Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Queensland: behaviour and responses to whale-watching vessels
The effects of the presence of vessels on the behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) was studied in Hervey Bay, Queensland, where southward-migrating whales are the focus of a commercial whale-watching industry. The behaviour of whales was observed from a small yacht under sail. Rates...
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Canadian Science Publishing
1995
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z95-153 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z95-153 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z95-153 2024-09-15T18:18:26+00:00 Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Queensland: behaviour and responses to whale-watching vessels Corkeron, Peter J. 1995 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z95-153 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z95-153 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 73, issue 7, page 1290-1299 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 1995 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z95-153 2024-08-22T04:08:44Z The effects of the presence of vessels on the behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) was studied in Hervey Bay, Queensland, where southward-migrating whales are the focus of a commercial whale-watching industry. The behaviour of whales was observed from a small yacht under sail. Rates of occurrence of units of behaviour for entire pods were obtained from continuous sampling of pods. Pods without calves showed lower rates of behaviour generally when vessels were within 300 m of them. Pods both with and without calves were more likely to dive rather than slip under when vessels were within 300 m. Hybrid multidimensional scaling of rates of behaviours of pods indicated differences between suites of behaviours exhibited by pods when vessels were within 300 m of them and when they were not. Classification of the patterns of occurrence of behaviours demonstrated that for pods both with and without calves, different units of behaviour tended to occur together when vessels were within 300 m and when they were not. Whale watching offers a nonlethal commercial use of whales, but in Hervey Bay, whale watching affects the behaviour of whales, which, although migrating, can be involved in breeding ground activities. Whether the short-term behavioural changes described here are accompanied by longer term avoidance of Hervey Bay by humpback whales as they migrate south remains to be determined. Article in Journal/Newspaper Megaptera novaeangliae Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 73 7 1290 1299 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
The effects of the presence of vessels on the behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) was studied in Hervey Bay, Queensland, where southward-migrating whales are the focus of a commercial whale-watching industry. The behaviour of whales was observed from a small yacht under sail. Rates of occurrence of units of behaviour for entire pods were obtained from continuous sampling of pods. Pods without calves showed lower rates of behaviour generally when vessels were within 300 m of them. Pods both with and without calves were more likely to dive rather than slip under when vessels were within 300 m. Hybrid multidimensional scaling of rates of behaviours of pods indicated differences between suites of behaviours exhibited by pods when vessels were within 300 m of them and when they were not. Classification of the patterns of occurrence of behaviours demonstrated that for pods both with and without calves, different units of behaviour tended to occur together when vessels were within 300 m and when they were not. Whale watching offers a nonlethal commercial use of whales, but in Hervey Bay, whale watching affects the behaviour of whales, which, although migrating, can be involved in breeding ground activities. Whether the short-term behavioural changes described here are accompanied by longer term avoidance of Hervey Bay by humpback whales as they migrate south remains to be determined. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Corkeron, Peter J. |
spellingShingle |
Corkeron, Peter J. Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Queensland: behaviour and responses to whale-watching vessels |
author_facet |
Corkeron, Peter J. |
author_sort |
Corkeron, Peter J. |
title |
Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Queensland: behaviour and responses to whale-watching vessels |
title_short |
Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Queensland: behaviour and responses to whale-watching vessels |
title_full |
Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Queensland: behaviour and responses to whale-watching vessels |
title_fullStr |
Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Queensland: behaviour and responses to whale-watching vessels |
title_full_unstemmed |
Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Queensland: behaviour and responses to whale-watching vessels |
title_sort |
humpback whales ( megaptera novaeangliae) in hervey bay, queensland: behaviour and responses to whale-watching vessels |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1995 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z95-153 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z95-153 |
genre |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 73, issue 7, page 1290-1299 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z95-153 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
73 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1290 |
op_container_end_page |
1299 |
_version_ |
1810456567514923008 |