What’s at Play: Humpback Whale Interaction with Seaweed Is a Global Phenomenon
The use of objects by cetaceans is well known, and their ability to interact with their environment in complex behaviours has been demonstrated previously. However, baleen whales, including humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), are less often observed to perform object use, but this behaviour mi...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10072/426568 https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11091802 |
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ftgriffithuniv:oai:research-repository.griffith.edu.au:10072/426568 2023-12-10T09:47:06+01:00 What’s at Play: Humpback Whale Interaction with Seaweed Is a Global Phenomenon Meynecke, JO Kela, H 2023 http://hdl.handle.net/10072/426568 https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11091802 en eng MDPI AG Journal of Marine Science and Engineering Meynecke, JO; Kela, H, What’s at Play: Humpback Whale Interaction with Seaweed Is a Global Phenomenon, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 2023, 11 (9), pp. 1802 http://hdl.handle.net/10072/426568 2077-1312 doi:10.3390/jmse11091802 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). open access Biological oceanography Fisheries sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Maritime engineering Journal article 2023 ftgriffithuniv https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11091802 2023-11-13T23:30:13Z The use of objects by cetaceans is well known, and their ability to interact with their environment in complex behaviours has been demonstrated previously. However, baleen whales, including humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), are less often observed to perform object use, but this behaviour might be more common than previously thought. Only a few isolated observations of interactions with seaweed have been reported in the scientific literature to date. The recovery of humpback whale populations, as well as the rise of technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the use of social media, allow for a new assessment of this object interaction. Here, we describe in detail three instances of “kelping” on the east coast of Australia derived from aerial observations. A summary of over 100 separate and unrelated events drawn from social media, documented by photographs and videos, suggests that this form of interaction with seaweed is observed across different populations. The form of interaction with seaweed is similar between regions, predominantly displayed between the rostrum and dorsal fin. This behaviour may be playful but could also serve additional benefits in the context of learning and socializing, as well as ectoparasite removal and skin treatment by utilizing brown algae’s antibacterial properties. Establishing this type of behaviour as distributed across different populations is important to better understand the species’ habitat preferences. Full Text Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whales Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Griffith University: Griffith Research Online Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 11 9 1802 |
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Open Polar |
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Griffith University: Griffith Research Online |
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ftgriffithuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Biological oceanography Fisheries sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Maritime engineering |
spellingShingle |
Biological oceanography Fisheries sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Maritime engineering Meynecke, JO Kela, H What’s at Play: Humpback Whale Interaction with Seaweed Is a Global Phenomenon |
topic_facet |
Biological oceanography Fisheries sciences Physical geography and environmental geoscience Maritime engineering |
description |
The use of objects by cetaceans is well known, and their ability to interact with their environment in complex behaviours has been demonstrated previously. However, baleen whales, including humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), are less often observed to perform object use, but this behaviour might be more common than previously thought. Only a few isolated observations of interactions with seaweed have been reported in the scientific literature to date. The recovery of humpback whale populations, as well as the rise of technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the use of social media, allow for a new assessment of this object interaction. Here, we describe in detail three instances of “kelping” on the east coast of Australia derived from aerial observations. A summary of over 100 separate and unrelated events drawn from social media, documented by photographs and videos, suggests that this form of interaction with seaweed is observed across different populations. The form of interaction with seaweed is similar between regions, predominantly displayed between the rostrum and dorsal fin. This behaviour may be playful but could also serve additional benefits in the context of learning and socializing, as well as ectoparasite removal and skin treatment by utilizing brown algae’s antibacterial properties. Establishing this type of behaviour as distributed across different populations is important to better understand the species’ habitat preferences. Full Text |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Meynecke, JO Kela, H |
author_facet |
Meynecke, JO Kela, H |
author_sort |
Meynecke, JO |
title |
What’s at Play: Humpback Whale Interaction with Seaweed Is a Global Phenomenon |
title_short |
What’s at Play: Humpback Whale Interaction with Seaweed Is a Global Phenomenon |
title_full |
What’s at Play: Humpback Whale Interaction with Seaweed Is a Global Phenomenon |
title_fullStr |
What’s at Play: Humpback Whale Interaction with Seaweed Is a Global Phenomenon |
title_full_unstemmed |
What’s at Play: Humpback Whale Interaction with Seaweed Is a Global Phenomenon |
title_sort |
what’s at play: humpback whale interaction with seaweed is a global phenomenon |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10072/426568 https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11091802 |
genre |
baleen whales Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
baleen whales Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_relation |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering Meynecke, JO; Kela, H, What’s at Play: Humpback Whale Interaction with Seaweed Is a Global Phenomenon, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 2023, 11 (9), pp. 1802 http://hdl.handle.net/10072/426568 2077-1312 doi:10.3390/jmse11091802 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). open access |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11091802 |
container_title |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
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11 |
container_issue |
9 |
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1802 |
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1784890678701981696 |