Blue whale habitat and prey in the California Channel Islands

Fiedler, Paul C.; Reilly, Stephen B.; Hewitt, Roger P.; Demer, David A.; Philbrick, Valerie A.; Smith, Susan; Armstrong, Wesley A.; Croll, Donald A.; Tershy, Bernie R.; Mate, Bruce R.

doi:10.1016/s0967-0645(98)80017-9

Cited by 171 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…While progress has been made in projecting large-scale prey resource changes (e.g., Stock et al, 2014;Lefort et al, 2015), marine mammal species such as blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) show tight coupling to smaller scale oceanographic features (Fiedler et al, 1998;Moore et al, 2002;Croll et al, 2005) associated with high euphausiid (krill) abundance (Santora et al, 2011). Similar relations have been exhibited by bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) across the Arctic (Laidre et al, 2007;Citta et al, 2015;George et al, 2015) and North Atlantic right whales (Baumgartner et al, 2003;Baumgartner and Mate, 2005).…”

Section: Marine Mammal Ecology and Climate Changementioning

confidence: 83%

“…To support modeling efforts, research plans are needed that extend beyond the collection and dissemination of marine mammal occurrence and environmental correlate data, particularly where critical management needs exist or where correlative modeling studies are already underway. For example, improved understanding of how prey resources drive marine mammal distribution as well as the underlying physical and biological features that dictate prey occurrence (Fiedler et al, 1998;Croll et al, 2005;Santora et al, 2013;Schroeder et al, 2014) will likely lead to advances in marine mammal distribution modeling.…”

Section: Improving Marine Mammal Distribution Projectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Projecting Marine Mammal Distribution in a Changing Climate

et al. 2017

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Climate-related shifts in marine mammal range and distribution have been observed in some populations; however, the nature and magnitude of future responses are uncertain in novel environments projected under climate change. This poses a challenge for agencies charged with management and conservation of these species. Specialized diets, restricted ranges, or reliance on specific substrates or sites (e.g., for pupping) make many marine mammal populations particularly vulnerable to climate change. High-latitude, predominantly ice-obligate, species have experienced some of the largest changes in habitat and distribution and these are expected to continue. Efforts to predict and project marine mammal distributions to date have emphasized data-driven statistical habitat models. These have proven successful for short time-scale (e.g., seasonal) management activities, but confidence that such relationships will hold for multi-decade projections and novel environments is limited. Recent advances in mechanistic modeling of marine mammals (i.e., models that rely on robust physiological and ecological principles expected to hold under climate change) may address this limitation. The success of such approaches rests on continued advances in marine mammal ecology, behavior, and physiology together with improved regional climate projections. The broad scope of this challenge suggests initial priorities be placed on vulnerable species or populations (those already experiencing declines or projected to undergo ecological shifts resulting from climate Silber et al.Projecting Marine Mammal Distributions changes that are consistent across climate projections) and species or populations for which ample data already exist (with the hope that these may inform climate change sensitivities in less well observed species or populations elsewhere). The sustained monitoring networks, novel observations, and modeling advances required to more confidently project marine mammal distributions in a changing climate will ultimately benefit management decisions across time-scales, further promoting the resilience of marine mammal populations.

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Section: Marine Mammal Ecology and Climate Changementioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Improving Marine Mammal Distribution Projectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Projecting Marine Mammal Distribution in a Changing Climate

et al. 2017

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“…The two-dimensional map ( Figure 1A) shows the association of these features with locations by season, Fiedler et al, 1998).…”

Section: Blue Whale Call Locations Bathymetry and Surface Currentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The convergence of oceanic boundary currents combined with the complex topography of this region likely resulted in eddy formation, which can entrain and concentrate zooplankton (e.g., Huntley et al, 2000) and thereby attract the blue whales Fiedler et al, 1998). The results of this remotely-based assessment are most closely comparable to two recent fine-scale studies of blue whale ecology off southern California where onsite sampling demonstrated that blue whales foraged on dense swarms of euphausiids (Euphausia pacifica and Thysanoessa spinifera) that formed downstream of areas of upwelling Fiedler et al, 1998). Regions of upwelling, along the California coast and other locations with steep topography, were identified by cold SSTs, while bathymetric features downstream from the upwelling areas served to help collect and maintain large, predictable concentrations of euphausiids.…”

Section: Blue Whale Habitat Characteristics and Foraging Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blue Whale Habitat Associations in the Northwest Pacific: Analysis of Remotely-Sensed Data Using a Geographic Information System

Moore¹,

Watkins²,

Daher³

et al. 2002

oceanog

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although the actual number of whales producing the calls remains unknown.Environmental and habitat features are examined here to investigate oceanographic correlates to the seasonal variability in blue whale call rates and locations in the NW Pacific. Bathymetry and remotely-sensed oceanographic data (i.e., sea surface height, temperature and chlorophyll-a concentration) were compared with call data locations via a geographic information system (GIS). The GIS provides the means to integrate remotely sensed acoustic and satellite data over very broad temporal and spatial scales. The results serve to demonstrate the potential of GIS as a tool for the investigation of habitat associations for blue whales in a remote area and at ecological scales for which standard survey techniques are impractical.

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“…The most frequently sighted baleen whales during these and other surveys off southern California are blue (Balaenoptera musculus), fin (Balaenoptera physalus), and humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) whales, all within the family Balaenopteridae (rorquals) (Smith et al 1986;Soldevilla et al 2006;Barlow and Forney 2007). Blue whales off California feed exclusively on euphausiids ('krill') (Fiedler et al 1998), whereas the diets of fin whales and humpback whales include krill as well as copepods, cephalopods, and small schooling fish such as sardines, herring, and anchovies (Fiedler et al 1998;Flinn et al 2002;Clapham et al 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine Mammal Acoustic Monitoring and Habitat Investigation, Southern California Offshore Region

Hildebrand¹

2009

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Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER NPS-OC-09-00611. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views expressed in this technical report are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. 12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENTApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited. 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words)This report summarizes work conducted in FY2007-FY2008 to conduct marine mammal monitoring and habitat investigations in the southern California offshore region. The report describes marine mammal monitoring results during quarterly cruises, and models how physical and biological oceanographic conditions affect marine mammal habitat. Additionally, progress with constructing automatic detection and classification algorithms for acoustic monitoring of marine mammals is summarized, as is work on finite element modeling of acoustic propagation within the bodies of beaked whales and related marine mammals.Some highlights:[1] Data collected (July 2004 support the hypothesis that distributions of foraging large whales are linked to cold surface temperatures. However, winter distributions of migrating large whales don't appear to be related to habitat variables analyzed herein, and may be harder to predict based on oceanographic data.[2] A species classifier which decides whether short groups of clicks are produced by one or more individuals from three particular species is presented. The system uses the Teager energy operator and cepstral analysis.[3] Anatomical investigations and computer finite element modeling with marine mammal bodies were conducted, which resulted in two methodological advancements and the addition of more beaked whale species to the Digital Library of Anatomy. NUMBER OF PAGES 69 SUBJECT TERMS

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Blue whale habitat and prey in the California Channel Islands

Cited by 171 publications

References 15 publications

Projecting Marine Mammal Distribution in a Changing Climate

Projecting Marine Mammal Distribution in a Changing Climate

Blue Whale Habitat Associations in the Northwest Pacific: Analysis of Remotely-Sensed Data Using a Geographic Information System

Marine Mammal Acoustic Monitoring and Habitat Investigation, Southern California Offshore Region

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