Mark recapture distance sampling: using acoustics to estimate the fraction of dolphins missed by observers during shipboard line-transect surveys

Cetacean abundance estimation often relies on distance sampling methods using ship-board visual line-transect surveys, which assumes that all animals on the trackline aredetected and that the detection of animals decreases with increasing distance fromthe trackline. Mark–Recapture Distance Sampling (MRDS) typically employs a sec-ondary visual observation team and may be used to identify the fraction of animalsdetected on the trackline when it is suspected that animals may have been missed.For species that are difficult to detect using visual observation methods, such as deep-diving species or those with cryptic surfacing behavior, this secondary team may beprone to the same limitations in detection as the primary observation team and alter-native modes of detection may improve estimates. Here we examine the potential useof passive acoustic detection as a secondary platform for MRDS of rough-tootheddolphins (Steno bredanensis) during a combined visual and acoustic shipboard line-transect survey. The average trackline detection probability for rough-toothed dolphinswas less than one for both the trial configuration (averagep(0)0.45 for the visualteam) and independent observer configuration (averagep(0)0.37 for the visual,p(0)0.77 for the acoustic andp(0)0.84 for both teams combined). This study,while limited in scope, strongly suggests that passive acoustic methods may be aneffective alternative for estimatingp(0)for some cetaceans species.