cetacean mass strandings, coincident with anthropogenic sounds emissions, have
raised concerns on the potential environmental impact of underwater noise. Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius
cavirostris) was reported in all the cited stranding events. Within the NATO Marine Mammal Risk Mitigation
project (MMRM), multiple interdisciplinary sea trials have been conducted in the Mediterranean
Sea with the objective of developing tools and procedures to mitigate the impact of underwater sound
emissions. During these cruises, visual observations, passive acoustic detections and environmental data
were collected. The aim of this study was to evaluate ‘‘a priori’’ predictions of Cuvier’s beaked whale presence
in the Alboran Sea, using models developed in the Ligurian Sea that employ bathymetric and chlorophyll
features as predictors. The accuracy of these predictions was found adequate and elements are
given to account for the uncertainties associated to the use of models developed in areas different from
their calibration site.