Miguel Angel Iñíguez BessegaFundacion Cethus
Miguel Angel Iñíguez Bessega
Master of Science
Researcher and conservation manager
About
59
Publications
23,911
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
972
Citations
Publications
Publications (59)
Toothed whales use powerful ultrasonic biosonar pulses (i.e. clicks) for echolocation. Underwater acoustic recordings have suggested that the majority of toothed whale species can be grouped acoustically as either producing broadband clicks or narrowband high-frequency (NBHF) clicks. Recently, it has been shown that Heaviside’s dolphins, Cephalorhy...
The situation of Tursiops truncatus gephyreus is reviewed and it is concluded that an IWC "Task Team” is now critically needed to help initiate, guide and coordinate -
1) the implementation of conservation strategies set for the subpopulations in southern Brazil/Uruguay and
2) further research into the possible causes of the population declines i...
Passive acoustic monitoring is an effective tool to investigate cetacean ecology, particularly in remote locations and over long time periods. Several cetacean species occur in Antarctic waters, but knowledge of their year-round relative abundance, distribution, and seasonality is relatively sparse. Long-term, broadband recordings were collected ne...
Mass stranding events (MSEs) of beaked whales (BWs) were extremely rare prior to the 1960s but increased markedly after the development of naval mid-frequency active sonar (MFAS). The temporal and spatial associations between atypical BW MSEs and naval exercises were first observed in the Canary Islands, Spain, in the mid-1980s. Further research on...
Although bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus are among the most common delphinid species, global population trends remain poorly understood. To improve the knowledge of the species in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean, thispaper reviews all available data related to the distribution and occurrence, abundance, residency and ranging patterns, group siz...
Bioacoustics has become a tool of increasing importance to study cetaceans, due to its great potential to estimate population density, determine habitat use, and understand seasonal patterns, among other relevant ecological parameters. These applications convert passive acoustics into a non-invasive tool capable of gathering information for longer...
Although bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus are among the most common delphinid species, global population trends remain poorly understood. To improve the knowledge of the species in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean, this paper reviews all available data related to the distribution and occurrence, abundance, residency and ranging patterns, group si...
The International Whaling Commission's (IWC) Scientific Committee provides important advice to the IWC on a large variety of cetacean species, sub-species and populations and the issues affecting them. Cetaceans are facing increasing, non-whaling-related threats, and the Scientific Committee (SC), in accordance with the Commission's requests, has s...
High-frequency modulated signals with a stereotyped down-swept contour were recorded in the northwestern Antarctic Peninsula using an autonomous recorder and a towed hydrophone array. Signals have a mean start frequency at 21.6 kHz, end frequency at 15.7 kHz, −10 dB bandwidth of 5.9 kHz, and duration of 65.2 ms. Bouts of signals were generally reco...
The contributions that whales make to nutrient uxes in the oceans and sequestering carbon constitute relatively new elds of research; however the results of studies to date indicate that whales can play a pivotal role in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems. Whales act as ecosystem engineers both through transferring nutrients within the water col...
The development of research using bioacoustics in Argentina has been limited because of resource limitations. Since 2011, Fundación Cethus in collaboration with the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography and Whale and Dolphin Conservation has been undertaking several projects on cetaceans implementing acoustics or developing necessary
tools to record...
Cetaceans rely on sounds for their survival. Marine environmental degradation due to increased noise levels, including noise from seismic surveys, is an issue of great concern. In many Latin American (LA) countries, these activities proceed without robust environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and effective mitigation plans to minimize impacts on...
Cetaceans produce a variety of vocalizations to communicate; however, little information exists on the acoustic behavior displayed by Commerson's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) in the wild other than their echolocation behavior. Most available literature suggests that Commerson's dolphins do not produce any other sound type besides narrow-b...
Golfo Dulce harbors an important resident population of inshore bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae, Northern and Southern Pacific populations). The present study offers a detailed spatial analysis of the utilization distribution of bottlenose dolphins (2005-2014: n= 407) and humpback whale...
Commerson’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) inhabit coastal waters of Southern South America and Kerguelen Islands. Limited information exists about the acoustic repertoire of this species in the wild. Here, echolocation signals from free-ranging Commerson's dolphins were recorded in Bahía San Julián, Argentina. Signal parameters were calcul...
Diversity of cetaceans in coastal seascape Golfo Dulce, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Golfo Dulce is a fiord-lilke embayment located in the southern Pacific of Costa Rica, this coastal-marine ecosystem harbors an important wealth in marine biodiversity, including cetaceans. In this study we describe the cetacean community of Golfo Dulce, in relation t...
Notes MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, **(*): ***–*** (*** 2015) © 2015 Society for Marine Mammalogy DOI: 10.1111/mms.12216 Antarctic beaked whale echolocation signals near South Scotia Ridge J ENNIFER S. T RICKEY , 1 S IMONE B AUMANN -P ICKERING , and J OHN A. H ILDEBRAND , Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilma...
Killer whales O rcinus orca are found in all oceans of the world, but most of our knowledge on the species comes from studies conducted at higher latitudes. Studies on killer whales in the C aribbean have been scarce.
We compiled 176 records of killer whales from the C aribbean, including 95 previously unreported records and 81 records recovered fr...
Whale watching is defined as tours by air, sea or land to view any of the 86 reported species of whales, dolphins and porpoises in their natural habitat where a commercial aspect exists (IFAW 1999). Whale-watching platforms include small boats, sailboats, cruise ships, inflatables, kayaks, helicopters and airplanes, and the activity can also includ...
Studies on the biology of the franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) in the Río Negro Estuary (RNE), Patagonia, Argentina, were carried out from 2002 to 2011. Information about group size, group dispersion and behaviour was collected from the coast and by boat, using scanning and focal animal/group sampling methodology. Group size varied from...
Franciscana dolphins are small odontocetes hard to study in the field. In particular, little is known on their echolocation behavior in the wild. In this study we recorded 357 min and analyzed 1019 echolocation signals in the Rio Negro Estuary, Argentina. The clicks had a peak frequency at 139 kHz, and a bandwidth of 19 kHz, ranging from 130 to 149...
Cephalorhynchus commersonii is distributed in the nearshore coastal waters of South America, and thus is particularly vulnerable to bycatch in coastal nets and trawls. Our study documents genetic structure in presumed Commerson's dolphin subpopulations along the southern Argentina coastline, from the Ria Deseado in the north to Ria Gallegos in the...
This paper reports on the occurrence of the sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) in the southwestern Atlantic. Only in recent years have sei whale sightings been reported regularly within the surveyed area. In a total of 20 sightings, 65% were reported from August to September. Group size was small, averaging 1.94 (SD ¼ 1.21) individuals per group. Du...
A juvenile female Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) was found dead stranded 15 km north of Necochea (38°38′S 058°53′W), Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, approximately 470 km north of the normal range for this species. The animal appeared to be emaciated and granular nodules were found throughout both lungs, but the cause of death i...
This paper reports on the occurrence of the sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) in the south-western Atlantic. Only in recent
years have sei whale sightings been reported regularly within the surveyed area. In a total of 20 sightings, 65% were reported
from August to September. Group size was small, averaging 1.94 (SD ¼ 1.21) individuals per group. D...
This paper reports on the occurrence of the sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) in the south-western Atlantic. Only in recent
years have sei whale sightings been reported regularly within the surveyed area. In a total of 20 sightings, 65% were reported
from August to September. Group size was small, averaging 1.94 (SD ¼ 1.21) individuals per group. D...
This paper reports on the occurrence of the sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) in the south-western Atlantic. Only in recent
years have sei whale sightings been reported regularly within the surveyed area. In a total of 20 sightings, 65% were reported
from August to September. Group size was small, averaging 1.94 (SD ¼ 1.21) individuals per group. D...
South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) are predictably preyed on by killer whales (Orcinus orca) at their breeding colonies in Peninsula Valdés, Argentina. Captures occur in shallow waters along the coastline. Killer whales strand in the surf where sea lion pups practice their swim-ming skills. Being slow and apparently unaware of danger (non...
Studies of the biology and ecology of Commerson's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) in the Ría Deseado estuary (47º 46' S, 65º 58' W) were carried out during January-February 1986 to 1991 and 1994 to 1997, August 1987 and 1988, September 1995, and May 2003. Commerson's dolphins were consistently located along a 24-km stretch of the Ría Deseado...
Collisions with vessels are a well-documented conservation problem for some populations of large whales (LW) in the Northern Hemisphere. Less attention has been given to incidents in the Southern Hemisphere or to small cetaceans (SC) worldwide, therefore an experimental database was compiled (N=256; 119 LW, 137 SC) to allow a rapid assessment. Conf...
In 2003, the whale watching sub-committee of the IWC suggested that swim-with-whale operations were becoming wide-spread, and should be more fully reviewed in the future. In order to fulfil this task, and to monitor the development of the industry, we extended and updated the initial work presented at IWC 55 (SC/55/WW4). As in the previous paper, w...
During its 2002 and 2003 meeting, the Whale Watching Sub-Committee of the Scientific Committee requested the authors to prepare a listing of scientific research activities which involve whale watching, both as its main subject and/or research that utilizes whale watching boats as platforms of opportunity. This paper summarizes information obtained...
The Commerson’s dolphin, Cephalorhynchus commersonii, is perhaps the cetacean species most impacted by fisheries in the coastal waters of southern South America, south of 41oS. Between January 1999 and February 2000, 66 Commerson ́s dolphins were found dead on the coasts of La Angelina and Ría Gallegos3, and at least 37 of the ones at La Angelina b...
The Southern right whale (SWR) (Eubalaena australis) is distributed down to 18ºS, with winter breeding grounds concentrated in the southwestern Atlantic, Africa and Oceania. Very little information exists on this species once the whales leave the waters of the Peninsula Valdes, Argentina. For the waters of Santa Cruz province published information...
Southern right whales Eubalaena australis (Desmoulins, 1822) 1 formerly occurred in very large numbers in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly in coastal waters of the southern part of Australia, New Zealand, American and African continents, as well as in most of the islands between 30°S and 60°S (Townsend 1935, Matthews 1938, Dakin 1963). It has...
The sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis (Lesson, 1828) is distributed worldwide but favour temperate and oceanic waters. This note summarizes the results of 16 sightings of sei whales on the South Western Atlantic.
Franciscana or La Plata dolphin, Pontoporia blainvillei, is distributed in coastal waters and estuaries of the east coast of South America, between Itaúnas (Espirito Santo, Brazil, 18º25'S) and Golfo Nuevo (northern Patagonia, Argentina, 42º35'S). The objective of this study is to evaluate the bioecology of franciscana in the Rio Negro mouth (41º 3...
There has been a considerable increase in shipping activities in Patagonia in the last decade. This work evaluates the potential effects of vessel traffic on the Commersons dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) population of Bahia San Julián (49º 14´ S, 67º 36´ W). During January-February 2000 and 2001, land-based and boat-based observations were m...
Most of the 84 species of whales and dolphins are included in whale watch programmes, with the exception of the beaked whales. To evaluate 'swim-with-cetacean' and 'dive-with-cetacean' programmes in Latin America, a questionnaire was sent to researchers, tour operators and non governmental organizations, and a review of information available on web...
Information on beaked whale strandings in Santa Cruz province, southern Patagonia, Argentina, that occurred between 1998 and 2011 is reported here. During this period, six dead stranded individuals belonging to three different species were recorded: 2 Mesoplodon layardii (strap-toothed whale), a 526cm male and a 414cm female; 3 Ziphius cavirostris...
The presence of southern right whales has been reported all along the Argentine coast. On 4 July 2010 a group of two southern right whales was recorded on video interacting with a kayak off Chapadmalal (38,20°S/ 57,68W), province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This report is based on an extensive analysis of the video as well as an extensive interview...
Observations of killer whales in northern Patagonia, Argentina were conducted using photo-identification techniques between 1985 and 1999. Thirty killer whales have been identified in the study area since 1975 but a core group of 17 have been found to return to the area each year. Boat and shore observations were conducted during both the austral s...