Stomach contents of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in the North Sea 1990-1996
Stomach contents of 17 sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in Scotland and Denmark during 1990-96 were analysed. All were sub-adult or adult males and stranded between November and March. They had presumably entered the North Sea during their southward migration from feeding grounds in Arct...
Published in: | Marine Ecology Progress Series |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Inter Research
1999
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Online Access: | https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4464/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4464/1/1999%20Santos_etal_MEPS183.pdf https://doi.org/10.3354/meps183281 |
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ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:4464 2024-09-30T14:30:54+00:00 Stomach contents of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in the North Sea 1990-1996 Santos, M. B. Pierce, G. J. Boyle, P. R. Reid, R. J. Ross, H. M. Patterson, I. A. P. Kinze, C. C. Tougaard, S. Lick, R. Piatkowski, Uwe Hernandez-García, V. 1999 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4464/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4464/1/1999%20Santos_etal_MEPS183.pdf https://doi.org/10.3354/meps183281 en eng Inter Research https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4464/1/1999%20Santos_etal_MEPS183.pdf Santos, M. B., Pierce, G. J., Boyle, P. R., Reid, R. J., Ross, H. M., Patterson, I. A. P., Kinze, C. C., Tougaard, S., Lick, R., Piatkowski, U. and Hernandez-García, V. (1999) Stomach contents of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in the North Sea 1990-1996. Open Access Marine Ecology Progress Series, 183 . pp. 281-294. DOI 10.3354/meps183281 <https://doi.org/10.3354/meps183281>. doi:10.3354/meps183281 cc_by_3.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Article PeerReviewed 1999 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.3354/meps183281 2024-09-04T05:04:40Z Stomach contents of 17 sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in Scotland and Denmark during 1990-96 were analysed. All were sub-adult or adult males and stranded between November and March. They had presumably entered the North Sea during their southward migration from feeding grounds in Arctic waters. Other studies indicate that the majority of the whales were apparently healthy. The diet of these whales was found to consist almost entirely of cephalopods, principally squid of the genus Gonatus (hereafter 'Gonatus', but probably G. fabricii, an oceanic species characteristic of Arctic waters). The other prey species identified were also mostly oceanic cephalopods: the squids Histioteuthis bonnellii, Teuthowenia megalops and Todarodes sagittatus and the octopus Haliphron atlanticus. Although these results are consistent with other recent studies in the area based on single stranded whales, they differ from results of work on whales caught during commercial whaling operations in Icelandic waters (1960s to 1980s) in that little evidence of predation on fish was found in the present study. Remains of single individuals of the veined squid Loligo forbesi, the northern octopus Eledone cirrhosa and the saithe Pollachius virens provided the only possible evidence of feeding in the North Sea. We infer that sperm whales do not enter the North Sea to feed. The timing, and large and uniform sizes of the Gonatus species eaten (most had mantle lengths in the range 195 to 245 mm), as estimated from measurements of the lower beaks, and the seasonality of the strandings is consistent with the whales having fed on mature squid, possibly spawning concentrations--as has recently been reported for bottlenose whales. Assuming that the diet recorded in this study was representative of sperm whales during the feeding season, as much as 500000 t of Gonatus could be removed by sperm whales in Norwegian waters each year and up to 3 times that figure from the eastern North Atlantic as a whole. Evidence from other studies indicates ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Arctic Marine Ecology Progress Series 183 281 294 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
op_collection_id |
ftoceanrep |
language |
English |
description |
Stomach contents of 17 sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in Scotland and Denmark during 1990-96 were analysed. All were sub-adult or adult males and stranded between November and March. They had presumably entered the North Sea during their southward migration from feeding grounds in Arctic waters. Other studies indicate that the majority of the whales were apparently healthy. The diet of these whales was found to consist almost entirely of cephalopods, principally squid of the genus Gonatus (hereafter 'Gonatus', but probably G. fabricii, an oceanic species characteristic of Arctic waters). The other prey species identified were also mostly oceanic cephalopods: the squids Histioteuthis bonnellii, Teuthowenia megalops and Todarodes sagittatus and the octopus Haliphron atlanticus. Although these results are consistent with other recent studies in the area based on single stranded whales, they differ from results of work on whales caught during commercial whaling operations in Icelandic waters (1960s to 1980s) in that little evidence of predation on fish was found in the present study. Remains of single individuals of the veined squid Loligo forbesi, the northern octopus Eledone cirrhosa and the saithe Pollachius virens provided the only possible evidence of feeding in the North Sea. We infer that sperm whales do not enter the North Sea to feed. The timing, and large and uniform sizes of the Gonatus species eaten (most had mantle lengths in the range 195 to 245 mm), as estimated from measurements of the lower beaks, and the seasonality of the strandings is consistent with the whales having fed on mature squid, possibly spawning concentrations--as has recently been reported for bottlenose whales. Assuming that the diet recorded in this study was representative of sperm whales during the feeding season, as much as 500000 t of Gonatus could be removed by sperm whales in Norwegian waters each year and up to 3 times that figure from the eastern North Atlantic as a whole. Evidence from other studies indicates ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Santos, M. B. Pierce, G. J. Boyle, P. R. Reid, R. J. Ross, H. M. Patterson, I. A. P. Kinze, C. C. Tougaard, S. Lick, R. Piatkowski, Uwe Hernandez-García, V. |
spellingShingle |
Santos, M. B. Pierce, G. J. Boyle, P. R. Reid, R. J. Ross, H. M. Patterson, I. A. P. Kinze, C. C. Tougaard, S. Lick, R. Piatkowski, Uwe Hernandez-García, V. Stomach contents of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in the North Sea 1990-1996 |
author_facet |
Santos, M. B. Pierce, G. J. Boyle, P. R. Reid, R. J. Ross, H. M. Patterson, I. A. P. Kinze, C. C. Tougaard, S. Lick, R. Piatkowski, Uwe Hernandez-García, V. |
author_sort |
Santos, M. B. |
title |
Stomach contents of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in the North Sea 1990-1996 |
title_short |
Stomach contents of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in the North Sea 1990-1996 |
title_full |
Stomach contents of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in the North Sea 1990-1996 |
title_fullStr |
Stomach contents of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in the North Sea 1990-1996 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stomach contents of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in the North Sea 1990-1996 |
title_sort |
stomach contents of sperm whales physeter macrocephalus stranded in the north sea 1990-1996 |
publisher |
Inter Research |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4464/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4464/1/1999%20Santos_etal_MEPS183.pdf https://doi.org/10.3354/meps183281 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus |
genre_facet |
Arctic North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4464/1/1999%20Santos_etal_MEPS183.pdf Santos, M. B., Pierce, G. J., Boyle, P. R., Reid, R. J., Ross, H. M., Patterson, I. A. P., Kinze, C. C., Tougaard, S., Lick, R., Piatkowski, U. and Hernandez-García, V. (1999) Stomach contents of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus stranded in the North Sea 1990-1996. Open Access Marine Ecology Progress Series, 183 . pp. 281-294. DOI 10.3354/meps183281 <https://doi.org/10.3354/meps183281>. doi:10.3354/meps183281 |
op_rights |
cc_by_3.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps183281 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
container_volume |
183 |
container_start_page |
281 |
op_container_end_page |
294 |
_version_ |
1811635644034711552 |