Behavior of satellite-tracked Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) in relation to environmental factors around the western Antarctic Peninsula

Lee, Jessica F.; Friedlaender, Ari S.; Oliver, Matthew J.; DeLiberty, Tracy L.

doi:10.1186/s40317-017-0138-7

Cited by 27 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaernsis) avoid competition with humpback whales by foraging on deeper krill aggregations (Friedlaender et al 2009) and, being smaller and more manoeuvrable, they can forage under the ice, their preferred habitat (Friedlaender et al 2014). Recent work found long-term preferences of minke whales for ice edge regions during summer (Williams et al 2014) and throughout the foraging season (Lee et al 2017). While they are known to be the only endemic cetacean species, present year-round, evidence suggests that some portion of the population migrates to sub-tropical latitudes in winter (Lee et al 2017).…”

Section: Higher Trophic Levelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent work found long-term preferences of minke whales for ice edge regions during summer (Williams et al 2014) and throughout the foraging season (Lee et al 2017). While they are known to be the only endemic cetacean species, present year-round, evidence suggests that some portion of the population migrates to sub-tropical latitudes in winter (Lee et al 2017). Blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and right (Eubalena glacialis) whales are also seasonally present and similarly feed on krill.…”

Section: Higher Trophic Levelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variability and change in the west Antarctic Peninsula marine system: Research priorities and opportunities

Henley

Schofield

Hendry

et al. 2019

Progress in Oceanography

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109

115

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The west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) region has undergone significant changes in temperature and seasonal ice dynamics since the mid-twentieth century, with strong impacts on the regional ecosystem, ocean chemistry and hydrographic properties. Changes to these long-term trends of warming and sea ice decline have been observed in the 21 st century, but their consequences for ocean physics, chemistry and the ecology of the high-productivity shelf ecosystem are yet to be fully established. The WAP shelf is important for regional krill stocks and higher trophic levels, whilst the degree of variability and change in the physical environment and documented biological and biogeochemical responses make this a model system for how climate and sea ice changes might restructure high-latitude ecosystems. Although this region is arguably the best-measured and bestunderstood shelf region around Antarctica, significant gaps remain in spatial and temporal data capable of resolving the atmosphere-ice-ocean-ecosystem feedbacks that control the dynamics and evolution of this complex polar system. Here we summarise the current state of knowledge regarding the key mechanisms and interactions regulating the physical, biogeochemical and biological processes at work, the ways in which the shelf environment is changing, and the ecosystem response to the changes underway. We outline the overarching cross-disciplinary priorities for future research, as well as the most important discipline-specific objectives. Underpinning these priorities and objectives is the need to better-define the causes, magnitude and timescales of variability and change at all levels of the system. A combination of traditional and innovative approaches will be critical to addressing these priorities and developing a coordinated observing system for the WAP shelf, which is required to detect and elucidate change into the future.

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Section: Higher Trophic Levelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Higher Trophic Levelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variability and change in the west Antarctic Peninsula marine system: Research priorities and opportunities

Henley

Schofield

Hendry

et al. 2019

Progress in Oceanography

Self Cite

109

115

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Previous work in the region has relied on visual sighting surveys that provide information on animal distribution at relatively coarse spatial scales and link these to satellite imagery at scales orders of magnitude greater than what we are able to measure from the animal's perspective [19,20]. Similarly, the only published account of Antarctic minke whale tag-derived behavior in relation to surface ice used positions from Argos tags that have error estimates of up to several kilometers, and linked behavioral state (transiting versus area-restricted search) to coarse satellite-derived sea ice concentration data [11]. Our method for describing surface ice concentration at such fine spatiotemporal scales, with continuous reliable information on behavioral state from motion-sensing tags, will now allow greater quantification of how the behavior of this species is affected by ice in the environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Antarctic minke whales (AMW) are the largest ice-affiliated krill predator and most numerous baleen whale in the Southern Ocean. Antarctic minke are intimately tied to ice, yet very little is known about their behavior, habitat use, foraging ecology, and movement patterns with respect to their environment [10,11]. This information is critical not only to define how these whales interact with their environment, but to better understand and forecast the impacts of climate change.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The scale of the whale: using video-tag data to evaluate sea-surface ice concentration from the perspective of individual Antarctic minke whales

et al. 2020

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Background Advances in biologging technology allow researchers access to previously unobservable behavioral states and movement patterns of marine animals. To relate behaviors with environmental variables, features must be evaluated at scales relevant to the animal or behavior. Remotely sensed environmental data, collected via satellites, often suffers from the effects of cloud cover and lacks the spatial or temporal resolution to adequately link with individual animal behaviors or behavioral bouts. This study establishes a new method for remotely and continuously quantifying surface ice concentration (SIC) at a scale relevant to individual whales using on-animal tag video data. Results Motion-sensing and video-recording suction cup tags were deployed on 7 Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) around the Antarctic Peninsula in February and March of 2018. To compare the scale of camera-tag observations with satellite imagery, the area of view was simulated using camera-tag parameters. For expected conditions, we found the visible area maximum to be ~ 100m2 which indicates that observations occur at an equivalent or finer scale than a single pixel of high-resolution visible spectrum satellite imagery. SIC was classified into one of six bins (0%, 1–20%, 21–40%, 41–60%, 61–80%, 81–100%) by two independent observers for the initial and final surfacing between dives. In the event of a disagreement, a third independent observer was introduced, and the median of the three observer’s values was used. Initial results (n = 6) show that Antarctic minke whales in the coastal bays of the Antarctic Peninsula spend 52% of their time in open water, and only 15% of their time in water with SIC greater than 20%. Over time, we find significant variation in observed SIC, indicating that Antarctic minke occupy an extremely dynamic environment. Sentinel-2 satellite-based approaches of sea ice assessment were not possible because of persistent cloud cover during the study period. Conclusion Tag-video offers a means to evaluate ice concentration at spatial and temporal scales relevant to the individual. Combined with information on underwater behavior, our ability to quantify SIC continuously at the scale of the animal will improve upon current remote sensing methods to understand the link between animal behavior and these dynamic environmental variables.

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“…Annual sea ice conditions likely play an important role in gray whale prey production and access to prey. The influence of sea ice has been noted to affect a number of polar marine mammal species [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] . Sea ice extent in the Bering Sea has been suggested to limit calf production in eastern gray whales with a significant decrease in number of calves during shorter feeding seasons when pregnant females were foraging.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of sea ice on growth rates of an endangered population of gray whales

Gailey¹,

Sychenko²,

Tyurneva

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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The western gray whale population is endangered with approximately 175 individuals and 33 known reproductive females. Photo-identification studies were conducted from 2002-2017 during the gray whale foraging season off northeastern Sakhalin Island, Russia. Despite abundant prey resources, significant variation in whales' body condition, inter-birth intervals and calf survival have been documented with limited understanding of factors that account for the observed variability. We examine sea ice concentrations at their known foraging grounds to define the maximum duration of a "foraging season". We explore the relationship between foraging season length during a female's pregnancy and post-weaning calf survival and reproduction. Approximately 77% of the variation in calf survival, which ranged annually from 10-80%, was associated with the duration of the feeding season while the mother was pregnant. Poor body conditions and prolonged inter-birth intervals of western gray whales have also been documented to coincide with shorter duration in feeding seasons found in this study. These results imply that shorter foraging seasons are associated with reduced energy intake by physically limiting the number of days gray whales can forage, and thus sea ice conditions may be one limiting factor affecting growth rates of this endangered population of baleen whales.

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Behavior of satellite-tracked Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) in relation to environmental factors around the western Antarctic Peninsula

Cited by 27 publications

References 27 publications

Variability and change in the west Antarctic Peninsula marine system: Research priorities and opportunities

Variability and change in the west Antarctic Peninsula marine system: Research priorities and opportunities

The scale of the whale: using video-tag data to evaluate sea-surface ice concentration from the perspective of individual Antarctic minke whales

Effects of sea ice on growth rates of an endangered population of gray whales

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