Quantifying uncertainty in anthropogenic causes of injury and mortality for an endangered baleen whale

Understanding the causes of mortality for a declining species is essential for developing effective conservation and management strategies, particularly when anthropogenic activities are the primary threat. Using a competing hazards framework allows for robust estimation of the cause-specific variation that may exist across multiple dimensions, such as time and individual. Here, we estimated cause-specific rates of severe injury and mortality for North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis), a critically endangered species that is currently in peril due to human-caused interactions. We developed a multistate capture-recapture model that leveraged 30 years of intensive survey effort yielding sightings of individuals with injury assessments and necropsies of carcass recoveries. We examined variation in the hazard rates of severe injury and mortality due to entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes as explained by year and the age and reproductive status of the individual. We f..., More information on North Atlantic right whale sightings can be found at the NARWC., , # Quantifying uncertainty in anthropogenic causes of injury and mortality for an endangered baleen whale

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cc2fqz6f1](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cc2fqz6f1)

## Description of the data and file structure

Text file of R objects including lists of matrices, vectors, and scalars derived from North Atlantic right whale sightings and individual whale information. Also includes starting values for MCMC model fitting.

## Sharing/Access information

Data was derived from the following sources:

* [https://www.narwc.org/](https://www.narwc.org/)

## Code/Software

R script for fitting multistate capture-recapture model using R and NIMBLE to data objects described above.