High pregnancy rates in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) around the Western Antarctic Peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population
Antarctic humpback whales are recovering from near extirpation from commercial whaling. To understand the dynamics of this recovery and establish a baseline to monitor impacts of a rapidly changing environment, we investigated sex ratios and pregnancy rates of females within the Western Antarctic Pe...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsos.180017 2024-10-13T14:02:29+00:00 High pregnancy rates in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) around the Western Antarctic Peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population Pallin, Logan J. Baker, C. Scott Steel, Debbie Kellar, Nicholas M. Robbins, Jooke Johnston, David W. Nowacek, Doug P. Read, Andrew J. Friedlaender, Ari S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Office of Polar Programs 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180017 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.180017 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.180017 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Royal Society Open Science volume 5, issue 5, page 180017 ISSN 2054-5703 journal-article 2018 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180017 2024-09-17T04:34:43Z Antarctic humpback whales are recovering from near extirpation from commercial whaling. To understand the dynamics of this recovery and establish a baseline to monitor impacts of a rapidly changing environment, we investigated sex ratios and pregnancy rates of females within the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) feeding population. DNA profiling of 577 tissue samples (2010–2016) identified 239 males and 268 females. Blubber progesterone levels indicated 63.5% of the females biopsied were pregnant. This proportion varied significantly across years, from 36% in 2010 to 86% in 2014. A comparison of samples collected in summer versus fall showed significant increases in the proportion of females present (50% to 59%) and pregnant (59% to 72%), consistent with demographic variation in migratory timing. We also found evidence of annual reproduction among females; 54.5% of females accompanied by a calf were pregnant. These high pregnancy rates are consistent with a population recovering from past exploitation, but appear inconsistent with recent estimates of WAP humpback population growth. Thus, our results will help to better understand population growth potential and set a current baseline from which to determine the impact of climate change and variability on fecundity and reproductive rates. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Megaptera novaeangliae The Royal Society Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Royal Society Open Science 5 5 180017 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Antarctic humpback whales are recovering from near extirpation from commercial whaling. To understand the dynamics of this recovery and establish a baseline to monitor impacts of a rapidly changing environment, we investigated sex ratios and pregnancy rates of females within the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) feeding population. DNA profiling of 577 tissue samples (2010–2016) identified 239 males and 268 females. Blubber progesterone levels indicated 63.5% of the females biopsied were pregnant. This proportion varied significantly across years, from 36% in 2010 to 86% in 2014. A comparison of samples collected in summer versus fall showed significant increases in the proportion of females present (50% to 59%) and pregnant (59% to 72%), consistent with demographic variation in migratory timing. We also found evidence of annual reproduction among females; 54.5% of females accompanied by a calf were pregnant. These high pregnancy rates are consistent with a population recovering from past exploitation, but appear inconsistent with recent estimates of WAP humpback population growth. Thus, our results will help to better understand population growth potential and set a current baseline from which to determine the impact of climate change and variability on fecundity and reproductive rates. |
author2 |
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Office of Polar Programs |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pallin, Logan J. Baker, C. Scott Steel, Debbie Kellar, Nicholas M. Robbins, Jooke Johnston, David W. Nowacek, Doug P. Read, Andrew J. Friedlaender, Ari S. |
spellingShingle |
Pallin, Logan J. Baker, C. Scott Steel, Debbie Kellar, Nicholas M. Robbins, Jooke Johnston, David W. Nowacek, Doug P. Read, Andrew J. Friedlaender, Ari S. High pregnancy rates in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) around the Western Antarctic Peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population |
author_facet |
Pallin, Logan J. Baker, C. Scott Steel, Debbie Kellar, Nicholas M. Robbins, Jooke Johnston, David W. Nowacek, Doug P. Read, Andrew J. Friedlaender, Ari S. |
author_sort |
Pallin, Logan J. |
title |
High pregnancy rates in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) around the Western Antarctic Peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population |
title_short |
High pregnancy rates in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) around the Western Antarctic Peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population |
title_full |
High pregnancy rates in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) around the Western Antarctic Peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population |
title_fullStr |
High pregnancy rates in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) around the Western Antarctic Peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population |
title_full_unstemmed |
High pregnancy rates in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) around the Western Antarctic Peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population |
title_sort |
high pregnancy rates in humpback whales ( megaptera novaeangliae) around the western antarctic peninsula, evidence of a rapidly growing population |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180017 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.180017 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.180017 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science volume 5, issue 5, page 180017 ISSN 2054-5703 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180017 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
180017 |
_version_ |
1812817617199562752 |