Diving behaviour of adult male white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard, Norway
White whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard remain near the coast much of the year, spending most of their time in front of tidewater glaciers. In this article, the diving behaviour of adult male white whales in Svalbard (N = 16) is presented based on satellite-relay data loggers that record ti...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2019
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:15acae9b65cf44d8a707b3104c0894a3 2023-05-15T15:09:21+02:00 Diving behaviour of adult male white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard, Norway Jade Vacquié-Garcia Christian Lydersen Kit M. Kovacs 2019-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3605 https://doaj.org/article/15acae9b65cf44d8a707b3104c0894a3 EN eng Norwegian Polar Institute https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3605/9955 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v38.3605 https://doaj.org/article/15acae9b65cf44d8a707b3104c0894a3 Polar Research, Vol 38, Iss 0, Pp 1-12 (2019) arctic beluga climate change environmental change foraging travelling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3605 2022-12-31T02:15:06Z White whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard remain near the coast much of the year, spending most of their time in front of tidewater glaciers. In this article, the diving behaviour of adult male white whales in Svalbard (N = 16) is presented based on satellite-relay data loggers that record time and depth of diving as well as positions. The loggers transmitted data for an average of 87 ± 52 days (range 2–163 days). After filtering, 55 359 dives were available for the study. Most of the dives were extremely shallow (13 ± 26 m, maximum 350 m) and of short duration (97 ± 123 s, maximum 31.4 min). At tidewater glacier fronts, the white whales optimized their time at the bottom of dives and spent longer periods resting at the surface after dives, in accordance with what would be expected when foraging. This behaviour was also documented when animals were out in the fjords. When the whales moved between areas around the archipelago, they swam close to the coast, staying right below the surface most of the time, presumably to minimize energy expenditure during transits. When sea ice formed during the winter, the whales were forced offshore into somewhat deeper areas with drifting ice. In these areas, the whales minimized time at the surface and dove somewhat deeper, sometimes reaching the bottom, presumably to feed on neritic prey. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Beluga Beluga* Climate change Delphinapterus leucas glacier glacier Polar Research Sea ice Svalbard Tidewater Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Svalbard Norway Polar Research 38 0 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
arctic beluga climate change environmental change foraging travelling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
arctic beluga climate change environmental change foraging travelling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 Jade Vacquié-Garcia Christian Lydersen Kit M. Kovacs Diving behaviour of adult male white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard, Norway |
topic_facet |
arctic beluga climate change environmental change foraging travelling Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
White whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard remain near the coast much of the year, spending most of their time in front of tidewater glaciers. In this article, the diving behaviour of adult male white whales in Svalbard (N = 16) is presented based on satellite-relay data loggers that record time and depth of diving as well as positions. The loggers transmitted data for an average of 87 ± 52 days (range 2–163 days). After filtering, 55 359 dives were available for the study. Most of the dives were extremely shallow (13 ± 26 m, maximum 350 m) and of short duration (97 ± 123 s, maximum 31.4 min). At tidewater glacier fronts, the white whales optimized their time at the bottom of dives and spent longer periods resting at the surface after dives, in accordance with what would be expected when foraging. This behaviour was also documented when animals were out in the fjords. When the whales moved between areas around the archipelago, they swam close to the coast, staying right below the surface most of the time, presumably to minimize energy expenditure during transits. When sea ice formed during the winter, the whales were forced offshore into somewhat deeper areas with drifting ice. In these areas, the whales minimized time at the surface and dove somewhat deeper, sometimes reaching the bottom, presumably to feed on neritic prey. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jade Vacquié-Garcia Christian Lydersen Kit M. Kovacs |
author_facet |
Jade Vacquié-Garcia Christian Lydersen Kit M. Kovacs |
author_sort |
Jade Vacquié-Garcia |
title |
Diving behaviour of adult male white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard, Norway |
title_short |
Diving behaviour of adult male white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard, Norway |
title_full |
Diving behaviour of adult male white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard, Norway |
title_fullStr |
Diving behaviour of adult male white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard, Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diving behaviour of adult male white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard, Norway |
title_sort |
diving behaviour of adult male white whales (delphinapterus leucas) in svalbard, norway |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3605 https://doaj.org/article/15acae9b65cf44d8a707b3104c0894a3 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Norway |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Norway |
genre |
Arctic Beluga Beluga* Climate change Delphinapterus leucas glacier glacier Polar Research Sea ice Svalbard Tidewater |
genre_facet |
Arctic Beluga Beluga* Climate change Delphinapterus leucas glacier glacier Polar Research Sea ice Svalbard Tidewater |
op_source |
Polar Research, Vol 38, Iss 0, Pp 1-12 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3605/9955 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v38.3605 https://doaj.org/article/15acae9b65cf44d8a707b3104c0894a3 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3605 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
0 |
_version_ |
1766340566626336768 |