Energy Transfer to Upper Trophic Levels on a Small Offshore Bank

• Main Authors: Incze, Lewis S., Kraus, Scott, Fields, David
• Other Authors: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE PORTLAND
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Biological Oceanography; *FEEDING; *AQUATIC ANIMALS; *ENERGY TRANSFER; PLANKTON; MAINE GULF; BANKS(WATERWAYS); INTERNAL WAVES; *TROPHIC LEVELS; PLATTS BANK; EUPHAUSIIDS; baleen whales; Humpback Whale; Meganyctiphanes norvegica; Megaptera novaeangliae
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA531186; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA531186

We propose to combine field observations and laboratory experiments to understand the coupling of physical and biological processes that transfer energy from lower to higher trophic levels on a small offshore bank. We focus this study on Platts Bank, in the western Gulf of Maine, and on the the relationship between internal waves, patchiness of planktonic organisms (especially euphausiids, Meganyctiphanes norvegica), and feeding and residence times of upper trophic level predators (marine and avian, but especially baleen whales, and particularly the humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae). Observations from Platts Bank and other feeding hotspots in the Gulf of Maine show that high levels of feeding activity are ephemeral--sometimes very active, often not. Differences can exist between weeks and between years. Our goals are to understand the factors that drive the "on" and "off" patterns of feeding at features such as Platts Bank, and to gain insights into the foraging strategies and mechanisms employed by highly mobile predators to exploit ephemeral and scattered feeding locations.