Prey Fields and Habitat of Deep Divers: 3D Characterization and Modeling of Beaked and Sperm Whale Foraging Areas in the Tongue of the Ocean

• Main Authors: Nowacek, Douglas P., St. Laurent, Louis, Moretti, David J., Halpin, Patrick N.
• Other Authors: DUKE UNIV DURHAM NC NICHOLAS SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT/ECOTOXICOLOGY LAB
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Biology; Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; *DEEP DIVING; *TONGUE OF THE OCEAN; *HABITATS; *WHALES; GEOGRAPHIC AREAS; DOLPHINS(MAMMALS); BIOMASS CONVERSION; CHLOROPHYLLS; PHYSICS; PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; MODELS; DIVERS; BEAKED WAHLES; SPERM WHALES; Sperm whale
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA531174; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA531174

The physical and biological characteristics of the areas inhabited by deep diving odontocetes are poorly understood. Our long term goals are: i) to measure and characterize the biomass in areas and at depths inhabited by beaked and sperm whales; ii) to measure and characterize the physics of these environments; iii) to assemble the characteristics measured (i) and (ii) into a depth integrated, 3-dimensional habitat model; the model will include other dependent and independent data, e.g., chlorophyll and depth, respectively. Our final long term goal is to then apply the habitat model produced to other geographic areas to assess their likelihood as beaked and sperm whale habitat.