Predictions of critical habitat for five whale species in the waters of coastal British Columbia

Whaling records from British Columbia coastal whaling stations reliably rep ort the positions of 9592 whales killed between 1948 and 1967. We used this positional information and oceanographic data (bathymetry, temperature, an d salinity) to predict critical habitat off the coast of British Columbia f or sperm (Physeter macrocephalus), sei (Balaenoptera borealis), fin (Balaen optera physalus), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), and blue (Balaenoptera musculus) whales. We used generalized linear models at annual and monthly time scales to relate whale occurrence to six predictor variables (month, d epth, slope, depth class, and sea surface temperature and salinity). The mo dels showed critical habitat for sei, fin, and male sperm whales along the continental slope and over a large area off the northwest coast of Vancouve r Island. Habitat models for blue, humpback, and female sperm whales were r elatively insensitive to the predictor variables, owing partially to the sm aller sample sizes for these groups. The habitat predictions lend support t o recent hypotheses about sperm whale breeding off British Columbia and ide ntify humpback whale habitat in sheltered bays and straits throughout the c oast. The habitat models also provide insights about the nature of the link ages between the environment and the distribution of whales in the North Pa cific Ocean.