Resumen

SUEYRO, Nicolas. ANALYSIS OF THE ERROR OF A NEW OBSERVER IN AERIAL SURVEYS CENSUSES WITHOUT REPETITIONANÁLISIS DEL ERROR DE UN NUEVO OBSERVADOR EN CENSOS AÉREOS SIN REPETICIÓN. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2022, vol.29, n.1, pp.557-557.  Epub 01-Dic-2021. ISSN 0327-9383.

Abundance estimation by means of aerial surveys is prone to errors related to the observer’s performance. We developed a monitoring method based on aerial surveys off the coastline for the Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) in the breeding grounds of the Southwestern Atlantic. These surveys have been taking place since 1999, and whales have been counted by many different observers meanwhile. This paper examines the influence of observer’s experience over whale counts within the GAM framework, and also determines how many flights are needed for a new observer to be trained. We modeled the number of whales counted using the number of flights performed as a proxy for the experience of the observers. Our results indicate that when inexperienced observers reach the fifth training flight, they are able to provide counts similar to observers with high experience in this type of sampling. Finally, we evaluate the logistic and economic implications for the training.

Palabras clave : Áreas protegidas; cetáceos; ecología marina; modelado.