Fin whale movements in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from satellite telemetry.
Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) have a global distribution, but the population inhabiting the Gulf of California (GoC) is thought to be geographically and genetically isolated. However, their distribution and movements are poorly known. The goal of this study was to describe fin whale movements f...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:72735d1e44bd4aa3b5f03d35743e3671 2023-05-15T15:36:42+02:00 Fin whale movements in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from satellite telemetry. M Esther Jiménez López Daniel M Palacios Armando Jaramillo Legorreta Jorge Urbán R Bruce R Mate 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209324 https://doaj.org/article/72735d1e44bd4aa3b5f03d35743e3671 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209324 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209324 https://doaj.org/article/72735d1e44bd4aa3b5f03d35743e3671 PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 1, p e0209324 (2019) Medicine R Science Q article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209324 2022-12-31T07:09:52Z Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) have a global distribution, but the population inhabiting the Gulf of California (GoC) is thought to be geographically and genetically isolated. However, their distribution and movements are poorly known. The goal of this study was to describe fin whale movements for the first time from 11 Argos satellite tags deployed in the southwest GoC in March 2001. A Bayesian Switching State-Space Model was applied to obtain improved locations and to characterize movement behavior as either "area-restricted searching" (indicative of patch residence, ARS) or "transiting" (indicative of moving between patches). Model performance was assessed with convergence diagnostics and by examining the distribution of the deviance and the behavioral parameters from Markov Chain Monte Carlo models. ARS was the predominant mode behavior 83% of the time during both the cool (December-May) and warm seasons (June-November), with slower travel speeds (mean = 0.84 km/h) than during transiting mode (mean = 3.38 km/h). We suggest ARS mode indicates either foraging activities (year around) or reproductive activities during the winter (cool season). We tagged during the cool season, when the whales were located in the Loreto-La Paz Corridor in the southwestern GoC, close to the shoreline. As the season progressed, individuals moved northward to the Midriff Islands and the upper gulf for the warm season, much farther from shore. One tag lasted long enough to document a whale's return to Loreto the following cool season. One whale that was originally of undetermined sex, was tagged in the Bay of La Paz and was photographed 10 years later with a calf in the nearby San Jose Channel, suggesting seasonal site fidelity. The tagged whales moved along the western GoC to the upper gulf seasonally and did not transit to the eastern GoC south of the Midriff Islands. No tagged whales left the GoC, providing supporting evidence that these fin whales are a resident population. Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles San Jose ENVELOPE(-58.067,-58.067,-63.917,-63.917) PLOS ONE 14 1 e0209324 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q M Esther Jiménez López Daniel M Palacios Armando Jaramillo Legorreta Jorge Urbán R Bruce R Mate Fin whale movements in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from satellite telemetry. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) have a global distribution, but the population inhabiting the Gulf of California (GoC) is thought to be geographically and genetically isolated. However, their distribution and movements are poorly known. The goal of this study was to describe fin whale movements for the first time from 11 Argos satellite tags deployed in the southwest GoC in March 2001. A Bayesian Switching State-Space Model was applied to obtain improved locations and to characterize movement behavior as either "area-restricted searching" (indicative of patch residence, ARS) or "transiting" (indicative of moving between patches). Model performance was assessed with convergence diagnostics and by examining the distribution of the deviance and the behavioral parameters from Markov Chain Monte Carlo models. ARS was the predominant mode behavior 83% of the time during both the cool (December-May) and warm seasons (June-November), with slower travel speeds (mean = 0.84 km/h) than during transiting mode (mean = 3.38 km/h). We suggest ARS mode indicates either foraging activities (year around) or reproductive activities during the winter (cool season). We tagged during the cool season, when the whales were located in the Loreto-La Paz Corridor in the southwestern GoC, close to the shoreline. As the season progressed, individuals moved northward to the Midriff Islands and the upper gulf for the warm season, much farther from shore. One tag lasted long enough to document a whale's return to Loreto the following cool season. One whale that was originally of undetermined sex, was tagged in the Bay of La Paz and was photographed 10 years later with a calf in the nearby San Jose Channel, suggesting seasonal site fidelity. The tagged whales moved along the western GoC to the upper gulf seasonally and did not transit to the eastern GoC south of the Midriff Islands. No tagged whales left the GoC, providing supporting evidence that these fin whales are a resident population. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M Esther Jiménez López Daniel M Palacios Armando Jaramillo Legorreta Jorge Urbán R Bruce R Mate |
author_facet |
M Esther Jiménez López Daniel M Palacios Armando Jaramillo Legorreta Jorge Urbán R Bruce R Mate |
author_sort |
M Esther Jiménez López |
title |
Fin whale movements in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from satellite telemetry. |
title_short |
Fin whale movements in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from satellite telemetry. |
title_full |
Fin whale movements in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from satellite telemetry. |
title_fullStr |
Fin whale movements in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from satellite telemetry. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fin whale movements in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from satellite telemetry. |
title_sort |
fin whale movements in the gulf of california, mexico, from satellite telemetry. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209324 https://doaj.org/article/72735d1e44bd4aa3b5f03d35743e3671 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-58.067,-58.067,-63.917,-63.917) |
geographic |
San Jose |
geographic_facet |
San Jose |
genre |
Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 1, p e0209324 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209324 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209324 https://doaj.org/article/72735d1e44bd4aa3b5f03d35743e3671 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209324 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
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14 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
e0209324 |
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1766367059723157504 |