A new blue whale song-type described for the Arabian Sea and Western Indian Ocean
Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus in the Indian Ocean (IO) are currently thought to represent 2 or 3 subspecies (B. m. intermedia, B. m. brevicauda, B. m. indica), and believed to be structured into 4 populations, each with a diagnostic song-type. Here we describe a previously unreported song-type t...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f45fe40e210840f7af81fc2a705efba5 2023-05-15T15:36:24+02:00 A new blue whale song-type described for the Arabian Sea and Western Indian Ocean Cerchio, S Willson, A Leroy, EC Muirhead, C Al Harthi, S Baldwin, R Cholewiak, D Collins, T Minton, G Rasoloarijao, T Rogers, TL Sarrouf Willson, M 2020-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01096 https://doaj.org/article/f45fe40e210840f7af81fc2a705efba5 EN eng Inter-Research https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v43/p495-515/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr01096 https://doaj.org/article/f45fe40e210840f7af81fc2a705efba5 Endangered Species Research, Vol 43, Pp 495-515 (2020) Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01096 2022-12-31T07:01:25Z Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus in the Indian Ocean (IO) are currently thought to represent 2 or 3 subspecies (B. m. intermedia, B. m. brevicauda, B. m. indica), and believed to be structured into 4 populations, each with a diagnostic song-type. Here we describe a previously unreported song-type that implies the probable existence of a population that has been undetected or conflated with another population. The novel song-type was recorded off Oman in the northern IO/Arabian Sea, off the western Chagos Archipelago in the equatorial central IO, and off Madagascar in the southwestern IO. As this is the only blue whale song that has been identified in the western Arabian Sea, we label it the ‘Northwest Indian Ocean’ song-type to distinguish it from other regional song-types. Spatiotemporal variation suggested a distribution west of 70°E, with potential affinity for the northern IO/Arabian Sea, and only minor presence in the southwestern IO. Timing of presence off Oman suggested that intensive illegal Soviet whaling that took 1294 blue whales in the 1960s likely targeted this population, as opposed to the more widely distributed ‘Sri Lanka’ acoustic population as previously assumed. Based upon geographic distribution and potential aseasonal reproduction found in the Soviet catch data, we suggest that if there is a northern IO subspecies (B. m. indica), it is likely this population. Moreover, the potentially restricted range, intensive historic whaling, and the fact that the song-type has been previously undetected, suggests a small population that is in critical need of status assessment and conservation action. Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Indian Endangered Species Research 43 495 515 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
spellingShingle |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 Cerchio, S Willson, A Leroy, EC Muirhead, C Al Harthi, S Baldwin, R Cholewiak, D Collins, T Minton, G Rasoloarijao, T Rogers, TL Sarrouf Willson, M A new blue whale song-type described for the Arabian Sea and Western Indian Ocean |
topic_facet |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
description |
Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus in the Indian Ocean (IO) are currently thought to represent 2 or 3 subspecies (B. m. intermedia, B. m. brevicauda, B. m. indica), and believed to be structured into 4 populations, each with a diagnostic song-type. Here we describe a previously unreported song-type that implies the probable existence of a population that has been undetected or conflated with another population. The novel song-type was recorded off Oman in the northern IO/Arabian Sea, off the western Chagos Archipelago in the equatorial central IO, and off Madagascar in the southwestern IO. As this is the only blue whale song that has been identified in the western Arabian Sea, we label it the ‘Northwest Indian Ocean’ song-type to distinguish it from other regional song-types. Spatiotemporal variation suggested a distribution west of 70°E, with potential affinity for the northern IO/Arabian Sea, and only minor presence in the southwestern IO. Timing of presence off Oman suggested that intensive illegal Soviet whaling that took 1294 blue whales in the 1960s likely targeted this population, as opposed to the more widely distributed ‘Sri Lanka’ acoustic population as previously assumed. Based upon geographic distribution and potential aseasonal reproduction found in the Soviet catch data, we suggest that if there is a northern IO subspecies (B. m. indica), it is likely this population. Moreover, the potentially restricted range, intensive historic whaling, and the fact that the song-type has been previously undetected, suggests a small population that is in critical need of status assessment and conservation action. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cerchio, S Willson, A Leroy, EC Muirhead, C Al Harthi, S Baldwin, R Cholewiak, D Collins, T Minton, G Rasoloarijao, T Rogers, TL Sarrouf Willson, M |
author_facet |
Cerchio, S Willson, A Leroy, EC Muirhead, C Al Harthi, S Baldwin, R Cholewiak, D Collins, T Minton, G Rasoloarijao, T Rogers, TL Sarrouf Willson, M |
author_sort |
Cerchio, S |
title |
A new blue whale song-type described for the Arabian Sea and Western Indian Ocean |
title_short |
A new blue whale song-type described for the Arabian Sea and Western Indian Ocean |
title_full |
A new blue whale song-type described for the Arabian Sea and Western Indian Ocean |
title_fullStr |
A new blue whale song-type described for the Arabian Sea and Western Indian Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
A new blue whale song-type described for the Arabian Sea and Western Indian Ocean |
title_sort |
new blue whale song-type described for the arabian sea and western indian ocean |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01096 https://doaj.org/article/f45fe40e210840f7af81fc2a705efba5 |
geographic |
Indian |
geographic_facet |
Indian |
genre |
Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale |
op_source |
Endangered Species Research, Vol 43, Pp 495-515 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v43/p495-515/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr01096 https://doaj.org/article/f45fe40e210840f7af81fc2a705efba5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01096 |
container_title |
Endangered Species Research |
container_volume |
43 |
container_start_page |
495 |
op_container_end_page |
515 |
_version_ |
1766366754971320320 |