Novel Coastal Feeding Area for Eastern South Pacific Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in Mid-Latitude Humboldt Current Waters off Chile

Seasonal occurrence of fin whale song off Juan Fernandez, Chile

“…Further, a recent study of fin whales instrumented with satellite tags showed 1 male moving south towards JFA in summer (Sepúlveda et al 2018). This, as well as previous studies (Capella et al 1999, Perez et al 2006, Pacheco et al 2015, Toro et al 2016, suggests summertime residency of some fin whales on coastal feeding grounds off central and northern mainland Chile. No long-term passive acoustic data are available for these areas.…”

“…Sightings of fin whales have occurred off central Chile (approximately 33° to 40°S), but also off northern and southern Chile, the Juan Fernandez Archipelago (JFA), and Easter Island (Aguayo-Lobo et al 1998 and references therein). Off coastal northern-central Chile, in the waters surrounding Isla Chañaral, which form part of the coastal islands that make up the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve (~29°S), high summertime aggregations of fin whales have been reported feeding off Humboldt Current krill Euphausia mucronata (Ca pella et al 1999, Perez et al 2006, Toro et al 2016. Outside of these summertime sightings of fin whales, the question of where fin whales spend the rest of the year remains unknown.…”

From whaling to whale watching: Identifying fin whale critical foraging habitats off the Chilean coast

“…Krill, the principal known prey of fin whales in Chile (Pérez et al, 2006), form an abundant component of the zooplankton fauna around these areas of coastal phytoplankton blooms (Riquelme-Bugueño et al, 2012), playing a keystone role in the food web of the Humboldt Current System (Antezana, 2010). The environmental characteristics of the central coast of Chile strongly suggest that fin whales use these zones as feeding grounds, in a manner similar to those observed for the marine protected areas Isla Chañaral and Islas Choros-Damas (Pérez et al, 2006;Toro et al, 2016).…”

“…This study found that most of the tagged fin whales spent a substantial proportion (72.5%) of their time engaged in ARS behaviour in Baumgartner, & Santos, 2013), we believe that the observed ARS behaviour off Chile is likely to be associated with feeding. Some of the areas used by the tagged whales in this study have been previously documented as foraging places of fin whales through in situ observation of feeding activity upon krill (Euphausia mucronata) and through the observation of faeces in the vicinity of fin whales (Pérez et al, 2006;Toro et al, 2016).…”

“…Most sightings were reported at distances greater than 100 km offshore, leading to the belief that fin whales occur more often in the oceanic habitats of Chilean waters (Clarke, 1962). This notion is now changing, however, because of the regular presence of fin whales in coastal waters at latitudes between 23 and 29°S during spring and summer (Pacheco, Villegas, Riascos, & Van Waerebeek, 2015;Pérez et al, 2006;Sepúlveda, Oliva, Pavez, & Santos-Carvallo, 2016;Toro, Vilina, Capella, & Gibbons, 2016).…”