Other Pressures Sample Clauses

Other Pressures. Although underwater noise is probably the greatest pressure currently facing beaked whales, there are other potential pressures, such as collisions with vessels (Xxxxxxx xx Xxxx et al., 2006), ingestion of marine debris (Xxxxxx et al., 2015), and entanglement in fishing gear (Xxxxxx et al., 2000; Xxxxxxxx, 2007). Beaked whales may also under certain circumstances be vulnerable to other contaminants (Xxxxxx et al., 2008). Finally, climate change is likely to lead to range shifts, and species such as Cuvier’s beaked whale and Blainville’s beaked whale may be expected to extend their range northwards in the North Atlantic (Xxxxx & Waggitt, 2020b), with possible increased frequency of incursions into shelf waters as some cephalopod prey species extend their own range into areas such as the North Sea (Van der Kooij et al., 2016). In those regions, beaked whales are likely to become exposed to a wider variety of anthropogenic pressures. Some evidence of a northwards range extension for Xxxxxx’s beaked whale is already observed with more frequent sightings of the species north of the Bay of Biscay, and first records from as far north as Norway and Iceland.