Round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the Northeast Atlantic.
In the northern hemisphere, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) typically migrate between summer/autumn feeding grounds at high latitudes, and specific winter/spring breeding grounds at low latitudes. Northeast Atlantic (NEA) humpback whales for instance forage in the Barents Sea and breed eith...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:08d3cf7960e441949b34ef5c8969c100 2023-05-15T15:38:35+02:00 Round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the Northeast Atlantic. Lisa Elena Kettemer Audun H Rikardsen Martin Biuw Fredrik Broms Evert Mul Marie-Anne Blanchet 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268355 https://doaj.org/article/08d3cf7960e441949b34ef5c8969c100 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268355 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0268355 https://doaj.org/article/08d3cf7960e441949b34ef5c8969c100 PLoS ONE, Vol 17, Iss 5, p e0268355 (2022) Medicine R Science Q article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268355 2022-12-31T00:24:13Z In the northern hemisphere, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) typically migrate between summer/autumn feeding grounds at high latitudes, and specific winter/spring breeding grounds at low latitudes. Northeast Atlantic (NEA) humpback whales for instance forage in the Barents Sea and breed either in the West Indies, or the Cape Verde Islands, undertaking the longest recorded mammalian migration (~ 9 000 km). However, in the past decade hundreds of individuals have been observed foraging on herring during the winter in fjord systems along the northern Norwegian coast, with unknown consequences to their migration phenology, breeding behavior and energy budgets. Here we present the first complete migration track (321 days, January 8th, 2019-December 6th, 2019) of a humpback whale, a pregnant female that was equipped with a satellite tag in northern Norway. We show that whales can use foraging grounds in the NEA (Barents Sea, coastal Norway, and Iceland) sequentially within the same migration cycle, foraging in the Barents Sea in summer/fall and in coastal Norway and Iceland in winter. The migration speed was fast (1.6 ms-1), likely to account for the long migration distance (18 300 km) and long foraging season, but varied throughout the migration, presumably in response to the calf's needs after its birth. The energetic cost of this migration was higher than for individuals belonging to other populations. Our results indicate that large whales can modulate their migration speed to balance foraging opportunities with migration phenology, even for the longest migrations and under the added constraint of reproduction. Article in Journal/Newspaper Barents Sea Humpback Whale Iceland Megaptera novaeangliae Northeast Atlantic Northern Norway Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Barents Sea Norway PLOS ONE 17 5 e0268355 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Lisa Elena Kettemer Audun H Rikardsen Martin Biuw Fredrik Broms Evert Mul Marie-Anne Blanchet Round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the Northeast Atlantic. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
In the northern hemisphere, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) typically migrate between summer/autumn feeding grounds at high latitudes, and specific winter/spring breeding grounds at low latitudes. Northeast Atlantic (NEA) humpback whales for instance forage in the Barents Sea and breed either in the West Indies, or the Cape Verde Islands, undertaking the longest recorded mammalian migration (~ 9 000 km). However, in the past decade hundreds of individuals have been observed foraging on herring during the winter in fjord systems along the northern Norwegian coast, with unknown consequences to their migration phenology, breeding behavior and energy budgets. Here we present the first complete migration track (321 days, January 8th, 2019-December 6th, 2019) of a humpback whale, a pregnant female that was equipped with a satellite tag in northern Norway. We show that whales can use foraging grounds in the NEA (Barents Sea, coastal Norway, and Iceland) sequentially within the same migration cycle, foraging in the Barents Sea in summer/fall and in coastal Norway and Iceland in winter. The migration speed was fast (1.6 ms-1), likely to account for the long migration distance (18 300 km) and long foraging season, but varied throughout the migration, presumably in response to the calf's needs after its birth. The energetic cost of this migration was higher than for individuals belonging to other populations. Our results indicate that large whales can modulate their migration speed to balance foraging opportunities with migration phenology, even for the longest migrations and under the added constraint of reproduction. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lisa Elena Kettemer Audun H Rikardsen Martin Biuw Fredrik Broms Evert Mul Marie-Anne Blanchet |
author_facet |
Lisa Elena Kettemer Audun H Rikardsen Martin Biuw Fredrik Broms Evert Mul Marie-Anne Blanchet |
author_sort |
Lisa Elena Kettemer |
title |
Round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the Northeast Atlantic. |
title_short |
Round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the Northeast Atlantic. |
title_full |
Round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the Northeast Atlantic. |
title_fullStr |
Round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the Northeast Atlantic. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the Northeast Atlantic. |
title_sort |
round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the northeast atlantic. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268355 https://doaj.org/article/08d3cf7960e441949b34ef5c8969c100 |
geographic |
Barents Sea Norway |
geographic_facet |
Barents Sea Norway |
genre |
Barents Sea Humpback Whale Iceland Megaptera novaeangliae Northeast Atlantic Northern Norway |
genre_facet |
Barents Sea Humpback Whale Iceland Megaptera novaeangliae Northeast Atlantic Northern Norway |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 17, Iss 5, p e0268355 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268355 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0268355 https://doaj.org/article/08d3cf7960e441949b34ef5c8969c100 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268355 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
e0268355 |
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1766369678142210048 |