By Marine Species Team
In our latest blog post, from our Marine Species Team, we highlight the value of a new pilot programme, developed in partnership with ORCA, which aims to close the evidence gaps in cetacean data.
When it comes to protecting whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans), good decisions depend on good data. Yet in the UK we still have patchy coverage due to the challenges around monitoring these highly mobile and wide-ranging species – especially offshore, in and around Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and at finer seasonal scales – resulting in challenges in advising industry, reporting on status, or understanding cumulative pressures such as bycatch, climate change, prey shifts and underwater noise.
That’s why JNCC is partnering with ORCA on a new pilot project designed to close the evidence gaps. The idea is simple and powerful: design high-quality surveys around the questions managers most need answered, then deliver those surveys from 'platforms of opportunity' – the ferries, cruise ships, freight and survey vessels already criss-crossing our seas.
JNCC has consulted with experts and stakeholders to set a clear, UK-wide list of priority evidence needs. Are we missing data for specific species? Do some offshore areas lack seasonal coverage? Where do we need a higher sampling frequency to detect change? With those priorities agreed, ORCA will match the need to the platform, using the network of shipping partners to place highly-trained marine mammal surveyors on the right vessels at the right times of year.
All data collected will be shared openly through the Joint Cetacean Data Programme (JCDP), so government, regulators, researchers and NGOs can use it. That transparency matters: open data supports UK and country-level status reporting (including progress towards Good Environmental Status (GES) for marine mammals), gives regulators the confidence to make timely, evidence-based decisions, and helps industry plan with certainty.
Which species will benefit?
The stakeholder process has already highlighted harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, minke whale, fin whale, Risso’s dolphin and beaked whales among the priorities – species for which improved coverage can make a real difference. Just as importantly, the programme will focus on data-poor regions and increase the frequency of monitoring with the aim of contributing evidence to track change year-on-year and season-by-season.
This approach is also cost-effective. By using platforms that are already at sea and a trained surveyor network that’s ready to deploy, we can expand effort quickly and sustainably – stretching public funds further while growing the UK’s cetacean evidence base.
ORCA has spent years refining this model, collecting data to a high standard, building robust long-term datasets and a community of skilled surveyors. Today, their ship-based science is helping to inform management decisions from Alaska to the Antarctic. Partnering with JNCC allows ORCA to bring that experience to bear on some of the UK’s highest-priority policy, planning and marine mammal management questions – so we can protect more effectively, sooner.
Get involved
If you represent a ferry, cruise, freight or survey operator and would like to host surveys, we’d love to talk about routes, seasons and logistics. If you’re interested in training as an ORCA Marine Mammal Surveyor, keep an eye on ORCA communication channels for upcoming opportunities. Together, we can turn better evidence into better outcomes for whales, dolphins and porpoises in UK waters.
This project is funded by Defra through the Healthy and Biologically Diverse Seas Evidence Group.
You can also find out more about the launch of the partnership pilot programme in our news item: JNCC and ORCA launch national project to benefit whales, dolphins and porpoises.
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