The ideal long-term record: Using baleen to understand changes in whale feeding and spatial movements through time ...

• Main Author: Dedden, Adelaide
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: UNSW Sydney 2023
• Subjects: Baleen whale; Stable isotopes; Diet; Migration; Environmental change; Long-term data; 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology incl. marine ichthyology; 310301 Behavioural ecology; baleen whale
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/25350; http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/101643

The stable isotopes of nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) within whale baleen plates provide an indirect measure of individual resource use, migration strategy, and physiological changes at an interannual level. Predictable annual changes in whale dietary input and/or physiological condition (e.g., annual fasting periods) cause periodic oscillations in nitrogen and carbon stable isotope values within a baleen plate. However, there is a high degree of interannual variability in stable isotope oscillation patterns observed, both within an individual, as well as within and between populations, making interpretations difficult. This interannual variability may be driven by changes in resource utilisation, movements between different regions, and/or a difference in fasting endurance. However, methods to quantify variability in stable isotope patterns and what drives these differences each year remain unknown. In my thesis, I develop new methodology to quantify variability in baleen stable isotope patterns, and ...