Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground
Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground
Assessing the movement patterns and key habitat features of breeding humpback whales is a prerequisite for the conservation management of this philopatric species. To investigate the interactions between humpback whale movements and environmental conditions off Madagascar, we deployed 25 satellite tags in the northeast and southwest coast of Madagascar. For each recorded position, we collated estimates of environmental variables and computed two behavioural metrics: behavioural state of ‘transiting’ (consistent/directional) versus ‘localized’ (variable/non-directional), and active swimming speed (i.e. speed relative to the current). On coastal habitats (i.e. bathymetry < 200 m and in adjacent areas), females showed localized behaviour in deep waters (191 ± 20 m) and at large distances (14 ± 0.6 km) from shore, suggesting that their breeding habitat extends beyond the shallowest waters available close to the coastline. Males' active swimming speed decreased in shallow waters, but environmental parameters did not influence their likelihood to exhibit localized movements, which was probably dominated by social factors instead. In oceanic habitats, both males and females showed localized behaviours in shallow waters and favoured high chlorophyll-a concentrations. Active swimming speed accounts for a large proportion of observed movement speed; however, breeding humpback whales probably exploit prevailing ocean currents to maximize displacement. This study provides evidence that coastal areas, generally subject to strong human pressure, remain the core habitat of humpback whales off Madagascar. Our results expand the knowledge of humpback whale habitat use in oceanic habitat and response to variability of environmental factors such as oceanic current and chlorophyll level.
Food provisioning of wildlife is a major concern for management and conservation agencies worldwide because it encourages unnatural behaviours in wild animals and increases each individual's risk for injury and death. Here we investigate the contribu...
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 8(1), 522–535
Description:
An understanding of temporal patterns of migration and spatial connectivity between home ranges and spawning sites is necessary for effective management of species that form transient spawning aggregations. The Nassau Grouper Epinephelus striatus is ...
Lomeli, Mark J. M.; Hamel, Owen S.; Wakefield, W. Waldo;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 9(1), 149–160
Description:
The limited‐entry bottom trawl fishery for groundfish along the U.S. West Coast operates under a catch share program, which is implemented with the intention of improving the economic efficiency of the fishery, maximizing fishing opportunities, and...
Leo, Jennifer P.; Minello, Thomas J.; Grant, William E.;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 10(3), 347–356
Description:
Brown shrimp Farfantepenaeus aztecus support a commercially important fishery in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and the juvenile shrimp use coastal estuaries as nurseries. Production of young shrimp from these nurseries, and hence commercial harvest of...
Murawski, Steven A.; Peebles, Ernst B.; Gracia, Adolfo;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 10(3), 325–346
Description:
We analyzed the results of the first comprehensive, systematic, fishery‐independent survey of Gulf of Mexico (GoM) continental shelves using data collected from demersal longline sampling off the United States, Mexico, and Cuba. In total, 166 speci...
Altenritter, Megan N.; Zydlewski, Gayle Barbin; Kinnison, Michael T.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 9(1), 216–230,
Description:
Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus were recently listed as threatened in the Gulf of Maine and endangered in the rest of their U.S. range. Continued research priorities include long-term population monitoring, identifying the species...
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 9(1), 1–12
Description:
While Pacific salmon are known for their extensive marine migrations, some species display much more limited alternative patterns, including residence within interior marine waters. To more clearly define the scale of movement of these residents, we ...
Tuckey, Troy D.; Fabrizio, Mary C.; Norris, Alicia J.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 9(1), 564–572
Description:
Blue Catfish Ictalurus furcatus were purposefully introduced into freshwater tributaries to Chesapeake Bay in the past, and populations have subsequently spread to new areas, negatively impacting native communities and causing concern for resource ma...
McClatchie, Sam; Field, John; Thompson, Andrew R.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
Royal Society Open Science, 3(3), 1-9
Description:
California sea lions increased from approximately 50 000 to 340 000 animals in the last 40 years, and their pups are starving and stranding on beaches in southern California, raising questions about the adequacy of their food supply. We investiga...
Lomeli, Mark J. M.; Wakefield, W. Waldo; Herrmann, Bent;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 9(1), 597–611
Description:
In the U.S. West Coast limited-entry (LE) groundfish bottom trawl fishery, catches of stocks with restrictive harvest limits (e.g., Darkblotched Rockfish Sebastes crameri, Sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria, and Pacific Halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis) con...
Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology, 68(1), 1-10
Description:
GasEx-98 was the first open-ocean process study where gas transfer velocity measurements were made with several robust techniques, including airside eddy covariance of CO2 and deliberate injection of 3He and SF6. While the CO2 eddy covariance results...
Harford, W. J.; Smith, S. G.; Ault, J. S.; Babcock, E. A.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 8(1), 147–159
Description:
In the Florida Keys coral reef ecosystem, delineation of reef fish distributions in relationship to habitat patterns is important for improving the design characteristics of fishery-independent surveys. Efficient survey design depends on analysis of ...
Acoustic communication is an important aspect of reproductive, foraging and social behaviours for many marine species. Northeast Pacific blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) produce three different call types—A, B and D calls. All may be produced as...
Jackson, Jennifer A.; Carroll, Emma L.; Smith, Tim D.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
Royal Society Open Science, 3(3), 1-16
Description:
Accurate estimation of historical abundance provides an essential baseline for judging the recovery of the great whales. This is particularly challenging for whales hunted prior to twentieth century modern whaling, as population-level catch records a...
Sagarese, Skyler R.; Frisk, Michael G.; Cerrato, Robert M.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 8(1), 244–262
Description:
This study examines the potential uncertainty in survey biomass estimates of Spiny Dogfish Squalus acanthias in the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NES LME). Diel catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) estimates are examined from the N...
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 8(1), 1–15
Description:
The spatial and temporal extent of summer hypoxia (dissolved oxygen [DO] concentration ≤ 2 mg/L) in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries has been increasing for decades, consequently affecting fish distribution and abundance by shifting biomass to no...
Parsons, Kim M.; Everett, Meredith; Dahlheim, Marilyn;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Royal Society Open Science, 5(8), 1-12
Description:
Determining management units for natural populations is critical for effective conservation and management. However, collecting the requisite tissue samples for population genetic analyses remains the primary limiting factor for a number of marine sp...
Arnold, Linsey M.; Smith, Wade D.; Spencer, Paul D.;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Royal Society Open Science, 5(1), 1-11
Description:
Despite evidence of maternal age effects in a number of teleost species, there have been challenges to the assertion that maternal age intrinsically influences offspring quality. From an evolutionary perspective, maternal age effects result in young ...
Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 8(1), 595–606
Description:
The Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus has declined throughout its range, and the species is now protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Information on the timing and extent of spawning migrations is essential for the development and imp...
Oceanic fronts are key habitats for a diverse range of marine predators, yet how they influence fine-scale foraging behaviour is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the dive behaviour of northern gannets Morus bassanus in relation to shelf-sea f...
Gowan, Timothy A.; Ortega-Ortiz, Joel G.; Hostetler, Jeffrey A.; Hamilton, Philip K.; Knowlton, Amy R.; Jackson, Katharine A.; George, R. Clay; Taylor, Cynthia R.; Naessig, Patricia J.;
Published Date:
2019
Source:
Scientific Reports 9 (353)
Description:
Animal movement plays a fundamental role in the ecology of migratory species, and understanding migration patterns is required for effective management. To evaluate intrinsic and environmental factors associated with probabilities of endangered North...
Herman, Louis M.; Forestell, Paul H.; Antinoja, Ronald C.;
Corporate Authors:
Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory. United States, Marine Mammal Commission,. Northwest Fisheries Center, Marine Mammal Division,. National Science Foundation (U.S.).
Published Date:
1980
Series:
MMC (Series) ; 77/19
Description:
"The 1976/77 assembly of humpback whales in Hawaiian waters was studied during the major period of its residency in Island waters. Data were compiles from non aircraft surveys, an all-island observer network, daily hydrofoil transits between Oahu and...
Ryan, J. P.; Cline, D. E.; Joseph, J. E.; Margolina, T.; Santora, J. A.; Kudela, R.M.; Chavez, F. P.; Pennington, J. T.; Wahl, C.; Michisaki, R.; Benoit-Bird, K.; Forney, K. A.; Stimpert, .K.; DeVogelaere, A.; Black, N.; Fischer, M.;
Published Date:
2019
Source:
PLOS ONE, 14(9)
Description:
This study examines the occurrence of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song in the northeast Pacific from three years of continuous recordings off central California (36.713°N, 122.186°W). Song is prevalent in this feeding and migratory habi...
Stimpert, A. K.; Lammers, M. O.; Pack, A. A.; Au, W. W.;
Published Date:
2020
Source:
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 147(5)
Description:
Bio-logging devices are advancing the understanding of marine animal behavior, but linking sound production and behavior of individual baleen whales is still unreliable. Tag placement potentially within the near field of the sound source creates unce...
Lammers, M. O.; Kügler, A.; Zang, E.; Kaplan, M.; Mooney, T. A.;
Published Date:
2019
Source:
Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, 37(1)
Description:
Approximately half of the north Pacific humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) population migrates from high latitude feeding grounds to Hawaii each winter and spring to breed. Beginning in 2015, unusually low numbers of whales began to be reported ...
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[PDF - 5.67 MB]
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