Blue whales increase feeding rates at fine-scale ocean features
Marine predators face the challenge of reliably finding prey that is patchily distributed in space and time. Predators make movement decisions at multiple spatial and temporal scales, yet we have a limited understanding of how habitat selection at multiple scales translates into foraging performance...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 2024-06-23T07:51:49+00:00 Blue whales increase feeding rates at fine-scale ocean features Fahlbusch, James A. Czapanskiy, Max F. Calambokidis, John Cade, David E. Abrahms, Briana Hazen, Elliott L. Goldbogen, Jeremy A. Office of Naval Research Stanford University National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Naval Operations/Living Marine Resources NSF IOS 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 289, issue 1981 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2022 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 2024-06-04T06:22:58Z Marine predators face the challenge of reliably finding prey that is patchily distributed in space and time. Predators make movement decisions at multiple spatial and temporal scales, yet we have a limited understanding of how habitat selection at multiple scales translates into foraging performance. In the ocean, there is mounting evidence that submesoscale (i.e. less than 100 km) processes drive the formation of dense prey patches that should hypothetically provide feeding hot spots and increase predator foraging success. Here, we integrated environmental remote-sensing with high-resolution animal-borne biologging data to evaluate submesoscale surface current features in relation to the habitat selection and foraging performance of blue whales in the California Current System. Our study revealed a consistent functional relationship in which blue whales disproportionately foraged within dynamic aggregative submesoscale features at both the regional and feeding site scales across seasons, regions and years. Moreover, we found that blue whale feeding rates increased in areas with stronger aggregative features, suggesting that these features indicate areas of higher prey density. The use of fine-scale, dynamic features by foraging blue whales underscores the need to take these features into account when designating critical habitat and may help inform strategies to mitigate the impacts of human activities for the species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Blue whale The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 289 1981 |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
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English |
description |
Marine predators face the challenge of reliably finding prey that is patchily distributed in space and time. Predators make movement decisions at multiple spatial and temporal scales, yet we have a limited understanding of how habitat selection at multiple scales translates into foraging performance. In the ocean, there is mounting evidence that submesoscale (i.e. less than 100 km) processes drive the formation of dense prey patches that should hypothetically provide feeding hot spots and increase predator foraging success. Here, we integrated environmental remote-sensing with high-resolution animal-borne biologging data to evaluate submesoscale surface current features in relation to the habitat selection and foraging performance of blue whales in the California Current System. Our study revealed a consistent functional relationship in which blue whales disproportionately foraged within dynamic aggregative submesoscale features at both the regional and feeding site scales across seasons, regions and years. Moreover, we found that blue whale feeding rates increased in areas with stronger aggregative features, suggesting that these features indicate areas of higher prey density. The use of fine-scale, dynamic features by foraging blue whales underscores the need to take these features into account when designating critical habitat and may help inform strategies to mitigate the impacts of human activities for the species. |
author2 |
Office of Naval Research Stanford University National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Naval Operations/Living Marine Resources NSF IOS |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fahlbusch, James A. Czapanskiy, Max F. Calambokidis, John Cade, David E. Abrahms, Briana Hazen, Elliott L. Goldbogen, Jeremy A. |
spellingShingle |
Fahlbusch, James A. Czapanskiy, Max F. Calambokidis, John Cade, David E. Abrahms, Briana Hazen, Elliott L. Goldbogen, Jeremy A. Blue whales increase feeding rates at fine-scale ocean features |
author_facet |
Fahlbusch, James A. Czapanskiy, Max F. Calambokidis, John Cade, David E. Abrahms, Briana Hazen, Elliott L. Goldbogen, Jeremy A. |
author_sort |
Fahlbusch, James A. |
title |
Blue whales increase feeding rates at fine-scale ocean features |
title_short |
Blue whales increase feeding rates at fine-scale ocean features |
title_full |
Blue whales increase feeding rates at fine-scale ocean features |
title_fullStr |
Blue whales increase feeding rates at fine-scale ocean features |
title_full_unstemmed |
Blue whales increase feeding rates at fine-scale ocean features |
title_sort |
blue whales increase feeding rates at fine-scale ocean features |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 |
genre |
Blue whale |
genre_facet |
Blue whale |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 289, issue 1981 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1180 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
289 |
container_issue |
1981 |
_version_ |
1802642955719147520 |