Yongtao Li, Zhaolong Cheng, Yanling Chu, Zhongxun Wu, Tao Zuo, Mingxiang Niu, Jun Wang
Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of marine megafauna is critical for ecosystem-based conservation and marine spatial planning. The East Asian finless porpoise ( Neophocaena asiaeorientalis sunameri ), an endangered coastal cetacean endemic to northern China, faces escalating anthropogenic pressures in its fragmented habitat. This study integrates dedicated boat-based surveys (2019–2024) with seasonal species distribution models using the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) algorithm to evaluate habitat suitability and identify drivers of distribution for this species in the Miaodao Archipelago, a priority candidate for China's national park system. Environmental variables were dimensionally reduced using season-specific principal component analyses to account for multicollinearity while preserving ecological interpretability. MaxEnt models exhibited robust predictive performance, emphasizing distance to aquaculture, distance to island, productivity gradients linked to chlorophyll —a concentrations, and distance to channel as key factors influencing East Asian finless porpoise habitat suitability. Spatial distribution patterns reveal marked seasonal variation: porpoises aggregated near islands and aquaculture zones during spring and autumn, shifted toward nearshore productive waters in summer, and moved offshore in winter to avoid coastal disturbances. The study highlights the necessity of integrating seasonal dynamics and human activity gradients into cetacean conservation frameworks. These findings support adaptive, seasonally responsive strategies such as regulating vessel traffic and promoting ecologically compatible aquaculture to enhance spatial management in the proposed national park. This establishes a template for evidence-based conservation in China's emerging national park system while advancing methodological frameworks for modeling highly mobile species in heterogeneous anthropogenic seascapes.