Analysis of historical and recent diet and strandings of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the North Sea

The increasing frequency of sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) strandings during the winter in the North Sea has resulted in many theories about why this phenomenon occurs. Using a newly updated catalogue of North Sea sperm whale strandings, the possible roles of environmental drivers, which might...

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Main Authors: Pierce, G.J. (Graham John), Ward, N., Brownlow, A. (Andrew), Santos, M.B. (María Begoña)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10508/15600
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record_format openpolar
spelling ftieo:oai:repositorio.ieo.es:10508/15600 2023-06-11T04:13:13+02:00 Analysis of historical and recent diet and strandings of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the North Sea Pierce, G.J. (Graham John) Ward, N. Brownlow, A. (Andrew) Santos, M.B. (María Begoña) 2018 http://hdl.handle.net/10508/15600 eng eng Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo http://hdl.handle.net/10508/15600 sperm whale Boreoatlantic armhook squid stranding sea surface temperature land surface temperature diet stomach contents analysis research article 2018 ftieo 2023-05-02T23:49:37Z The increasing frequency of sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) strandings during the winter in the North Sea has resulted in many theories about why this phenomenon occurs. Using a newly updated catalogue of North Sea sperm whale strandings, the possible roles of environmental drivers, which might affect the entry of migrating sperm whales into the North Sea and/or their stranding, were investigated using generalised additive mixed models. Little or no evidence was found of effects of sunspot activity, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index or sea surface pressure around Iceland (a component of the NAO) on the occurrence of strandings. Several sea and land surface temperature indices were positively correlated with the occurrence of strandings. There is evidence of changing relationships between strandings and environmental variables during the last three decades and, given the absence of an obvious mechanism by which the temperature-strandings link might operate, it is important to recognise that several different processes may contribute to the strandings, including the recovery of the sperm whale population following the cessation of commercial whaling in the late 20th century. In addition, and since temperature could also be affecting the whales´ prey and changes in prey distribution could explain whale stranding patterns, this paper updates previous studies of diet, confirming the continued dominance of the Boreoatlantic armhook squid Gonatus fabricii in stomach contents of sperm whales stranded on North Sea coasts, although remains of small numbers of North Sea species were also found, suggesting some feeding within the North Sea Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale Instituto Español de Oceanografía: e-IEO
institution Open Polar
collection Instituto Español de Oceanografía: e-IEO
op_collection_id ftieo
language English
topic sperm whale
Boreoatlantic armhook squid
stranding
sea surface temperature
land surface temperature
diet
stomach contents analysis
spellingShingle sperm whale
Boreoatlantic armhook squid
stranding
sea surface temperature
land surface temperature
diet
stomach contents analysis
Pierce, G.J. (Graham John)
Ward, N.
Brownlow, A. (Andrew)
Santos, M.B. (María Begoña)
Analysis of historical and recent diet and strandings of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the North Sea
topic_facet sperm whale
Boreoatlantic armhook squid
stranding
sea surface temperature
land surface temperature
diet
stomach contents analysis
description The increasing frequency of sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) strandings during the winter in the North Sea has resulted in many theories about why this phenomenon occurs. Using a newly updated catalogue of North Sea sperm whale strandings, the possible roles of environmental drivers, which might affect the entry of migrating sperm whales into the North Sea and/or their stranding, were investigated using generalised additive mixed models. Little or no evidence was found of effects of sunspot activity, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index or sea surface pressure around Iceland (a component of the NAO) on the occurrence of strandings. Several sea and land surface temperature indices were positively correlated with the occurrence of strandings. There is evidence of changing relationships between strandings and environmental variables during the last three decades and, given the absence of an obvious mechanism by which the temperature-strandings link might operate, it is important to recognise that several different processes may contribute to the strandings, including the recovery of the sperm whale population following the cessation of commercial whaling in the late 20th century. In addition, and since temperature could also be affecting the whales´ prey and changes in prey distribution could explain whale stranding patterns, this paper updates previous studies of diet, confirming the continued dominance of the Boreoatlantic armhook squid Gonatus fabricii in stomach contents of sperm whales stranded on North Sea coasts, although remains of small numbers of North Sea species were also found, suggesting some feeding within the North Sea
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Pierce, G.J. (Graham John)
Ward, N.
Brownlow, A. (Andrew)
Santos, M.B. (María Begoña)
author_facet Pierce, G.J. (Graham John)
Ward, N.
Brownlow, A. (Andrew)
Santos, M.B. (María Begoña)
author_sort Pierce, G.J. (Graham John)
title Analysis of historical and recent diet and strandings of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the North Sea
title_short Analysis of historical and recent diet and strandings of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the North Sea
title_full Analysis of historical and recent diet and strandings of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the North Sea
title_fullStr Analysis of historical and recent diet and strandings of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the North Sea
title_full_unstemmed Analysis of historical and recent diet and strandings of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the North Sea
title_sort analysis of historical and recent diet and strandings of sperm whales, physeter macrocephalus, in the north sea
publisher Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo
publishDate 2018
url http://hdl.handle.net/10508/15600
genre Iceland
North Atlantic
North Atlantic oscillation
Physeter macrocephalus
Sperm whale
genre_facet Iceland
North Atlantic
North Atlantic oscillation
Physeter macrocephalus
Sperm whale
op_relation http://hdl.handle.net/10508/15600
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