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

• 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

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.