Non‐lunge feeding behaviour of humpback whales associated with fishing boats in Norway
Abstract Top marine predators, such as odontocetes, pinnipeds, and seabirds, are known to forage around fishing boats as fishermen aggregate and/or discard their prey. Recently, incidents of humpback whales interacting with fishing boats have been reported. However, whether humpback whales utilise d...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eth.13419 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/eth.13419 |
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crwiley:10.1111/eth.13419 2024-06-02T08:07:56+00:00 Non‐lunge feeding behaviour of humpback whales associated with fishing boats in Norway Iwata, Takashi Aoki, Kagari Miller, Patrick J. O. Biuw, Martin Williamson, Michael J. Sato, Katsufumi 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eth.13419 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/eth.13419 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ethology volume 130, issue 2 ISSN 0179-1613 1439-0310 journal-article 2023 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13419 2024-05-03T11:59:28Z Abstract Top marine predators, such as odontocetes, pinnipeds, and seabirds, are known to forage around fishing boats as fishermen aggregate and/or discard their prey. Recently, incidents of humpback whales interacting with fishing boats have been reported. However, whether humpback whales utilise discard fish as a food source and how they forage around fishing boats is unknown. This study reports, for the first time, the foraging behaviour of a humpback whale around fishing boats. Three whales were tagged using a suction‐cup tag containing a video camera, and a behavioural data logger in the coastal area of Tromsø, Norway. Video data from one tagged whale showed that the whale remained in close vicinity of fishing boats for 43 min, and revealed the presence of large numbers of dead fish, fish‐eating killer whales, fishing boats, and fishing gear. In waters with large numbers of dead fish, the whale raised its upper jaw, a motion associated with engulfing discard fish from fishing boats, and this feeding behaviour differed markedly from lunge‐feeding observed in two other whales in the same area. This behaviour was defined as “pick‐up feeding”. No lunge feeding was seen on the data logger when the whale foraged around fishing boats. This study highlights a novel humpback whale foraging strategy: low energy gain from scattered prey but also low energy costs as high‐energy lunge feeding is not required. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Tromsø Wiley Online Library Norway Tromsø Ethology 130 2 |
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English |
description |
Abstract Top marine predators, such as odontocetes, pinnipeds, and seabirds, are known to forage around fishing boats as fishermen aggregate and/or discard their prey. Recently, incidents of humpback whales interacting with fishing boats have been reported. However, whether humpback whales utilise discard fish as a food source and how they forage around fishing boats is unknown. This study reports, for the first time, the foraging behaviour of a humpback whale around fishing boats. Three whales were tagged using a suction‐cup tag containing a video camera, and a behavioural data logger in the coastal area of Tromsø, Norway. Video data from one tagged whale showed that the whale remained in close vicinity of fishing boats for 43 min, and revealed the presence of large numbers of dead fish, fish‐eating killer whales, fishing boats, and fishing gear. In waters with large numbers of dead fish, the whale raised its upper jaw, a motion associated with engulfing discard fish from fishing boats, and this feeding behaviour differed markedly from lunge‐feeding observed in two other whales in the same area. This behaviour was defined as “pick‐up feeding”. No lunge feeding was seen on the data logger when the whale foraged around fishing boats. This study highlights a novel humpback whale foraging strategy: low energy gain from scattered prey but also low energy costs as high‐energy lunge feeding is not required. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Iwata, Takashi Aoki, Kagari Miller, Patrick J. O. Biuw, Martin Williamson, Michael J. Sato, Katsufumi |
spellingShingle |
Iwata, Takashi Aoki, Kagari Miller, Patrick J. O. Biuw, Martin Williamson, Michael J. Sato, Katsufumi Non‐lunge feeding behaviour of humpback whales associated with fishing boats in Norway |
author_facet |
Iwata, Takashi Aoki, Kagari Miller, Patrick J. O. Biuw, Martin Williamson, Michael J. Sato, Katsufumi |
author_sort |
Iwata, Takashi |
title |
Non‐lunge feeding behaviour of humpback whales associated with fishing boats in Norway |
title_short |
Non‐lunge feeding behaviour of humpback whales associated with fishing boats in Norway |
title_full |
Non‐lunge feeding behaviour of humpback whales associated with fishing boats in Norway |
title_fullStr |
Non‐lunge feeding behaviour of humpback whales associated with fishing boats in Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Non‐lunge feeding behaviour of humpback whales associated with fishing boats in Norway |
title_sort |
non‐lunge feeding behaviour of humpback whales associated with fishing boats in norway |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eth.13419 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/eth.13419 |
geographic |
Norway Tromsø |
geographic_facet |
Norway Tromsø |
genre |
Humpback Whale Tromsø |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Tromsø |
op_source |
Ethology volume 130, issue 2 ISSN 0179-1613 1439-0310 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13419 |
container_title |
Ethology |
container_volume |
130 |
container_issue |
2 |
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1800753073731141632 |