A Wanderer in the Mediterranean Sea: The Case of a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) from the West Indies

Violi, Biagio; Verga, Alessandro; Jones, Lindsey; Calogero, Giulia; Soldano, Giulia; Cheeseman, Ted; Wenzel, Frederick W.

doi:10.1578/am.47.6.2021.599

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Historical reports from Bolognari (1949, 1950, 1951) suggested seasonal movements through the Strait of Gibraltar—entering in the winter and going out in spring. Movements from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean Sea have also been recorded for other cetacean species (e.g., fin whales: Castellote et al, 2010; Gauffier et al, 2018, 2020; Giménez et al, 2013; humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae : Violi et al, 2021; killer whales Orcinus orca : Mrusczok et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Varying selection pressures, patterns of connectivity and genetic drift shape the diversity of species, potentially leading to greater geographical diversity in species with a wide latitudinal distribution range (Ralph & Coop, 2010). In general, cetaceans are highly mobile with high dispersal potential (see Mrusczok et al, 2021; Peres dos Santos et al, 2022; Stevick et al, 2011; Violi et al, 2021). Even so, they often show population genetic structure over relatively small geographical ranges (e.g., Hoelzel, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Genomics reveals the role of admixture in the evolution of structure among sperm whale populations within the Mediterranean Sea

Violi

Jong

Frantzis³

et al. 2023

Molecular Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In oceanic ecosystems, the nature of barriers to gene flow and the processes by which populations may become isolated are different from the terrestrial environment, and less well understood. In this study we investigate a highly mobile species (the sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus) that is genetically differentiated between an open North Atlantic population and the populations in the Mediterranean Sea.We apply high-resolution single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis to study the nature of barriers to gene flow in this system, assessing the putative boundary into the Mediterranean (Strait of Gibraltar and Alboran Sea region), and including novel analyses on structuring among sperm whale populations within the Mediterranean basin. Our data support a recent founding of the Mediterranean population, around

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomics reveals the role of admixture in the evolution of structure among sperm whale populations within the Mediterranean Sea

Violi

Jong

Frantzis³

et al. 2023

Molecular Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The development of global networks of research collaborations and citizen science data collection of humpback whale fluke photos, as well as advancements in automated imaging techniques 17 have led to the discovery of numerous instances of humpback whales documented migrating outside of their expected ranges. These records include the detection of whales thousands of kilometers from their expected migratory location [18][19][20] , and include transoceanic movements between multiple breeding grounds 19,21 and between breeding and feeding grounds [22][23][24][25][26] ; the use of multiple distinct breeding grounds in the same season 26,27 ; migrations to areas beyond the known range of their stock 28 ; and feeding in known breeding grounds 29 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Interchange of Southern Hemisphere humpback whales across the South Atlantic Ocean

Ramos¹,

Cheeseman

Marcondes

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The cosmopolitan distribution of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) is largely driven by migrations between winter low-latitude breeding grounds and summer high-latitude feeding grounds. Southern Hemisphere humpback whales faced intensive exploitation during the whaling eras and recently show evidence of population recovery. Gene flow and shared song indicate overlap between the western (A) and eastern (B1, B2) Breeding Stocks in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans (C1). Here, we investigated photo-identification evidence of population interchange using images of individuals photographed during boat-based tourism and research in Brazil and South Africa from 1989 to 2022. Fluke images were uploaded to Happywhale, a global digital database for marine mammal identification. Six whales were recaptured between countries from 2002 to 2021 with resighting intervals ranging from 0.76 to 12.92 years. Four whales originally photographed off Abrolhos Bank, Brazil were photographed off the Western Cape, South Africa (feeding grounds for B2). Two whales originally photographed off the Western Cape were photographed off Brazil, one traveling to the Eastern Cape in the Southwestern Indian Ocean (a migration corridor for C1) before migrating westward to Brazil. These findings photographically confirm interchange of humpback whales across the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the importance of international collaboration to understand population boundaries.

show abstract

Synthesizing connectivity information from migratory marine species for area-based management

Kot,

DeLand,

Harrison

et al. 2023

Biological Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A Wanderer in the Mediterranean Sea: The Case of a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) from the West Indies

Cited by 4 publications

References 44 publications

Genomics reveals the role of admixture in the evolution of structure among sperm whale populations within the Mediterranean Sea

Genomics reveals the role of admixture in the evolution of structure among sperm whale populations within the Mediterranean Sea

Interchange of Southern Hemisphere humpback whales across the South Atlantic Ocean

Synthesizing connectivity information from migratory marine species for area-based management

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About