Fin Whales in the Mediterranean Sea: Habitat Identification and Oceanographic Characterization

This project identified the seasonal distribution and movements of fin whales in the Mediterranean Sea with satellite-monitored radio tags in relation to environmental parameters: sea surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration, current movement, primary production and prey abundance in collabora...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mate, Bruce R.
Other Authors: OREGON STATE UNIV CORVALLIS
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Biology
Ecology
Physical and Dynamic Oceanography
*MEDITERRANEAN SEA
*HABITATS
*WHALES
MODELS
DISTRIBUTION
PARAMETERS
TRACKING
IDENTIFICATION
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
BEHAVIOR
SURFACE TEMPERATURE
UNDERWATER
ANTARCTIC REGIONS
OCEANOGRAPHY
TELEMETER SYSTEMS
SATELLITE TRACKING SYSTEMS
OCEAN SURFACE
MEXICO GULF
ENVIRONMENTS
PRODUCTION
*FIN WHALES
SPERM WHALES
BLUE WHALES
HUMPBACK WHALES
TAGGING
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Fin whale
Sperm whale
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA501106
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA501106
Description
Summary:This project identified the seasonal distribution and movements of fin whales in the Mediterranean Sea with satellite-monitored radio tags in relation to environmental parameters: sea surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration, current movement, primary production and prey abundance in collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Christophe Guinet. By comparing these movements with the environmental parameters, a better understanding of fin whale ecology will be possible. The telemetry information will enable collaborators to study the coherence between the whales' movements, the observed oceanographic conditions and the simulated prey abundance/distribution model. The tracking data will also help determine the model's ability to accurately predict changes in fin whale distribution within the Mediterranean Sea during other seasons. Subsequent additional funding from MMS and the Joint Industry Program (JIP) allowed development and testing of a recoverable tag with GPS quality locations and highly detailed TDR records to evaluate underwater behavior of sperm whales. During this grant period ONR also supplied Argos support funds for sperm whale studies in the Gulf of Mexico (MMS SWSS project), as well as blue whales and humpbacks in the Antarctic and Mexico (TOPP) (Lagerquist et al, 2008). The original document contains color images. All DTIC reproductions will be in black and white.

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