Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering off Central America: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration
We report on a wintering area off the Pacific coast of Central America for humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) migrating from feeding areas off Antarctica. We document seven individuals, including a mother/calf pair, that made this migration (approx. 8300 km), the longest movement undertaken...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0067 2024-09-15T17:47:06+00:00 Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering off Central America: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration Rasmussen, Kristin Palacios, Daniel M Calambokidis, John Saborío, Marco T Dalla Rosa, Luciano Secchi, Eduardo R Steiger, Gretchen H Allen, Judith M Stone, Gregory S 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0067 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0067 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0067 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Biology Letters volume 3, issue 3, page 302-305 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X journal-article 2007 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0067 2024-08-19T04:24:58Z We report on a wintering area off the Pacific coast of Central America for humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) migrating from feeding areas off Antarctica. We document seven individuals, including a mother/calf pair, that made this migration (approx. 8300 km), the longest movement undertaken by any mammal. Whales were observed as far north as 11° N off Costa Rica, in an area also used by a boreal population during the opposite winter season, resulting in unique spatial overlap between Northern and Southern Hemisphere populations. The occurrence of such a northerly wintering area is coincident with the development of an equatorial tongue of cold water in the eastern South Pacific, a pattern that is repeated in the eastern South Atlantic. A survey of location and water temperature at the wintering areas worldwide indicates that they are found in warm waters (21.1–28.3°C), irrespective of latitude. We contend that while availability of suitable reproductive habitat in the wintering areas is important at the fine scale, water temperature influences whale distribution at the basin scale. Calf development in warm water may lead to larger adult size and increased reproductive success, a strategy that supports the energy conservation hypothesis as a reason for migration. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Megaptera novaeangliae The Royal Society Biology Letters 3 3 302 305 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
We report on a wintering area off the Pacific coast of Central America for humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) migrating from feeding areas off Antarctica. We document seven individuals, including a mother/calf pair, that made this migration (approx. 8300 km), the longest movement undertaken by any mammal. Whales were observed as far north as 11° N off Costa Rica, in an area also used by a boreal population during the opposite winter season, resulting in unique spatial overlap between Northern and Southern Hemisphere populations. The occurrence of such a northerly wintering area is coincident with the development of an equatorial tongue of cold water in the eastern South Pacific, a pattern that is repeated in the eastern South Atlantic. A survey of location and water temperature at the wintering areas worldwide indicates that they are found in warm waters (21.1–28.3°C), irrespective of latitude. We contend that while availability of suitable reproductive habitat in the wintering areas is important at the fine scale, water temperature influences whale distribution at the basin scale. Calf development in warm water may lead to larger adult size and increased reproductive success, a strategy that supports the energy conservation hypothesis as a reason for migration. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rasmussen, Kristin Palacios, Daniel M Calambokidis, John Saborío, Marco T Dalla Rosa, Luciano Secchi, Eduardo R Steiger, Gretchen H Allen, Judith M Stone, Gregory S |
spellingShingle |
Rasmussen, Kristin Palacios, Daniel M Calambokidis, John Saborío, Marco T Dalla Rosa, Luciano Secchi, Eduardo R Steiger, Gretchen H Allen, Judith M Stone, Gregory S Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering off Central America: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration |
author_facet |
Rasmussen, Kristin Palacios, Daniel M Calambokidis, John Saborío, Marco T Dalla Rosa, Luciano Secchi, Eduardo R Steiger, Gretchen H Allen, Judith M Stone, Gregory S |
author_sort |
Rasmussen, Kristin |
title |
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering off Central America: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration |
title_short |
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering off Central America: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration |
title_full |
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering off Central America: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration |
title_fullStr |
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering off Central America: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering off Central America: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration |
title_sort |
southern hemisphere humpback whales wintering off central america: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0067 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0067 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0067 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Biology Letters volume 3, issue 3, page 302-305 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0067 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
302 |
op_container_end_page |
305 |
_version_ |
1810495743502319616 |