Suitability Analysis of Acoustic Refugia for Endangered Killer Whales (Orcinus Orca) Using the GIS-Based Logic Scoring of Preference Method

Much of the world’s cetacean species rely on calls, clicks, and song to communicate and hunt. A species most susceptible to the growing amount of ocean noise are killer whales. Drackett and Dragićević aimed to increase the ability for GIS and spatial multicriterion evaluation (MCE) methods to represent the complex relationships between ocean noise in relation to the detection of acoustic refugia alongside other habitat criteria.

The GIS based Logistic Scoring of Preference (LSP)-MCE analysis is composed of input values, such as industrial sites, ports, aquaculture, kelp beds, and shipping traffic, that are weighed according to suitability which are represented within a raster layer within GIS. This suitability raster layer is superimposed on the area of interest (the Salish Sea), where this endangered population frequents. This study represents the use of spatial analysis and scoring to identify areas of most concern in regard to habitat suitability based on several criteria, including ocean noise. These maps can then be used to inform management decisions surrounding this population and area of concern.

Such use of spatial analysis can be expanded to include a host of new variables that can inform management decisions of other cetacean species.

Drackett, Logan, and Suzana Dragićević. “Suitability Analysis of Acoustic Refugia for Endangered Killer Whales (Orcinus Orca) Using the GIS-Based Logic Scoring of Preference Method.” Environmental Management, vol. 68, no. 2, Aug. 2021, pp. 262–78. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01481-y.