Using barnacle and pigmentation characteristics to identify gray whale calves on their feeding grounds

Bradford, Amanda L.; Weller, David W.; Burdin, Alexander M.; Brownell, Robert L.

doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00413.x

Cited by 9 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although scarring and parasite patterns can change over the years, individuals can typically be identified with certainty as these patterns change slowly and most animals are seen consistently over the year(s), providing a chronological photo record. Natural pigmentation, ectoparasites and scarring can also be used to reliably distinguish calves from yearlings, even in the absence of their mothers [86].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Photo-identification is an important methodological technique that provides a means to understand individual spatiotemporal movement patterns of gray whales. The gray whale is a suitable species for photo identification studies as individuals are born with unique and persistent pigmentation patterns and display consistent scarring and ectoparasites patterns [ 86 – 88 ]. Although scarring and parasite patterns can change over the years, individuals can typically be identified with certainty as these patterns change slowly and most animals are seen consistently over the year(s), providing a chronological photo record.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Site-fidelity and spatial movements of western North Pacific gray whales on their summer range off Sakhalin, Russia

Bröker

Gailey²,

Tyurneva

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Western North-Pacific (WNP) gray whale feeding grounds are off the northeastern coast of Sakhalin Island, Russia and is comprised of a nearshore and offshore component that can be distinguished by both depth and location. Spatial movements of gray whales within their foraging grounds were examined based on 13 years of opportunistic vessel and shore-based photo-identification surveys. Site fidelity was assessed by examining annual return and resighting rates. Lagged Identification Rates (LIR) analyses were conducted to estimate the residency and transitional movement patterns within the two components of their feeding grounds. In total 243 individuals were identified from 2002-2014, among these were 94 calves. The annual return rate over the period 2002-2014 was 72%, excluding 35 calves only seen one year. Approximately 20% of the individuals identified from 2002-2010 were seen every year after their initial sighting (including eight individuals that returned for 13 consecutive years). The majority (239) of the WNP whales were observed in the nearshore area while only half (122) were found in the deeper offshore area. Within a foraging season, there was a significantly higher probability of gray whales moving from the nearshore to the offshore area. No mother-calf pairs, calves or yearlings were observed in the offshore area, which was increasingly used by mature animals. The annual return rates, and population growth rates that are primarily a result of calf production with little evidence of immigration, suggest that this population is demographically self-contained and that both the nearshore and offshore Sakhalin feeding grounds are critically important areas for their summer annual foraging activities. The nearshore habitat is also important for mother-calf pairs, younger individuals, and recently weaned calves. Nearshore feeding could also be energetically less costly compared to foraging in the deeper offshore habitat and provide more protection from predators, such as killer whales.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Site-fidelity and spatial movements of western North Pacific gray whales on their summer range off Sakhalin, Russia

Bröker

Gailey²,

Tyurneva

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The gray whale lineage has a geological and historical presence in much of the North Atlantic, and it is reasonable to expect that C. rhachianecti also once ranged throughout the North Atlantic as well (Bisconti and Varola, 2006;Noakes et al, 2013;Alter et al, 2015;Bosselaers and Collareta, 2016;Hufthammer et al, 2018;Rodrigues et al, 2018). Overharvesting led to the final collapse of this population by sometime in the 18 th century, however, and today C. rhachianecti is found only in the North Pacific, where it is a host-specific symbiont of the gray whale (Newman and Ross, 1976;Newman and Abbott, 1980;Scarff, 1986;Bradford et al, 2011;Hayashi, 2012). Modern gray whales live in two distinct populations in the western and eastern North Pacific, although some interchange between these populations does occur (LeDuc et al, 2002;Cooke et al, 2007;IWC, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New fossil remains of the commensal barnacleCryptolepas rhachianectiprovide evidence of gray whales in the prehistoric South Pacific

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We report the finding of two partial specimens of Cryptolepas rhachianecti (Cirripedia, Coronulidae), a coronulid barnacle known only to inhabit the skin of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), in Pleistocene-aged sediments from the Canoa Basin, Ecuador. While the historical range of gray whales includes the North Pacific and North Atlantic, to our knowledge this is the first inferred evidence of a gray whale population having resided within the South Pacific. We describe the two Cryptolepas rhachianecti fossils, use isotopic analysis to investigate evidence of migration in their host whales, and discuss their implications for our understanding of gray whale evolutionary history.

show abstract

“…Gray whales, for example, are the unique hosts of the barnacle species Cryptolepas rhachianecti (Bradford et al, 2011). Thus far, this taxon has no fossil record, but remains of this barnacle might be recovered from JY Reef with further investigation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Pleistocene gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) offshore Georgia, U.S.A., and the antiquity of gray whale migration in the North Atlantic Ocean

Noakes

Pyenson

McFall

2013

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Using barnacle and pigmentation characteristics to identify gray whale calves on their feeding grounds

Cited by 9 publications

References 11 publications

Site-fidelity and spatial movements of western North Pacific gray whales on their summer range off Sakhalin, Russia

Site-fidelity and spatial movements of western North Pacific gray whales on their summer range off Sakhalin, Russia

New fossil remains of the commensal barnacleCryptolepas rhachianectiprovide evidence of gray whales in the prehistoric South Pacific

Late Pleistocene gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) offshore Georgia, U.S.A., and the antiquity of gray whale migration in the North Atlantic Ocean

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About