Seasonal and geographic variation of southern blue whale subspecies in the Indian Ocean.
Understanding the seasonal movements and distribution patterns of migratory species over ocean basin scales is vital for appropriate conservation and management measures. However, assessing populations over remote regions is challenging, particularly if they are rare. Blue whales (Balaenoptera muscu...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a0e5ebc44b6d4afaa3565b48146d79d5 2023-05-15T13:37:56+02:00 Seasonal and geographic variation of southern blue whale subspecies in the Indian Ocean. Flore Samaran Kathleen M Stafford Trevor A Branch Jason Gedamke Jean-Yves Royer Robert P Dziak Christophe Guinet 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071561 https://doaj.org/article/a0e5ebc44b6d4afaa3565b48146d79d5 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3742792?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071561 https://doaj.org/article/a0e5ebc44b6d4afaa3565b48146d79d5 PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 8, p e71561 (2013) Medicine R Science Q article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071561 2022-12-31T05:31:27Z Understanding the seasonal movements and distribution patterns of migratory species over ocean basin scales is vital for appropriate conservation and management measures. However, assessing populations over remote regions is challenging, particularly if they are rare. Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus spp) are an endangered species found in the Southern and Indian Oceans. Here two recognized subspecies of blue whales and, based on passive acoustic monitoring, four "acoustic populations" occur. Three of these are pygmy blue whale (B.m. brevicauda) populations while the fourth is the Antarctic blue whale (B.m. intermedia). Past whaling catches have dramatically reduced their numbers but recent acoustic recordings show that these oceans are still important habitat for blue whales. Presently little is known about the seasonal movements and degree of overlap of these four populations, particularly in the central Indian Ocean. We examined the geographic and seasonal occurrence of different blue whale acoustic populations using one year of passive acoustic recording from three sites located at different latitudes in the Indian Ocean. The vocalizations of the different blue whale subspecies and acoustic populations were recorded seasonally in different regions. For some call types and locations, there was spatial and temporal overlap, particularly between Antarctic and different pygmy blue whale acoustic populations. Except on the southernmost hydrophone, all three pygmy blue whale acoustic populations were found at different sites or during different seasons, which further suggests that these populations are generally geographically distinct. This unusual blue whale diversity in sub-Antarctic and sub-tropical waters indicates the importance of the area for blue whales in these former whaling grounds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic Indian PLoS ONE 8 8 e71561 |
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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 Flore Samaran Kathleen M Stafford Trevor A Branch Jason Gedamke Jean-Yves Royer Robert P Dziak Christophe Guinet Seasonal and geographic variation of southern blue whale subspecies in the Indian Ocean. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Understanding the seasonal movements and distribution patterns of migratory species over ocean basin scales is vital for appropriate conservation and management measures. However, assessing populations over remote regions is challenging, particularly if they are rare. Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus spp) are an endangered species found in the Southern and Indian Oceans. Here two recognized subspecies of blue whales and, based on passive acoustic monitoring, four "acoustic populations" occur. Three of these are pygmy blue whale (B.m. brevicauda) populations while the fourth is the Antarctic blue whale (B.m. intermedia). Past whaling catches have dramatically reduced their numbers but recent acoustic recordings show that these oceans are still important habitat for blue whales. Presently little is known about the seasonal movements and degree of overlap of these four populations, particularly in the central Indian Ocean. We examined the geographic and seasonal occurrence of different blue whale acoustic populations using one year of passive acoustic recording from three sites located at different latitudes in the Indian Ocean. The vocalizations of the different blue whale subspecies and acoustic populations were recorded seasonally in different regions. For some call types and locations, there was spatial and temporal overlap, particularly between Antarctic and different pygmy blue whale acoustic populations. Except on the southernmost hydrophone, all three pygmy blue whale acoustic populations were found at different sites or during different seasons, which further suggests that these populations are generally geographically distinct. This unusual blue whale diversity in sub-Antarctic and sub-tropical waters indicates the importance of the area for blue whales in these former whaling grounds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Flore Samaran Kathleen M Stafford Trevor A Branch Jason Gedamke Jean-Yves Royer Robert P Dziak Christophe Guinet |
author_facet |
Flore Samaran Kathleen M Stafford Trevor A Branch Jason Gedamke Jean-Yves Royer Robert P Dziak Christophe Guinet |
author_sort |
Flore Samaran |
title |
Seasonal and geographic variation of southern blue whale subspecies in the Indian Ocean. |
title_short |
Seasonal and geographic variation of southern blue whale subspecies in the Indian Ocean. |
title_full |
Seasonal and geographic variation of southern blue whale subspecies in the Indian Ocean. |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal and geographic variation of southern blue whale subspecies in the Indian Ocean. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal and geographic variation of southern blue whale subspecies in the Indian Ocean. |
title_sort |
seasonal and geographic variation of southern blue whale subspecies in the indian ocean. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071561 https://doaj.org/article/a0e5ebc44b6d4afaa3565b48146d79d5 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Indian |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Indian |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 8, p e71561 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3742792?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071561 https://doaj.org/article/a0e5ebc44b6d4afaa3565b48146d79d5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071561 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
e71561 |
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1766099618471346176 |