Shaped by Their Environment: Variation in Blue Whale Morphology across Three Productive Coastal Ecosystems
Synopsis Species ecology and life history patterns are often reflected in animal morphology. Blue whales are globally distributed, with distinct populations that feed in different productive coastal regions worldwide. Thus, they provide an opportunity to investigate how regional ecosystem characteri...
Published in: | Integrative Organismal Biology |
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Oxford University Press (OUP)
2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/iob/obad039 https://academic.oup.com/iob/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/iob/obad039/53629678/obad039.pdf https://academic.oup.com/iob/article-pdf/5/1/obad039/54126332/obad039.pdf |
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croxfordunivpr:10.1093/iob/obad039 2024-09-15T18:00:02+00:00 Shaped by Their Environment: Variation in Blue Whale Morphology across Three Productive Coastal Ecosystems Barlow, D R Bierlich, K C Oestreich, W K Chiang, G Durban, J W Goldbogen, J A Johnston, D W Leslie, M S Moore, M J Ryan, J P Torres, L G Orange County Community Foundation National Science Foundation Department of Conservation, New Zealand International Fund for Animal Welfare Dalio Foundation 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/iob/obad039 https://academic.oup.com/iob/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/iob/obad039/53629678/obad039.pdf https://academic.oup.com/iob/article-pdf/5/1/obad039/54126332/obad039.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Integrative Organismal Biology volume 5, issue 1 ISSN 2517-4843 journal-article 2023 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obad039 2024-08-19T04:22:04Z Synopsis Species ecology and life history patterns are often reflected in animal morphology. Blue whales are globally distributed, with distinct populations that feed in different productive coastal regions worldwide. Thus, they provide an opportunity to investigate how regional ecosystem characteristics may drive morphological differences within a species. Here, we compare physical and biological oceanography of three different blue whale foraging grounds: (1) Monterey Bay, California, USA; (2) the South Taranaki Bight (STB), Aotearoa New Zealand; and (3) the Corcovado Gulf, Chile. Additionally, we compare the morphology of blue whales from these regions using unoccupied aircraft imagery. Monterey Bay and the Corcovado Gulf are seasonally productive and support the migratory life history strategy of the Eastern North Pacific (ENP) and Chilean blue whale populations, respectively. In contrast, the New Zealand blue whale population remains in the less productive STB year-round. All three populations were indistinguishable in total body length. However, New Zealand blue whales were in significantly higher body condition despite lower regional productivity, potentially attributable to their non-migratory strategy that facilitates lower risk of spatiotemporal misalignment with more consistently available foraging opportunities. Alternatively, the migratory strategy of the ENP and Chilean populations may be successful when their presence on the foraging grounds temporally aligns with abundant prey availability. We document differences in skull and fluke morphology between populations, which may relate to different feeding behaviors adapted to region-specific prey and habitat characteristics. These morphological features may represent a trade-off between maneuverability for prey capture and efficient long-distance migration. As oceanographic patterns shift relative to long-term means under climate change, these blue whale populations may show different vulnerabilities due to differences in migratory phenology and ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Blue whale Oxford University Press Integrative Organismal Biology 5 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Oxford University Press |
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croxfordunivpr |
language |
English |
description |
Synopsis Species ecology and life history patterns are often reflected in animal morphology. Blue whales are globally distributed, with distinct populations that feed in different productive coastal regions worldwide. Thus, they provide an opportunity to investigate how regional ecosystem characteristics may drive morphological differences within a species. Here, we compare physical and biological oceanography of three different blue whale foraging grounds: (1) Monterey Bay, California, USA; (2) the South Taranaki Bight (STB), Aotearoa New Zealand; and (3) the Corcovado Gulf, Chile. Additionally, we compare the morphology of blue whales from these regions using unoccupied aircraft imagery. Monterey Bay and the Corcovado Gulf are seasonally productive and support the migratory life history strategy of the Eastern North Pacific (ENP) and Chilean blue whale populations, respectively. In contrast, the New Zealand blue whale population remains in the less productive STB year-round. All three populations were indistinguishable in total body length. However, New Zealand blue whales were in significantly higher body condition despite lower regional productivity, potentially attributable to their non-migratory strategy that facilitates lower risk of spatiotemporal misalignment with more consistently available foraging opportunities. Alternatively, the migratory strategy of the ENP and Chilean populations may be successful when their presence on the foraging grounds temporally aligns with abundant prey availability. We document differences in skull and fluke morphology between populations, which may relate to different feeding behaviors adapted to region-specific prey and habitat characteristics. These morphological features may represent a trade-off between maneuverability for prey capture and efficient long-distance migration. As oceanographic patterns shift relative to long-term means under climate change, these blue whale populations may show different vulnerabilities due to differences in migratory phenology and ... |
author2 |
Orange County Community Foundation National Science Foundation Department of Conservation, New Zealand International Fund for Animal Welfare Dalio Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Barlow, D R Bierlich, K C Oestreich, W K Chiang, G Durban, J W Goldbogen, J A Johnston, D W Leslie, M S Moore, M J Ryan, J P Torres, L G |
spellingShingle |
Barlow, D R Bierlich, K C Oestreich, W K Chiang, G Durban, J W Goldbogen, J A Johnston, D W Leslie, M S Moore, M J Ryan, J P Torres, L G Shaped by Their Environment: Variation in Blue Whale Morphology across Three Productive Coastal Ecosystems |
author_facet |
Barlow, D R Bierlich, K C Oestreich, W K Chiang, G Durban, J W Goldbogen, J A Johnston, D W Leslie, M S Moore, M J Ryan, J P Torres, L G |
author_sort |
Barlow, D R |
title |
Shaped by Their Environment: Variation in Blue Whale Morphology across Three Productive Coastal Ecosystems |
title_short |
Shaped by Their Environment: Variation in Blue Whale Morphology across Three Productive Coastal Ecosystems |
title_full |
Shaped by Their Environment: Variation in Blue Whale Morphology across Three Productive Coastal Ecosystems |
title_fullStr |
Shaped by Their Environment: Variation in Blue Whale Morphology across Three Productive Coastal Ecosystems |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shaped by Their Environment: Variation in Blue Whale Morphology across Three Productive Coastal Ecosystems |
title_sort |
shaped by their environment: variation in blue whale morphology across three productive coastal ecosystems |
publisher |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/iob/obad039 https://academic.oup.com/iob/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/iob/obad039/53629678/obad039.pdf https://academic.oup.com/iob/article-pdf/5/1/obad039/54126332/obad039.pdf |
genre |
Blue whale |
genre_facet |
Blue whale |
op_source |
Integrative Organismal Biology volume 5, issue 1 ISSN 2517-4843 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obad039 |
container_title |
Integrative Organismal Biology |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1810437142393913344 |