Autumn movements of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) from Svalbard, Norway, revealed by satellite tracking

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Lydersen, Christian, Vacquié-Garcia, Jade, Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter, Øien, Nils, Guinet, Christophe, Kovacs, Kit, M
• Other Authors: Norwegian Polar Institute, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR), Institute of Marine Research Bergen (IMR), University of Bergen (UiB), This study was financed by the Norwegian Polar Institute and the Research Council of Norway (ICE-whales program, No. 244488).
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: Animal migration; Ecology; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Norway; Svalbard; Balaenoptera physalus
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02970927; https://hal.science/hal-02970927/document; https://hal.science/hal-02970927/file/s41598-020-73996-z.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73996-z

International audience Insight into animal movements is essential for understanding habitat use by individuals as well as population processes and species life-history strategies. In this study, we instrumented 25 fin whales with ARGOS satellite-transmitters in Svalbard, Norway, to study their movement patterns and behaviour (Area Restricted Search (ARS), transiting or unknown) during boreal autumn/early winter. Ten of the whales stayed in the tagging area (most northerly location: 81.68°N) for their entire tracking periods (max 45 days). The other 15 whales moved in a south-westerly direction; the longest track ended off the coast of northern Africa (> 5000 km from the tagging location) after 96 days. The whales engaged in ARS behaviour intermittently throughout their southward migrations. During transit phases the whales moved quickly; one individual maintained an average horizontal speed of 9.3 km/h (travelling 223 km per day) for a period of a week. This study documents that: (1) some fin whales might remain at high latitudes during winter; (2) the whales that do migrate probably feed along the way; (3) they can maintain high transiting speed for long periods and; (4) one breeding area for this species is likely located in deep, warm water some 100 km west of Morocco.