Analysis of the error of a new observer in aerial surveys censuses without repetition

SUEYRO, NICOLÁS; CRESPO, ENRIQUE A.; COSCARELLA, MARIANO A.

Mastozoología Neotropical

SAREM

Lugar: Mendoza; Año: 2022

Abundance estimation by means of aerial surveys is prone to errors related to the observer’sperformance. We developed a monitoring method based on aerial surveys o the coastline for the SouthernRight Whale (Eubalaena australis) in the breeding grounds of the Southwestern Atlantic. These surveys havebeen taking place since 1999, and whales have been counted by many dierent observers meanwhile. Thispaper examines the inuence of observer’s experience over whale counts within the GAM framework, andalso determines how many ights are needed for a new observer to be trained. We modeled the number ofwhales counted using the number of ights performed as a proxy for the experience of the observers. Ourresults indicate that when inexperienced observers reach the fth training ight, they are able to providecounts similar to observers with high experience in this type of sampling. Finally, we evaluate the logistic andeconomic implications for the training.