The First Attempt of Satellite Tracking on Occurrence and Migration of Bryde’s Whale ( Balaenoptera edeni ) in the Beibu Gulf

Satellite-tagging is increasingly becoming a powerful biotelemetry approach to obtain remote measurement through tracking free-living cetaceans, which can fill knowledge gaps on cetaceans and facilitate conservation management. Here, we made a first biologging attempt on baleen whales in Chinese wat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Main Authors: Mingming Liu, Wenzhi Lin, Mingli Lin, Binshuai Liu, Lijun Dong, Peijun Zhang, Zixin Yang, Kexiong Wang, Liang Dai, Songhai Li
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021
Subjects:
biotelemetry
biologging
satellite tag
movement
migratory behavior
conservation management
Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering
VM1-989
Oceanography
GC1-1581
baleen whales
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9080796
https://doaj.org/article/f2ff52d170184a2ba5a3d91a9d8684cc
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Summary:Satellite-tagging is increasingly becoming a powerful biotelemetry approach to obtain remote measurement through tracking free-living cetaceans, which can fill knowledge gaps on cetaceans and facilitate conservation management. Here, we made a first biologging attempt on baleen whales in Chinese waters. An adult Bryde’s whale in the Beibu Gulf was tagged to investigate potential occurrence areas and migration routes of this poorly studied species. The whale was satellite-tracked for ~6 days with 71 filtered Argos satellite locations, resulting in a linear movement distance of 464 km. At each satellite-tracking location, the water depth was measured as 42.1 ± 24.8 m on average. During the satellite-tracking period, the whale’s moving speed was estimated at 5.33 ± 4.01 km/h. These findings expanded the known distribution areas of Bryde’s whales in the Beibu Gulf and provided an important scientific basis for the regional protection of this species. We suggest that fine-scale movements, habitat use, and migratory behavior of Bryde’s whales in the Beibu Gulf need more biotelemetry research, using long-term satellite-tracking tags and involving enough individuals. Furthermore, the genetic relationship and possible connectivity of Bryde’s whales in the Beibu Gulf and adjacent waters should be examined.

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