Autumn movements of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) from Svalbard, Norway, revealed by satellite tracking

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Lydersen, Christian, Vacquié-Garcia, Jade, Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter, Øien, Nils, Guinet, Christophe, Kovacs, Kit
• Other Authors: Norwegian Polar Institute, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Institute of Marine Research Bergen (IMR), University of Bergen (UiB)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Norway; Svalbard; Balaenoptera physalus
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02970927; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73996-z

International audience Insight into animal movements is essential for understanding habitat use by individuals as wellas population processes and species life-history strategies. In this study, we instrumented 25 finwhales with ARGOS satellite-transmitters in Svalbard, Norway, to study their movement patternsand behaviour (Area Restricted Search (ARS), transiting or unknown) during boreal autumn/earlywinter. Ten of the whales stayed in the tagging area (most northerly location: 81.68°N) for their entiretracking periods (max 45 days). The other 15 whales moved in a south-westerly direction; the longesttrack ended off the coast of northern Africa (> 5000 km from the tagging location) after 96 days. Thewhales engaged in ARS behaviour intermittently throughout their southward migrations. Duringtransit phases the whales moved quickly; one individual maintained an average horizontal speed of9.3 km/h (travelling 223 km per day) for a period of a week. This study documents that: (1) some finwhales might remain at high latitudes during winter; (2) the whales that do migrate probably feedalong the way; (3) they can maintain high transiting speed for long periods and; (4) one breeding areafor this species is likely located in deep, warm water some 100 km west of Morocco.