Migratory preferences of humpback whales between feeding and breeding grounds in the eastern South Pacific

Abstract

Latitudinal preferences within the breeding range have been suggested for Breeding Stock G humpback whales that summer in different feeding areas of the eastern South Pacific. To address this hypothesis, humpback whales photo‐identified from the Antarctic Peninsula and the Fueguian Archipelago (southern Chile) were compared with whales photo‐identified from lower latitudes extending from northern Peru to Costa Rica. This comparison was performed over a time span that includes 18 austral seasons. A total of 238 whales identified from the Antarctic Peninsula and 25 whales from the Fueguian Archipelago were among those photo‐identified at the breeding grounds. Our findings showed that humpback whales from each feeding area were resighted unevenly across the breeding grounds, which suggests a degree of spatial structuring in the migratory pathway. Humpback whales that feed at the Antarctic Peninsula were more likely to migrate to the southern breeding range between northern Peru and Colombia, whereas whales that feed at the Fueguian Archipelago were more likely to be found in the northern range of the breeding ground off Panama. Further photo‐identification efforts and genetic sampling from poorly sampled or unsampled areas are recommended to confirm these reported connectivity patterns.

Sightings of an Adult Male Killer Whale Match Humpback Whale Breeding Seasons in Both Hemispheres in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

“…The sightings of Phantom at the locations reported herein (i.e., in both hemispheres) coincided with the breeding season of humpback whales except for sightings off the Galápagos Islands where there are more reports of killer whales in comparison to Peru, coastal Ecuador, and Costa Rica (Merlen, 1999;Denkinger et al, 2014). Concerning killer whale presence related to humpback whales, the latter can be seen year-round in the Galápagos (Denkinger et al, 2014), but it is not yet known whether humpback whales use the Galápagos Islands as a breeding area (Acevedo et al, 2017). Previous records of killer whales in the Eastern Tropical Pacific suggest that this species may feed or attack baleen whale calves (e.g., humpback whales off Colombia [Flórez-González et al, 1994] and Isla de la Plata [Scheidat et al, 2000;Castro & Scheidat, 2005], Ecuador; and blue whales [Balaenoptera musculus] off the Costa Rica Dome [Pitman et al, 2007]).…”

The strength of migratory connectivity for birds en route to breeding through the Gulf of Mexico

“…Research on migratory connectivity has commonly focused on avian species (Bridge et al 2011, Hobson et al 2014, Ruegg et al 2014, Rushing et al 2014, Thorup et al 2014, Taylor et al 2017) but is equally relevant for migratory species of any taxonomic group (Sullivan et al 2012, Morrison and Bolger 2014, Quillfeldt et al 2015, Vander Zanden et al 2015, Acevedo et al 2017, Nishizawa et al 2018). Research on migratory connectivity has commonly focused on avian species (Bridge et al 2011, Hobson et al 2014, Ruegg et al 2014, Rushing et al 2014, Thorup et al 2014, Taylor et al 2017) but is equally relevant for migratory species of any taxonomic group (Sullivan et al 2012, Morrison and Bolger 2014, Quillfeldt et al 2015, Vander Zanden et al 2015, Acevedo et al 2017, Nishizawa et al 2018).…”

“…Technology to study the movements of migratory animals throughout the year is improving our understanding of migratory connectivity, though year-round patterns remain poorly understood for most species. Research on migratory connectivity has commonly focused on avian species (Bridge et al 2011, Hobson et al 2014, Ruegg et al 2014, Rushing et al 2014, Thorup et al 2014, Taylor et al 2017 but is equally relevant for migratory species of any taxonomic group (Sullivan et al 2012, Morrison and Bolger 2014, Quillfeldt et al 2015, Vander Zanden et al 2015, Acevedo et al 2017, Nishizawa et al 2018). Among the well-studied Nearctic-Neotropical songbirds, most species have strong breeding-wintering migratory connectivity: western breeding populations winter further west in Central America while eastern breeding populations winter further east in Mexico and the Caribbean (i.e.…”

Feeding of Humpback Whales at Low Latitudes of the Southeast Pacific Ocean

“…Humpback whales perform long migrations from high latitude feeding grounds to their breeding and nursing areas in low latitudes [1,2,3], with the notable exception of the non-migrating Arabian Sea population that remains year-round in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf [3,4]. However the paradigm of this long migration for feeding or breeding strategies is under discussion as an increasing number of studies show humpback whales feeding in formerly unrecognized mid or low latitudes [5,6,7,8,9,10].…”

“…In the SE Pacific Ocean the IWC-named breeding "Stock G" of humpback whales perform long migrations from high latitudes in the Corcovado Gulf (42ºS), Magellan Strait (54ºS) and Antarctica (70ºS) in summer to their breeding and nursing grounds in low latitudes in northern Peru (04ºS), Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica (12ºN) during austral winter [19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. Recently, photo identification studies have shown that humpback whales feeding in Antarctic waters breed in northern Peru, Ecuador and Colombia whereas humpback whales feeding in Magellan Strait breed in Costa Rica and Panama [2,26].…”