Gray whale ( Eschrichtius robustus) in the Mediterranean Sea: anomalous event or early sign of climate-driven distribution change?

Scheinin, Aviad; Kerem, D; MacLeod, Colin D.; Gazo, Manel; Chicote, Carla A.; Castellote, Manuel

doi:10.1017/s1755267211000042

Cited by 49 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Since this was only the second reported case of this species in the Mediterranean [83], vagrancy and/or elusive residence for this and other species of Mesoplodon remains to be determined. Finally, an astounding case of extreme vagrancy presented itself in May of 2010, when a gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) was sighted off the Israeli Mediterranean shore and twenty two days later, the same individual was sighted in Spanish Mediterranean waters [84]. Table 5 summarizes suggested status assignments as compared to those for the Mediterranean as a whole [1].…”

Section: Vagrant Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Update on the Cetacean Fauna of the Mediterranean Levantine Basin

Kerem¹

2012

TOMBJ

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Abstract:The Levantine Basin (LB) is still considered a void as regards its cetacean fauna: species population abundance and distribution patterns are unknown, and even the list of species and their regional status have so far not been finalized. In an effort to fill the knowledge gap, we present original data collected in the LB over the years [1993][1994][1995][1996][1997][1998][1999][2000][2001][2002][2003][2004][2005][2006][2007][2008][2009]. The data relies on strandings, bycatch victims and on incidental and dedicated-survey sightings. We supplement these by reviewing available information on cetacean occurrence in the LB, prior to and including the above period. We believe that the following list and suggested status is a comprehensive updated regional inventory: Species with a 'regular' status include the common bottlenose dolphin, striped dolphin, common dolphin, Risso's dolphin and rough-toothed dolphin, as well as Cuvier's beaked whale; 'visitors' include false killer whale, sperm whale, minke whale and fin whale; Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, humpback whale and killer whale are designated 'vagrants'. The only common Mediterranean species notably absent is the long-finned pilot whale. Indeed, despite its profound oligotrophicity, the diversity of cetacean species in the LB equals that in the western basins, and due to the relatively lower anthropogenic impact that it sustains, it should receive its share of resources and efforts towards conserving this diversity.

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Section: Vagrant Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Update on the Cetacean Fauna of the Mediterranean Levantine Basin

Kerem¹

2012

TOMBJ

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“…Gray whales occupy the edge of sea ice (Figure 1), but unlike bowhead whales, are unable to transit areas of thick consolidated ice (Rice and Wolman 1971). In the spring of 2010, a single gray whale was observed off the coast of Israel, marking the first record of the genus in the Atlantic for 200+ years (Scheinin et al 2011). Subsequently, one or more individuals were sighted off the coast of Namibia in May and June of 2013 (Paterson 2013).…”

Section: Evidence From Tetrapods Of Increasing Faunal Exchangementioning

confidence: 94%

Melting barriers to faunal exchange across ocean basins

McKeon

Weber

Alter

et al. 2015

Preprint

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Accelerated loss of sea ice in the Arctic is opening routes connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for longer periods each year. These changes will increase the ease and frequency with which marine birds and mammals are able to move between the Pacific PrePrints 2 faunal exchange in real time. To understand these changes and implement effective conservation of marine ecosystems, we need to further develop modeling efforts to predict the rate of dispersal and consequences of faunal exchange. These predictions can be tested by closely monitoring wildlife dispersal through the Arctic Ocean and using modern methods to explore the ecological and evolutionary consequences of these movements.PeerJ PrePrints | http://dx.doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.835v1 | CC-BY 4.0 Open Access |

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“…As the Pacific white-sided dolphin, the evidences pointed out a possible poleward shift of the gray whale distribution related to the last warming SST trend. These evidences are: 1) there is an apparent long term tendency in the use of breeding lagoons, increasing at the northern lagoon and decreasing at the southern lagoon (Urbán et al, 2003a); 2) the decrease in the numbers of whales at the breeding lagoons during the last years, also observed from shore-based surveys at Piedras Blancas during the northbound migration ; 3) an increase in calf sightings at California (USA) correlating with warmer sea surface temperature anomalies (Shelden et al, 2004); 4) a range expansion into Arctic waters (Moore and Huntington, 2008); 5) during warming El Niño years the whales tend to use northern areas more intensively than in normal years (Gardner & Chávez-Rosales, 2000;Urbán et al, 2003b); 6) the unusual sighting of a gray whale in the Mediterranean Sea, it is another possible effect of their expansion to the north, which allows them to cross the Arctic to the Atlantic (Scheinin et al, 2011); and 7) in spite of having an increasing population of gray whales in the eastern Pacific, the observations of individuals inside the Gulf of California has been consistently declining (Salvadeo et al, 2011).…”

Section: Wwwintechopencom Review Of Long Term Macro-fauna Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%