Interpreting the Feeding Ecology of Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales through Biochemical Assessment
Southern hemisphere humpback whales are high-fidelity krill predators relying on high Antarctic krill biomass to survive and undergo successful reproduction. During the austral summer, humpback whales consume large quantities of krill and build up their blubber reserves. The rest of the year is spen...
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ftgriffithuniv:oai:research-repository.griffith.edu.au:10072/365650 2023-05-15T13:41:00+02:00 Interpreting the Feeding Ecology of Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales through Biochemical Assessment Eisenmann, Pascale Susan Bengtson Nash Brian Fry Stephen Nicol 2016 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365650 English eng Griffith University Humpback whales Antarctic krill Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem Griffith thesis 2016 ftgriffithuniv 2018-07-30T22:20:53Z Southern hemisphere humpback whales are high-fidelity krill predators relying on high Antarctic krill biomass to survive and undergo successful reproduction. During the austral summer, humpback whales consume large quantities of krill and build up their blubber reserves. The rest of the year is spent migrating to temperate waters and back while relying on accumulated energy reserves. This expected reliance on Antarctic krill underpins our understanding of Southern hemisphere humpback populations. Their Northern hemisphere counterparts are however known to be more flexible in their feeding habits, and recent work has shown that the Southern hemisphere populations are capable of a certain feeding plasticity, with multiple visual reports of supplementary feeding during the migration, and evidence of anomalous feeding observed in baleen plates. Due to the dependency of Antarctic krill on sea-ice duration and extent for its larval recruitment, the entire Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem is expected to destabilise in a changing climate. The resulting effects on high-fidelity krill predators, such as humpback whales, are unknown. Detailed, long-term information regarding current and past diet, migration and metabolism of humpback whales are needed to successfully assess possible trophodynamic variability, and to differentiate between the natural feeding plasticity of this species and population responses to climate driven environmental change. This thesis aims to evaluate whether Australian humpback whale populations display feeding plasticity in their prey choice and/ or feeding locations. Thesis (PhD Doctorate) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Griffith School of Environment Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology Full Text Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Humpback Whale Sea ice Griffith University: Griffith Research Online Antarctic Austral Griffith ENVELOPE(-155.500,-155.500,-85.883,-85.883) |
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Open Polar |
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Griffith University: Griffith Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftgriffithuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Humpback whales Antarctic krill Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem |
spellingShingle |
Humpback whales Antarctic krill Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem Eisenmann, Pascale Interpreting the Feeding Ecology of Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales through Biochemical Assessment |
topic_facet |
Humpback whales Antarctic krill Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem |
description |
Southern hemisphere humpback whales are high-fidelity krill predators relying on high Antarctic krill biomass to survive and undergo successful reproduction. During the austral summer, humpback whales consume large quantities of krill and build up their blubber reserves. The rest of the year is spent migrating to temperate waters and back while relying on accumulated energy reserves. This expected reliance on Antarctic krill underpins our understanding of Southern hemisphere humpback populations. Their Northern hemisphere counterparts are however known to be more flexible in their feeding habits, and recent work has shown that the Southern hemisphere populations are capable of a certain feeding plasticity, with multiple visual reports of supplementary feeding during the migration, and evidence of anomalous feeding observed in baleen plates. Due to the dependency of Antarctic krill on sea-ice duration and extent for its larval recruitment, the entire Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem is expected to destabilise in a changing climate. The resulting effects on high-fidelity krill predators, such as humpback whales, are unknown. Detailed, long-term information regarding current and past diet, migration and metabolism of humpback whales are needed to successfully assess possible trophodynamic variability, and to differentiate between the natural feeding plasticity of this species and population responses to climate driven environmental change. This thesis aims to evaluate whether Australian humpback whale populations display feeding plasticity in their prey choice and/ or feeding locations. Thesis (PhD Doctorate) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Griffith School of Environment Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology Full Text |
author2 |
Susan Bengtson Nash Brian Fry Stephen Nicol |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Eisenmann, Pascale |
author_facet |
Eisenmann, Pascale |
author_sort |
Eisenmann, Pascale |
title |
Interpreting the Feeding Ecology of Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales through Biochemical Assessment |
title_short |
Interpreting the Feeding Ecology of Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales through Biochemical Assessment |
title_full |
Interpreting the Feeding Ecology of Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales through Biochemical Assessment |
title_fullStr |
Interpreting the Feeding Ecology of Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales through Biochemical Assessment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Interpreting the Feeding Ecology of Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales through Biochemical Assessment |
title_sort |
interpreting the feeding ecology of southern hemisphere humpback whales through biochemical assessment |
publisher |
Griffith University |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365650 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-155.500,-155.500,-85.883,-85.883) |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral Griffith |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral Griffith |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Humpback Whale Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Humpback Whale Sea ice |
_version_ |
1766144244336033792 |