First documented migratory destination for eastern South Pacific blue whales

Torres‐Florez, Juan Pablo; Olson, Paula A.; Bedriñana‐Romano, Luis; Rosenbaum, Howard C.; Ruiz, Jorge; LeDuc, Richard G.; Hucke‐Gaete, Rodrigo

doi:10.1111/mms.12239

Cited by 23 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…1300 km offshore) to around latitude 23° S before the tag failed. Another blue whale was photographed and biopsied west of the Galapagos Islands (01°52’S) on 6 November 1998 and matched genetically and photographically with a whale sampled south of Chiloé (43°52’S) on 23 February 2006 [35]. These observations strongly suggest that at least some Chilean blue whales from southern Chile feeding grounds migrate to west of the Galapagos Islands and into the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) for breeding and calving, as hypothesized by Reilly and Thayer [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Genetic structuring can also occur due to assortative mating on the migratory route before arrival on the breeding grounds. Photo-identification catalogue comparisons between blue whales feeding in summer in the Golfo Corcovado (south of Chiloé, Fig 1) and blue whales wintering in the ETP have revealed a direct connection between southern Chile feeding grounds and the Galapagos Archipelago [35]. If Chilean blue whales use a common migratory route to northerly breeding grounds from multiple feeding areas, this could reduce or even eliminate assortative mating amongst feeding ground members en route.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If Chilean blue whales use a common migratory route to northerly breeding grounds from multiple feeding areas, this could reduce or even eliminate assortative mating amongst feeding ground members en route. Available data from satellite tags and sighting surveys suggest that this migratory route is likely offshore [11, 34, 35]. The ETP is a complex region for baleen whales, as some blue whales satellite-tagged off southern California migrate to the ETP [42], and some humpback whales from the Southern Hemisphere also use the ETP [43].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimates of Abundance and Trend of Chilean Blue Whales off Isla de Chiloé, Chile

et al. 2017

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Since 1970, blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) have been seen feeding in the waters off southern Chile during the summer and autumn (December to May). Investigation of the genetic, acoustic and morphological characteristics of these blue whales shows that they are a distinct but unnamed subspecies, called the Chilean blue whales. Photo-identification surveys have been conducted in the waters off northwestern Isla Grande de Chiloé, southern Chile from 2004–2012 and Isla Chañaral, central Chile in 2012. Over this time, 1,070 blue whales were encountered yielding, after photo-quality control, 318 and 267 unique photographs of the left and right side of the flank respectively. Using mark-recapture analysis of left and right side photographs collected from Isla Grande de Chiloé (2004–2012), open population models estimate that ~570–760 whales are feeding seasonally in this region. POPAN superpopulation abundance estimates for the same feeding ground in 2012 are 762 (95% confidence intervals, CI = 638–933) and 570 (95% CI 475–705) for left and right side datasets respectively, very similar to results from closed population models. Estimates of trend revealed strong variation in abundance, peaking in 2009 and [suggesting] fluctuating use in the survey area over time, likely related to the density of their prey. High inter-annual return rates suggest a degree of site-fidelity of individuals to Isla Grande de Chiloé and that the number of whales using this feeding ground is relatively small.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimates of Abundance and Trend of Chilean Blue Whales off Isla de Chiloé, Chile

et al. 2017

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“…While summer feeding areas have been described for some blue whale aggregations (e.g. Branch et al 2007, Ramp & Sears 2013, few studies have successfully tracked blue whale movements to and from wintering and breeding areas (Bailey et al 2009, Double et al 2014, Torres-Florez et al 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging areas, migratory movements and winter destinations of blue whales from the western North Atlantic

Lesage¹,

Gavrilchuk²,

Andrews³

et al. 2017

Endang. Species. Res.

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The blue whale Balaenoptera musculus is a wide-ranging cetacean that can be found in all oceans. In the North Atlantic, little is known about blue whale distribution and genetic structure, or about the interconnections between areas of aggregations in Icelandic waters, the Azores, N orthwest Africa, and the N orthwest Atlantic. Seasonal movements and habitat use of blue whales, including the location of breeding and wintering areas, are also poorly understood. We used satellite telemetry to track movements of 23 blue whales from eastern Canada, providing the first record of the migratory movements and winter destinations of western North Atlantic blue whales. Cabot Strait, the largest outlet connecting the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Atlantic, was identified as the main corridor for movements in and out of this high-latitude feeding area. The Mid-Atlantic Bight, located off the southeastern USA, was identified as a wintering, and possibly breeding or calving, area. We confirmed the extended use of key summer feeding areas in the St. Lawrence Estuary and northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence into the fall, and provided evidence for new feeding areas off southern Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Our results indicate that there is likely a strong connectivity among blue whale areas of concentration at northern latitudes. They also suggest sporadic foraging outside the feeding season, and highlight seamounts and other deep ocean structures as potentially important blue whale habitats. Globally, our study emphasizes the large scale (i.e. many thousands of square kilometers) one needs to consider when addressing the conservation issues faced by blue whale populations.

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“…Recently, a match (both photographic and genetic) was made for a female sampled first near the Galápagos and then in the Gulf of Corcovado, Chile, just south of Chiloe (Torres‐Florez et al . ). This is the first link between the feeding area and the likely the breeding area for this population.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%