Cetacean diversity revealed from whale-watching observations in northern Peru

Abstract

The marine ecosystem of Peru is one of the regions with the highest species richness of cetaceans worldwide (Pompa et al., 2011). Upwelling fuels high levels of primary and secondary productivity (Chavez et al., 2008), thus creating niche conditions that support diverse and abundant mysticete and odontocete species of the Southeast Pacific, particularly in neritic waters (Majluf & Reyes, 1989). Although the species richness is known, the information has been gathered from distinct sources with different spatial and temporal effort. Sources include records from stranding, bycatch, and whaling reports (Van Waerebeek et al., 1988; Reyes, 2009), but less effort has been made on in situ observations. Cruise surveys along Peruvian neritic and oceanic waters are conducted once or twice per year to monitor oceanographic conditions and stocks of small pelagic fish (e.g., Bertrand et al., 2014)...