Searching for humpback whales in a historical whaling hotspot of the Coral Sea, South Pacific
Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae were severely depleted by commercial whaling. Understanding key factors in their recovery is a crucial step for their conservation worldwide. In Oceania, the Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago was a primary whaling site in the 19th century, yet has been left almo...
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Inter-Research Science Center
2020
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Online Access: | https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/74267.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/74268.pdf https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01038 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/ |
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ftarchimer:oai:archimer.ifremer.fr:74454 2023-12-10T09:49:26+01:00 Searching for humpback whales in a historical whaling hotspot of the Coral Sea, South Pacific Garrigue, C Derville, S Bonneville, C Baker, Cs Cheeseman, T Millet, Laurent Paton, D Steel, D 2020 application/pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/74267.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/74268.pdf https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01038 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/ eng eng Inter-Research Science Center https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/74267.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/74268.pdf doi:10.3354/esr01038 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess restricted use Endangered Species Research (1863-5407) (Inter-Research Science Center), 2020 , Vol. 42 , P. 67-82 Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago Connectivity Coral Sea Habitat use Humpback whale Satellite tracking Sex ratio Whaling text Article info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2020 ftarchimer https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01038 2023-11-14T23:51:09Z Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae were severely depleted by commercial whaling. Understanding key factors in their recovery is a crucial step for their conservation worldwide. In Oceania, the Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago was a primary whaling site in the 19th century, yet has been left almost unaffected by anthropogenic activities since. We present the results of the first multidisciplinary dedicated surveys in the archipelago assessing humpback whale populations 2 centuries post-whaling. We encountered 57 groups during 24 survey days (2016-2017), among which 35 whales were identified using photographs of natural markings (photo-ID), 38 using genotyping and 22 using both. Humpback whales were sparsely distributed (0.041 whales km-1): most sightings concentrated in shallow inner-reef waters and neighbouring offshore shallow banks. The recently created marine protected area covers most of the areas of high predicted habitat suitability and high residence time from satellite-tracked whales. Surprisingly for a breeding area, sex ratios skewed towards females (1:2.4), and 45% of females were with calf. Connectivity was established with the New Caledonia breeding area to the east (mtDNA FST = 0.001, p > 0.05, 12 photo-ID and 10 genotype matches) and with the Australian Great Barrier Reef breeding area to the west (mtDNA FST = 0.006, p > 0.05). Movement of satellite-tracked whales and photo-ID matches also suggest connections with the east Australian migratory corridor. This study confirms that humpback whales still inhabit the Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago 2 centuries post whaling, and that this pristine area potentially plays a role in facilitating migratory interchange among breeding grounds of the western South Pacific. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Archimer (Archive Institutionnelle de l'Ifremer - Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) Inner Reef ENVELOPE(-37.133,-37.133,-54.100,-54.100) Pacific Endangered Species Research 42 67 82 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archimer (Archive Institutionnelle de l'Ifremer - Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) |
op_collection_id |
ftarchimer |
language |
English |
topic |
Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago Connectivity Coral Sea Habitat use Humpback whale Satellite tracking Sex ratio Whaling |
spellingShingle |
Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago Connectivity Coral Sea Habitat use Humpback whale Satellite tracking Sex ratio Whaling Garrigue, C Derville, S Bonneville, C Baker, Cs Cheeseman, T Millet, Laurent Paton, D Steel, D Searching for humpback whales in a historical whaling hotspot of the Coral Sea, South Pacific |
topic_facet |
Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago Connectivity Coral Sea Habitat use Humpback whale Satellite tracking Sex ratio Whaling |
description |
Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae were severely depleted by commercial whaling. Understanding key factors in their recovery is a crucial step for their conservation worldwide. In Oceania, the Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago was a primary whaling site in the 19th century, yet has been left almost unaffected by anthropogenic activities since. We present the results of the first multidisciplinary dedicated surveys in the archipelago assessing humpback whale populations 2 centuries post-whaling. We encountered 57 groups during 24 survey days (2016-2017), among which 35 whales were identified using photographs of natural markings (photo-ID), 38 using genotyping and 22 using both. Humpback whales were sparsely distributed (0.041 whales km-1): most sightings concentrated in shallow inner-reef waters and neighbouring offshore shallow banks. The recently created marine protected area covers most of the areas of high predicted habitat suitability and high residence time from satellite-tracked whales. Surprisingly for a breeding area, sex ratios skewed towards females (1:2.4), and 45% of females were with calf. Connectivity was established with the New Caledonia breeding area to the east (mtDNA FST = 0.001, p > 0.05, 12 photo-ID and 10 genotype matches) and with the Australian Great Barrier Reef breeding area to the west (mtDNA FST = 0.006, p > 0.05). Movement of satellite-tracked whales and photo-ID matches also suggest connections with the east Australian migratory corridor. This study confirms that humpback whales still inhabit the Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago 2 centuries post whaling, and that this pristine area potentially plays a role in facilitating migratory interchange among breeding grounds of the western South Pacific. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Garrigue, C Derville, S Bonneville, C Baker, Cs Cheeseman, T Millet, Laurent Paton, D Steel, D |
author_facet |
Garrigue, C Derville, S Bonneville, C Baker, Cs Cheeseman, T Millet, Laurent Paton, D Steel, D |
author_sort |
Garrigue, C |
title |
Searching for humpback whales in a historical whaling hotspot of the Coral Sea, South Pacific |
title_short |
Searching for humpback whales in a historical whaling hotspot of the Coral Sea, South Pacific |
title_full |
Searching for humpback whales in a historical whaling hotspot of the Coral Sea, South Pacific |
title_fullStr |
Searching for humpback whales in a historical whaling hotspot of the Coral Sea, South Pacific |
title_full_unstemmed |
Searching for humpback whales in a historical whaling hotspot of the Coral Sea, South Pacific |
title_sort |
searching for humpback whales in a historical whaling hotspot of the coral sea, south pacific |
publisher |
Inter-Research Science Center |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/74267.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/74268.pdf https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01038 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-37.133,-37.133,-54.100,-54.100) |
geographic |
Inner Reef Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Inner Reef Pacific |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Endangered Species Research (1863-5407) (Inter-Research Science Center), 2020 , Vol. 42 , P. 67-82 |
op_relation |
https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/74267.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/74268.pdf doi:10.3354/esr01038 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00632/74454/ |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess restricted use |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01038 |
container_title |
Endangered Species Research |
container_volume |
42 |
container_start_page |
67 |
op_container_end_page |
82 |
_version_ |
1784893863738998784 |