Southern Hemisphere humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae migrate from wintering grounds in tropical latitudes to feeding areas in the Antarctic Ocean. It has been hypothesized that the population wintering off eastern South America migrates to feeding grounds near the Antarctic Peninsula (ca. 65°S, 60°W) and/or South Georgia (54°20' S, 36°40' W), but direct evidence to support this has never been presented. Between 19 and 28 October 2003, 11 humpback whales (7 females and 4 males) were instrumented with satellite transmitters off Brazil (ca. 18°30' S, 39°30' W) to investigate their movements and migratory destinations. Mean tracking time for the whales was 39.6 d (range = 5 to 205 d) and mean distance travelled was 1673 km per whale (range = 60 to 7258 km). Movements on the wintering ground showed marked individual variation. Departure dates from the Brazilian coast ranged from late October to late December. Whales migrated south through oceanic waters at an average heading of 170°and travelled a relatively direct, linear path from wintering to feeding grounds. Two whales were tracked to feeding grounds in offshore areas near South Georgia and in the South Sandwich Islands (58°S, 26°W) after a 40 to 60 d long migration. Historical catches and current sighting information support these migratory routes and destinations. This study is the first to describe the movements of humpback whales in the western South Atlantic Ocean.

The development of general theories concerning the origin and maintenance of community organization in marine sedimentary environments will benefit from studies of similar processes in the widest possible range of habitat types. The roles of predation and disturbance by large epibenthos are thought to be significant in many such habitats, but the bulk of recent experimental confirmation comes from shallow areas protected from oceanic swell. This field experimental study examines relationships among demersal predators, predator—caused local disturbance, infauna, and infaunal food resources in an exposed marine sand habitat at 17—m depth in southern California, USA. Manipulation of predator densities with exclusion cages, simulation of biological disturbance, and study of dispersal and habitat selection of infauna showed the importance of recurrent local disturbances by the rays Urolophus halleri and Myliobatis californica, which dig pits to expose prey but clear other infauna in the process. Benthic invertebrate populations show complex but reproducible patterns of reoccupation of disturbed sites. The most striking aspect of these patterns is active selection of recently formed pits by certain species. Ray pits are sites of accumulation for organic material on which most of the infauna feed. Experiments showed that populations which rapidly colonize new ray pits are responding to the concentration of food resources which are otherwise sparsely distributed. Responses of infauna to ray disturbance are correlated with postlarval swimming capability and method of feeding. Early colonists are active nocturnal swimmers that feed on detritus at the sand—water interface. Such features allow efficient exploitation of patchy, ephemeral concentrations of organic matter. Later arrivals are primarily subsurface feeders with limited swimming activity. The relative abundances of infauna are sensitive to seasonal changes in ray disturbance rates. Early pit colonists predominate when disturbance rates are high. The ray disturbance phenomenon produces a persistent mosaic of patches in various stages of infaunal recolonization. Other experiments showed the importance of predation by sea stars (Astropecten verrilli) and speckled sand dabs (Citharichthys stigmaeus). Sea stars consume crab larvae soon after they settle to the bottom and begin metamorphosis. During the study, recruitments of two crabs, Cancer gracilis and Portunus xantusii, were much reduced by sea star predation. A caging experiment indicated that high—density populations of P. xantusii have important negative effects on some infaunal populations. Thus, sea star predation on young crabs is important to the maintenance of infaunal community organization. Sand dabs consume infauna which are flushed into the water column or onto the sand surface by digging rays. This commensal behavior constitutes an important additional source of mortality for populationsthat are otherwise unavailable as food for sand dabs, which are visual predators.

Aerial surveys of harbor seals on land produce only a minimum assessment of the population; a correction factor to account for the missing animals is necessary to estimate total abundance. In 1991 and 1992, VHF radio tags were deployed on harbor seals (n= 124) at six sites in Washington and Oregon. During aerial surveys a correction factor to account for seals in the water was determined from the proportion of radio‐tagged seals on shore during the pupping season. This proportion ranged from 0.54 to 0.74. Among the six sites there was no significant difference in the proportion of animals on shore nor was there a difference in age/sex categories of seals on shore between sites. The pooled correction factor for determining total population abundance was 1.53. An additional 32 seals were radio tagged in 1993 at one of the sites used in 1991. Comparing data from the two years, we found no interannual variation. Aerial surveys of all known harbor seal haul‐out sites in Washington (n= 319) and Oregon (n= 68) were flown during the peak of the pupping season, 1991–1993. The Washington and Oregon harbor seal population was divided into two stocks based on pupping phenology, morphometics, and genetics. Mean counts for the Washington inland stock were 8,710 in 1991, 9,018 in 1992, and 10,092 in 1993. Oregon and Washington coastal stock mean counts were 18,363 in 1991, 18,556 in 1992, and 17,762 in 1993. Multiplying the annual count by the correction factor yielded estimates of harbor seal abundance in the Washington inland stock of 13,326 (95% CI = 11,637–15,259) for 1991, 13,798 (95% CI = 11,980–15,890) for 1992, and 15,440 (95% CI = 13,382–17,814) for 1993. In the Oregon and Washington coastal stock the corrected estimate of harbor seal abundance was 28,094 (95% CI = 24,697–31,960) in 1991, 28,391 (95% CI = 24,847–32,440) for 1992, and 27,175 (95% CI = 23,879–30,926) for 1993.

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