Sharing the space: Review of humpback whale occurrence in the Amazonian Equatorial Coast

Ristau, Nathali Garcia; Martins, Cristiane C. A.; Santos, Ricardo Luvizotto; Balensiefer, Deisi Cristiane; Sousa, Gláucia Pereira de; Marmontel, Míriam; Farias, Izeni Pires

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00854

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) are a cosmopolitan species 1 which can migrate up to 8500 km between seasonal breeding and feeding areas 2 , 3 , except for the non-migratory Arabian Sea breeding population 4 . In the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the southern distribution of some populations from the Northern Hemisphere overlaps in equatorial regions with the northern distribution of some populations from the Southern Hemisphere 2 , 3 , 5 . Despite these overlaps in distribution, these Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere populations are unlikely to co-occur in their breeding areas, because the seasons and directions of their northward and southward migrations segregate populations spatiotemporally 6 – 8 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Southern Ocean Exchange: porous boundaries between humpback whale breeding populations in southern polar waters

Marcondes

Cheeseman

Jackson

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a cosmopolitan species and perform long annual migrations between low-latitude breeding areas and high-latitude feeding areas. Their breeding populations appear to be spatially and genetically segregated due to long-term, maternally inherited fidelity to natal breeding areas. In the Southern Hemisphere, some humpback whale breeding populations mix in Southern Ocean waters in summer, but very little movement between Pacific and Atlantic waters has been identified to date, suggesting these waters constituted an oceanic boundary between genetically distinct populations. Here, we present new evidence of summer co-occurrence in the West Antarctic Peninsula feeding area of two recovering humpback whale breeding populations from the Atlantic (Brazil) and Pacific (Central and South America). As humpback whale populations recover, observations like this point to the need to revise our perceptions of boundaries between stocks, particularly on high latitude feeding grounds. We suggest that this “Southern Ocean Exchange” may become more frequent as populations recover from commercial whaling and climate change modifies environmental dynamics and humpback whale prey availability.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Southern Ocean Exchange: porous boundaries between humpback whale breeding populations in southern polar waters

Marcondes

Cheeseman

Jackson

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…The humpback whale "A" stock, located in the western South Atlantic, has its main reproductive site at Abrolhos Bank on the Eastern Brazilian coast. The main period of occurrence in the Abrolhos Bank is from July to November, but earlier and later observations have been recorded (Ristau et al, 2020). The number of humpback whales wintering off Brazil increased by nearly 27% between 2008 and 2012 (Bortolotto et al, 2016).…”

Section: Humpback Whalementioning

confidence: 94%

“…The number of humpback whales wintering off Brazil increased by nearly 27% between 2008 and 2012 (Bortolotto et al, 2016). In Pará and Maranhão states, between 2002, Ristau et al (2020 recorded four humpback whale strandings as well as a sighting and concluded to a possible extension of the species range or the recolonization of a historical breeding area along the Brazilian coast. Considering that most records of humpback whales (including ours) in French Guiana EEZ comprise mother-calf pairs and that they occur between June-November (except for one acoustic detection in January) like in Abrolhos Bank, we hypothesize that they belong to the "A" stock that is currently extending its range.…”

Section: Humpback Whalementioning

confidence: 99%

Cetacean community off French Guiana

Pusineri¹,

Martinez²,

Bordin

et al. 2021

Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Mamm.

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Although human activities are developing in French Guiana Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and surrounding countries, knowledge on diversity and ecology of cetaceans in the region is scarce. This study aimed to collect new information on the cetacean species occurring year-round in the entire French Guiana EEZ by combining visual and acoustic data obtained from three boat-based campaigns conducted by local NGOs. The GEPOG campaign was conducted from July 2011 to June 2012, four days every two months; the COHABYS campaign was performed five days per month from January to May 2018; the OSL campaign consisted in four 10-day surveys conducted in June, July, September and October 2018. The visual observation effort conducted when Beaufort sea state < 5 was 1,961 km, 1,491 km and 3,243 km respectively. Acoustic records were done when Beaufort sea state < 5 during daylight and/or nighttime, depending on the survey. A total of 132 cetacean sightings were done. Five cetacean families and 15 species were identified. Delphinidae was the family most frequently sighted (91% to 100% of groups and 99% to 100% of individuals per campaign). The most frequent species in the area were identified, along with their distribution and phenology: Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) was found in the coastal area (0-20 m), the long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) was sighted on the shelf (20-100 m), along with the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) that were also common on the upper slope (100-1,500 m). Finally, the spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), the melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra) and the pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata) were frequent on the slope (100-3,500 m). The results suggest these species may be found in French Guiana waters all year round and mother and calf pairs, as indicator of reproduction, were observed for all of them except the long-beaked common dolphin and the Guiana dolphin. Mother and calf pairs of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), that potentially belong to the “A” stock, were also sighted twice, as well as two groups of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) with calves. Hence, these results showed that French Guiana bears a particular responsibility for the conservation of cetacean biodiversity, but a lot remains to be done to strengthen knowledge and conservation of these species in the territory.

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“…Humpback whales (Megaptera navaeanglia Borowski, 1781) are characterized by their long pectoral fins (1/3 of the total body length), small dorsal fin, and head and lower jaw covered by tubercles (Palazzo Jr. & Both, 1988;Perrin et al, 2008;Deméré, 2014). It is a cosmopolitan species, with most of the breeding activities occurring in the tropical and subtropical oceans (mainly in the coastal waters within the 200 m isobath; Zerbini et al 2006), and feeding occurring mostly in high latitudes (Ristau et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Along the Antarctic coast, humpback whales form different populations during the foraging season in the summer (Baker et al, 1995;Rizzo & Schulte, 2009;Andrews-Goff et al, 2018), but they migrate to the tropical areas during the winter to breed in shallow and warm waters near the coast of the continents (Lunardi et al, 2008(Lunardi et al, , 2010Zerbini et al, 2011;Gonçalves et al, 2018). One of these populations migrates to the Brazilian coast, concentrating in the Abrolhos Bank (southern Bahia State), which is considered the principal breeding area of the species (Rossi-Santos et al, 2008;Wedekin et al, 2010;Ristau et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface activity of Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea, Mysticeti) on the northern coast of Bahia, Brazil

Versiani

Azevedo

2020

Rev. Bras. Zoociências

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Surface activities of humpback whale groups were studied during the reproductive seasons of 2008, 2009 and 2010 on the northern coast of Bahia State, Brazil, near the district of Praia do Forte. The level of surface activity exhibited by 342 groups of whales was evaluated according to the sea state (measured on the Beaufort scale) and cloud coverage. Five behaviours were recorded: breaching, head slapping, tail slapping, pectoral flipper slapping and tail breaching. Most of the sightings occurred with a sea state classified on the Beaufort scale as 2, and with a cloud coverage of 26 to 50%. The most recorded level of surface activity was pectoral flipper slapping. The results showed that humpback whale behaviours do not seem to be influenced by the sea state or by cloud coverage.

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Sharing the space: Review of humpback whale occurrence in the Amazonian Equatorial Coast

Cited by 7 publications

References 36 publications

The Southern Ocean Exchange: porous boundaries between humpback whale breeding populations in southern polar waters

The Southern Ocean Exchange: porous boundaries between humpback whale breeding populations in southern polar waters

Cetacean community off French Guiana

Surface activity of Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea, Mysticeti) on the northern coast of Bahia, Brazil

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