Fine-scale Survey of Right and Humpback Whale Prey Abundance and Distribution

• Main Author: Warren, Joseph D.
• Other Authors: STATE UNIV OF NEW YORK AT STONY BROOK SOUTHAMPTON SCHOOL OF MARINE AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Biological Oceanography; Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; *WHALES; *PLANKTON; BACKSCATTERING; SAMPLING; ACOUSTIC SIGNALS; HYDROGRAPHY; FEEDING; VIDEO RECORDING; NETS; OBSERVATION; SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION; BEHAVIOR; PREY; RIGHT WHALES; HUMPBACK WHALES; ABUNDANCE; NET TOW SAMPLING; Humpback Whale
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA542456; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA542456

The long-term goals of this project are to describe the distribution and abundance of zooplankton prey over small spatial and temporal scales and to use this data to provide information which will be of use to scientists studying whale behavior. We are working closely with scientists studying the behavior and movement of both right and humpback whales and the combination of the two data sets will provide us information into how the behavior of marine mammals is affected by their prey. This project will measure the abundance and distribution of the major prey species (zooplankton and nekton) of humpback and right whales as well as the spatial and temporal scales (relevant to foraging and feeding marine mammals) that the prey field varies over. Without this information, behavioral studies of marine mammals and their responses to various stimuli may be limited in their conclusions as food presence and availability is likely an extremely strong factor in determining marine mammal behavior.