Distance Sampling Methods

Members of CREEM have been involved in the design and/or analysis of many surveys. Below are a just a few examples. Analysis may involve using standard, distance sampling methods or more innovative methods, such as spatial methods to estimate animal density surfaces.

In 2004, CREEM was commissioned to assist on a project led by Jon Aars from the Norwegian Polar Institute to estimate the number of polar bears in the Barents Sea. This was a helicopter line transect survey and Tiago Marques not only provided advice on survey design and analysis of the survey data but also participated as an observer collecting the data.

bear and icebrg 2 web

Polar Bear on Iceberg, Greenland, T. Marques

Small Cetacean Abundance in the North Sea (SCANS) was a multi-national undertaken to estimate small cetacean abundance in the North Sea. A survey was undertaken in summer 1994 and members of CREEM were involved with the survey design and analysis of the data collected. In 2005, SCANS-II was conducted which extended the region of interest to the continental shelf waters of the European Atlantic. Again, members of CREEM were involved with the survey design and analysis.
Small cetaceans in the European Atlantic and North Sea (SCANS-II)

The Cetacean Offshore Distribution and Abundance in the European Atlantic (CODA) project estimated the abundance and investigated the habitat use of cetacean species in waters beyond the continental shelf. Members of CREEM were involved with the survey design.
Cetacean Offshore Distribution and Abundance in the European Atlantic (CODA)