Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration
Migration patterns are fundamentally linked to the spatio-temporal distributions of prey. How migrating animals can respond to changes in their prey's distribution and abundance remains largely unclear. During the last decade, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) used specific winter foragi...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://doaj.org/article/9bdb4db143d346cf8ec090e9d48feb87 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9bdb4db143d346cf8ec090e9d48feb87 2023-10-09T21:49:10+02:00 Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration Lisa Elena Kettemer Theresia Ramm Fredrik Broms Martin Biuw Marie-Anne Blanchet Sophie Bourgeon Paul Dubourg Anna C. J. Ellendersen Mathilde Horaud Joanna Kershaw Patrick J. O. Miller Nils Øien Logan J. Pallin Audun H. Rikardsen 2023-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://doaj.org/article/9bdb4db143d346cf8ec090e9d48feb87 EN eng The Royal Society https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.230069 2054-5703 https://doaj.org/article/9bdb4db143d346cf8ec090e9d48feb87 Royal Society Open Science, Vol 10, Iss 9 (2023) marine mammals migration timing stopover spatial ecology hormone profiling pregnancy rates Science Q article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230069 2023-09-10T00:36:40Z Migration patterns are fundamentally linked to the spatio-temporal distributions of prey. How migrating animals can respond to changes in their prey's distribution and abundance remains largely unclear. During the last decade, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) used specific winter foraging sites in fjords of northern Norway, outside of their main summer foraging season, to feed on herring that started overwintering in the area. We used photographic matching to show that whales sighted during summer in the Barents Sea foraged in northern Norway from late October to February, staying up to three months and showing high inter-annual return rates (up to 82%). The number of identified whales in northern Norway totalled 866 individuals by 2019. Genetic sexing and hormone profiling in both areas demonstrate a female bias in northern Norway and suggest higher proportions of pregnancy in northern Norway. This may indicate that the fjord-based winter feeding is important for pregnant females before migration. Our results suggest that humpback whales can respond to foraging opportunities along their migration pathways, in some cases by continuing their feeding season well into winter. This provides an important reminder to implement dynamic ecosystem management that can account for changes in the spatio-temporal distribution of migrating marine mammals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Barents Sea Megaptera novaeangliae Northern Norway Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Barents Sea Norway Royal Society Open Science 10 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
marine mammals migration timing stopover spatial ecology hormone profiling pregnancy rates Science Q |
spellingShingle |
marine mammals migration timing stopover spatial ecology hormone profiling pregnancy rates Science Q Lisa Elena Kettemer Theresia Ramm Fredrik Broms Martin Biuw Marie-Anne Blanchet Sophie Bourgeon Paul Dubourg Anna C. J. Ellendersen Mathilde Horaud Joanna Kershaw Patrick J. O. Miller Nils Øien Logan J. Pallin Audun H. Rikardsen Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
topic_facet |
marine mammals migration timing stopover spatial ecology hormone profiling pregnancy rates Science Q |
description |
Migration patterns are fundamentally linked to the spatio-temporal distributions of prey. How migrating animals can respond to changes in their prey's distribution and abundance remains largely unclear. During the last decade, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) used specific winter foraging sites in fjords of northern Norway, outside of their main summer foraging season, to feed on herring that started overwintering in the area. We used photographic matching to show that whales sighted during summer in the Barents Sea foraged in northern Norway from late October to February, staying up to three months and showing high inter-annual return rates (up to 82%). The number of identified whales in northern Norway totalled 866 individuals by 2019. Genetic sexing and hormone profiling in both areas demonstrate a female bias in northern Norway and suggest higher proportions of pregnancy in northern Norway. This may indicate that the fjord-based winter feeding is important for pregnant females before migration. Our results suggest that humpback whales can respond to foraging opportunities along their migration pathways, in some cases by continuing their feeding season well into winter. This provides an important reminder to implement dynamic ecosystem management that can account for changes in the spatio-temporal distribution of migrating marine mammals. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lisa Elena Kettemer Theresia Ramm Fredrik Broms Martin Biuw Marie-Anne Blanchet Sophie Bourgeon Paul Dubourg Anna C. J. Ellendersen Mathilde Horaud Joanna Kershaw Patrick J. O. Miller Nils Øien Logan J. Pallin Audun H. Rikardsen |
author_facet |
Lisa Elena Kettemer Theresia Ramm Fredrik Broms Martin Biuw Marie-Anne Blanchet Sophie Bourgeon Paul Dubourg Anna C. J. Ellendersen Mathilde Horaud Joanna Kershaw Patrick J. O. Miller Nils Øien Logan J. Pallin Audun H. Rikardsen |
author_sort |
Lisa Elena Kettemer |
title |
Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
title_short |
Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
title_full |
Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
title_fullStr |
Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Don’t mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
title_sort |
don’t mind if i do: arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://doaj.org/article/9bdb4db143d346cf8ec090e9d48feb87 |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea Norway |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Norway |
genre |
Arctic Barents Sea Megaptera novaeangliae Northern Norway |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Megaptera novaeangliae Northern Norway |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science, Vol 10, Iss 9 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230069 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.230069 2054-5703 https://doaj.org/article/9bdb4db143d346cf8ec090e9d48feb87 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230069 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
9 |
_version_ |
1779312197098274816 |