Don't mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31552Dato
2023-09-06Type
Journal articleTidsskriftartikkel
Peer reviewed
Forfatter
Kettemer, Lisa Elena; Ramm, Theresia; Broms, Fredrik Björn; Biuw, Martin; Blanchet, Marie-Anne; Bourgeon, Sophie; Dubourg, Paul; Ellendersen, Anna C. J.; Horaud, Mathilde; Kershaw, Joanna; Miller, Patrick J. O.; Øien, Nils Inge; Pallin, Logan J.; Rikardsen, Audun H.Sammendrag
Migration patterns are fundamentally linked to the spatiotemporal distributions of prey. How migrating animals can
respond to changes in their prey’s distribution and
abundance remains largely unclear. During the last decade,
humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) used specific
winter foraging sites in fjords of northern Norway, outside of
their main summer foraging season, to feed on herring that
started overwintering in the area. We used photographic
matching to show that whales sighted during summer in the
Barents Sea foraged in northern Norway from late October to
February, staying up to three months and showing high
inter-annual return rates (up to 82%). The number of identified whales in northern Norway totalled 866 individuals by 2019. Genetic sexing and hormone
profiling in both areas demonstrate a female bias in northern Norway and suggest higher proportions
of pregnancy in northern Norway. This may indicate that the fjord-based winter feeding is important
for pregnant females before migration. Our results suggest that humpback whales can respond
to foraging opportunities along their migration pathways, in some cases by continuing their
feeding season well into winter. This provides an important reminder to implement dynamic
ecosystem management that can account for changes in the spatio-temporal distribution of
migrating marine mammals.
Er en del av
Kettemer, L.E. (2023). Migration Ecology of North Atlantic Humpback Whales: Mapping Movements throughout the Annual Cycle. (Doctoral thesis). https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31692.Sitering
Kettemer, Ramm, Broms, Biuw, Blanchet, Bourgeon, Dubourg, Ellendersen, Horaud, Kershaw, Miller, Øien, Pallin, Rikardsen. Don't mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration. Royal Society Open Science. 2023;10(9)Metadata
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