Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change
The ecological impact of environmental changes at high latitudes (e.g., increasing temperature, and decreased sea ice cover) on low-trophic species, such as bowhead whales, are poorly understood. Key to understanding the vulnerability of zooplanktivorous predators to climatic shifts in prey is knowi...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.853525 https://doaj.org/article/ef18860a6f554ebca3f29e22a9785620 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ef18860a6f554ebca3f29e22a9785620 2023-05-15T15:17:55+02:00 Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change Sarah M. E. Fortune Andrew W. Trites Valerie LeMay Mark F. Baumgartner Steven H. Ferguson 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.853525 https://doaj.org/article/ef18860a6f554ebca3f29e22a9785620 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.853525/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.853525 https://doaj.org/article/ef18860a6f554ebca3f29e22a9785620 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2023) state-space modelling satellite-telemetry time-depth recorder (TDR) Arctic behavioural flexibility zooplankton Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.853525 2023-01-29T01:30:51Z The ecological impact of environmental changes at high latitudes (e.g., increasing temperature, and decreased sea ice cover) on low-trophic species, such as bowhead whales, are poorly understood. Key to understanding the vulnerability of zooplanktivorous predators to climatic shifts in prey is knowing whether they can make behavioural or distributional adjustments to maintain sufficient prey acquisition rates. However, little is known about how foraging behaviour and associated environmental conditions fluctuate over space and time. We collected long-term movement (average satellite transmission days were 397 (± 204 SD) in 2012 and 484 (± 245 SD) in 2013) and dive behaviour data for 25 bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) equipped with time-depth telemetry tags, and used hierarchical switching-state-space models to quantify their movements and behaviours (resident and transit). We examined trends in inferred two-dimensional foraging behaviours based on dive shape of Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whales in relation to season and sea ice, as well as animal sex and age via size. We found no differences with regards to whale sex and size, but we did find evidence that subsurface foraging occurs year-round, with peak foraging occurring in fall (7.3 hrs d-1 ± 5.70 SD; October) and reduced feeding during spring (2.7 hrs d-1 ± 2.55 SD; May). Although sea ice cover is lowest during summer foraging, whales selected areas with 65% (± 36.1 SD) sea ice cover. During winter, bowheads occurred in areas with 90% (± 15.5 SD) ice cover, providing some open water for breathing. The depth of probable foraging varied across seasons with animals conducting epipelagic foraging dives (< 200 m) during spring and summer, and deeper mesopelagic dives (> 400 m) during fall and winter that approached the sea bottom, following the seasonal vertical migration of lipid-rich zooplankton. Our findings suggest that, compared to related species (e.g., right whales), bowheads forage at relatively low rates and over a large geographic ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Balaena mysticetus Climate change Greenland Sea ice Zooplankton Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Canada Greenland Frontiers in Marine Science 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
state-space modelling satellite-telemetry time-depth recorder (TDR) Arctic behavioural flexibility zooplankton Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
state-space modelling satellite-telemetry time-depth recorder (TDR) Arctic behavioural flexibility zooplankton Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Sarah M. E. Fortune Andrew W. Trites Valerie LeMay Mark F. Baumgartner Steven H. Ferguson Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change |
topic_facet |
state-space modelling satellite-telemetry time-depth recorder (TDR) Arctic behavioural flexibility zooplankton Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
The ecological impact of environmental changes at high latitudes (e.g., increasing temperature, and decreased sea ice cover) on low-trophic species, such as bowhead whales, are poorly understood. Key to understanding the vulnerability of zooplanktivorous predators to climatic shifts in prey is knowing whether they can make behavioural or distributional adjustments to maintain sufficient prey acquisition rates. However, little is known about how foraging behaviour and associated environmental conditions fluctuate over space and time. We collected long-term movement (average satellite transmission days were 397 (± 204 SD) in 2012 and 484 (± 245 SD) in 2013) and dive behaviour data for 25 bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) equipped with time-depth telemetry tags, and used hierarchical switching-state-space models to quantify their movements and behaviours (resident and transit). We examined trends in inferred two-dimensional foraging behaviours based on dive shape of Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whales in relation to season and sea ice, as well as animal sex and age via size. We found no differences with regards to whale sex and size, but we did find evidence that subsurface foraging occurs year-round, with peak foraging occurring in fall (7.3 hrs d-1 ± 5.70 SD; October) and reduced feeding during spring (2.7 hrs d-1 ± 2.55 SD; May). Although sea ice cover is lowest during summer foraging, whales selected areas with 65% (± 36.1 SD) sea ice cover. During winter, bowheads occurred in areas with 90% (± 15.5 SD) ice cover, providing some open water for breathing. The depth of probable foraging varied across seasons with animals conducting epipelagic foraging dives (< 200 m) during spring and summer, and deeper mesopelagic dives (> 400 m) during fall and winter that approached the sea bottom, following the seasonal vertical migration of lipid-rich zooplankton. Our findings suggest that, compared to related species (e.g., right whales), bowheads forage at relatively low rates and over a large geographic ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sarah M. E. Fortune Andrew W. Trites Valerie LeMay Mark F. Baumgartner Steven H. Ferguson |
author_facet |
Sarah M. E. Fortune Andrew W. Trites Valerie LeMay Mark F. Baumgartner Steven H. Ferguson |
author_sort |
Sarah M. E. Fortune |
title |
Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change |
title_short |
Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change |
title_full |
Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change |
title_fullStr |
Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change |
title_sort |
year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.853525 https://doaj.org/article/ef18860a6f554ebca3f29e22a9785620 |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Balaena mysticetus Climate change Greenland Sea ice Zooplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctic Balaena mysticetus Climate change Greenland Sea ice Zooplankton |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.853525/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.853525 https://doaj.org/article/ef18860a6f554ebca3f29e22a9785620 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.853525 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
9 |
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1766348161831403520 |