Seasonal distribution and diving behaviour of male sperm whales off Kaikoura: foraging implications
Male sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) were the preferred target of the whaling industry between 1950 and 1985, but despite hundreds of thousands of kills, very little is known about their ecology. To partially redress this, we present data on residency, seasonal distribution, and diving behavio...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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2000
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z99-208 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z99-208 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z99-208 2024-06-23T07:56:12+00:00 Seasonal distribution and diving behaviour of male sperm whales off Kaikoura: foraging implications Jaquet, Nathalie Dawson, Stephen Slooten, Elisabeth 2000 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z99-208 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z99-208 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 78, issue 3, page 407-419 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2000 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z99-208 2024-05-24T13:05:50Z Male sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) were the preferred target of the whaling industry between 1950 and 1985, but despite hundreds of thousands of kills, very little is known about their ecology. To partially redress this, we present data on residency, seasonal distribution, and diving behaviour of individually identified sperm whales off Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand, gathered during 15 field seasons over 8 years. One hundred and thirty-six sperm whales were identified within the study area. A lack of statistically significant differences in the abundance of sperm whales between summer and winter, and among the 15 seasons of fieldwork, suggests an adequate food supply year-round. Significant differences in distribution between summer and winter suggest that off Kaikoura, male sperm whales may change their diet in response to fluctuations in prey biomass. Diving behaviour was also significantly different between summer and winter: sperm whales dived for longer, stayed longer at the surface, and travelled farther between consecutive fluke-ups in summer than in winter. Unlike female sperm whales, males at Kaikoura spent little time at the surface; they spent about 83% of their total time under water. This paper represent the most extensive non-invasive study of male sperm whales and provides new insights into their ecology. Article in Journal/Newspaper Physeter macrocephalus Canadian Science Publishing New Zealand Canadian Journal of Zoology 78 3 407 419 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Male sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) were the preferred target of the whaling industry between 1950 and 1985, but despite hundreds of thousands of kills, very little is known about their ecology. To partially redress this, we present data on residency, seasonal distribution, and diving behaviour of individually identified sperm whales off Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand, gathered during 15 field seasons over 8 years. One hundred and thirty-six sperm whales were identified within the study area. A lack of statistically significant differences in the abundance of sperm whales between summer and winter, and among the 15 seasons of fieldwork, suggests an adequate food supply year-round. Significant differences in distribution between summer and winter suggest that off Kaikoura, male sperm whales may change their diet in response to fluctuations in prey biomass. Diving behaviour was also significantly different between summer and winter: sperm whales dived for longer, stayed longer at the surface, and travelled farther between consecutive fluke-ups in summer than in winter. Unlike female sperm whales, males at Kaikoura spent little time at the surface; they spent about 83% of their total time under water. This paper represent the most extensive non-invasive study of male sperm whales and provides new insights into their ecology. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jaquet, Nathalie Dawson, Stephen Slooten, Elisabeth |
spellingShingle |
Jaquet, Nathalie Dawson, Stephen Slooten, Elisabeth Seasonal distribution and diving behaviour of male sperm whales off Kaikoura: foraging implications |
author_facet |
Jaquet, Nathalie Dawson, Stephen Slooten, Elisabeth |
author_sort |
Jaquet, Nathalie |
title |
Seasonal distribution and diving behaviour of male sperm whales off Kaikoura: foraging implications |
title_short |
Seasonal distribution and diving behaviour of male sperm whales off Kaikoura: foraging implications |
title_full |
Seasonal distribution and diving behaviour of male sperm whales off Kaikoura: foraging implications |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal distribution and diving behaviour of male sperm whales off Kaikoura: foraging implications |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal distribution and diving behaviour of male sperm whales off Kaikoura: foraging implications |
title_sort |
seasonal distribution and diving behaviour of male sperm whales off kaikoura: foraging implications |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z99-208 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z99-208 |
geographic |
New Zealand |
geographic_facet |
New Zealand |
genre |
Physeter macrocephalus |
genre_facet |
Physeter macrocephalus |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 78, issue 3, page 407-419 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z99-208 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
78 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
407 |
op_container_end_page |
419 |
_version_ |
1802649162934648832 |