Wait your turn, North Atlantic fin whales share a common feeding ground sequentially

• Published in: Marine Environmental Research
• Main Authors: Gauffier, Pauline, Borrell, Asunción, Silva, Monica A., Víkingsson, G. A., López, Alfredo, Giménez, Joan, Colaçao, Ana, Halldórsson, Sverrir Daníel, Vighi, Morgana, Prieto, Rui, de Stephanis, Renaud, Aguilar, Alex
• Other Authors: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal), Fundo Regional para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal), Ministério da Educação e Ciência (Portugal), Xunta de Galicia, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente (España), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), Loro Parque Fundación, CEPSA, Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Elsevier 2020
• Subjects: Stable isotopes; Marine ecology; Conservation; Multivariate analysis; Marine mammals; Balaenoptera physalus; Population structure; Sog; Iceland; North Atlantic; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/203693; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.104884; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003381; https://doi.org/10.13039/100008382; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100010801

12 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.104884 Highly migratory marine species pose a challenge for the identification of management units due to the absence of clear oceanographic barriers. The population structure of North Atlantic fin whales has been investigated since the start of whaling operations but is still the subject of an ongoing scientific debate. Here we measured stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in skin samples collected from 151 individuals from western Iceland, Galicia (NW Spain), the Azores archipelago and the Strait of Gibraltar (SoG). We found spatiotemporal differences in stable isotope ratios suggesting that fin whales sampled in these four areas may share a common feeding ground within the Northeast Atlantic at different times during the year. Our results also suggest that SoG whales use this common feeding ground in summer but exploit Mediterranean resources during the winter months, further supporting the existence of a limited but current exchange of individuals between these two basins This work, including collection of samples from the Azores, was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) [IF/00943/2013/CP1199/CT0001, UID/MAR/04292/2019 to MARE, IF/00943/2013 to M.A.S., IF/00029/2014/CP1230/CT0002 to A.C., SFRH/BPD/108007/2015 to R.P.] and by Fundo Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT) and Azores (2020) Operational Programme [WATCH IT - Acores-01-0145-FEDER-000057] through FEDER, COMPETE, QREN, POPH, FSE, and the Portuguese Ministry for Science and Education. Stranding samples in Galicia were provided by Coordinadora para o Estudo dos Mamíferos Mariños (CEMMA) supported by Direccion Xeral de Patrimonio Natural-Xunta de Galicia and by OE-FCT [094-88-ARH/2018-DL57/2016-L57/2017 to A.L.].This study was also supported by Fundación Biodiversidad of the Spanish Ministry of Environment, MINECO/FEDER [CGL2015-70468-R], Fundación Loro Parque and CEPSA With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of ...