Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration
Migration patterns are fundamentally linked to the spatio-temporal distributions of prey. How migrating animals can respond to changes in their prey's distribution and abundance remains largely unclear. During the last decade, humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) used specific winter fora...
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Language: | English |
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2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.230069 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsos.230069 2024-06-02T08:02:24+00:00 Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration Kettemer, Lisa Elena Ramm, Theresia Broms, Fredrik Biuw, Martin Blanchet, Marie-Anne Bourgeon, Sophie Dubourg, Paul Ellendersen, Anna C. J. Horaud, Mathilde Kershaw, Joanna Miller, Patrick J. O. Øien, Nils Pallin, Logan J. Rikardsen, Audun H. Norges Forskningsråd 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.230069 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Royal Society Open Science volume 10, issue 9 ISSN 2054-5703 journal-article 2023 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230069 2024-05-07T14:16:37Z Migration patterns are fundamentally linked to the spatio-temporal distributions of prey. How migrating animals can respond to changes in their prey's distribution and abundance remains largely unclear. During the last decade, humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) used specific winter foraging sites in fjords of northern Norway, outside of their main summer foraging season, to feed on herring that started overwintering in the area. We used photographic matching to show that whales sighted during summer in the Barents Sea foraged in northern Norway from late October to February, staying up to three months and showing high inter-annual return rates (up to 82%). The number of identified whales in northern Norway totalled 866 individuals by 2019. Genetic sexing and hormone profiling in both areas demonstrate a female bias in northern Norway and suggest higher proportions of pregnancy in northern Norway. This may indicate that the fjord-based winter feeding is important for pregnant females before migration. Our results suggest that humpback whales can respond to foraging opportunities along their migration pathways, in some cases by continuing their feeding season well into winter. This provides an important reminder to implement dynamic ecosystem management that can account for changes in the spatio-temporal distribution of migrating marine mammals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Barents Sea Megaptera novaeangliae Northern Norway The Royal Society Arctic Barents Sea Norway Royal Society Open Science 10 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Migration patterns are fundamentally linked to the spatio-temporal distributions of prey. How migrating animals can respond to changes in their prey's distribution and abundance remains largely unclear. During the last decade, humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) used specific winter foraging sites in fjords of northern Norway, outside of their main summer foraging season, to feed on herring that started overwintering in the area. We used photographic matching to show that whales sighted during summer in the Barents Sea foraged in northern Norway from late October to February, staying up to three months and showing high inter-annual return rates (up to 82%). The number of identified whales in northern Norway totalled 866 individuals by 2019. Genetic sexing and hormone profiling in both areas demonstrate a female bias in northern Norway and suggest higher proportions of pregnancy in northern Norway. This may indicate that the fjord-based winter feeding is important for pregnant females before migration. Our results suggest that humpback whales can respond to foraging opportunities along their migration pathways, in some cases by continuing their feeding season well into winter. This provides an important reminder to implement dynamic ecosystem management that can account for changes in the spatio-temporal distribution of migrating marine mammals. |
author2 |
Norges Forskningsråd |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kettemer, Lisa Elena Ramm, Theresia Broms, Fredrik Biuw, Martin Blanchet, Marie-Anne Bourgeon, Sophie Dubourg, Paul Ellendersen, Anna C. J. Horaud, Mathilde Kershaw, Joanna Miller, Patrick J. O. Øien, Nils Pallin, Logan J. Rikardsen, Audun H. |
spellingShingle |
Kettemer, Lisa Elena Ramm, Theresia Broms, Fredrik Biuw, Martin Blanchet, Marie-Anne Bourgeon, Sophie Dubourg, Paul Ellendersen, Anna C. J. Horaud, Mathilde Kershaw, Joanna Miller, Patrick J. O. Øien, Nils Pallin, Logan J. Rikardsen, Audun H. Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
author_facet |
Kettemer, Lisa Elena Ramm, Theresia Broms, Fredrik Biuw, Martin Blanchet, Marie-Anne Bourgeon, Sophie Dubourg, Paul Ellendersen, Anna C. J. Horaud, Mathilde Kershaw, Joanna Miller, Patrick J. O. Øien, Nils Pallin, Logan J. Rikardsen, Audun H. |
author_sort |
Kettemer, Lisa Elena |
title |
Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
title_short |
Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
title_full |
Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
title_fullStr |
Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
title_sort |
don’t mind if i do: arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.230069 |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea Norway |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Norway |
genre |
Arctic Barents Sea Megaptera novaeangliae Northern Norway |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Megaptera novaeangliae Northern Norway |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science volume 10, issue 9 ISSN 2054-5703 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230069 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
9 |
_version_ |
1800746901227700224 |