Straight as an arrow: humpback whales swim constant course tracks during long-distance migration

Humpback whale seasonal migrations, spanning greater than 6500 km of open ocean, demonstrate remarkable navigational precision despite following spatially and temporally distinct migration routes. Satellite-monitored radio tag-derived humpback whale migration tracks in both the South Atlantic and So...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology Letters
Main Authors: Horton, Travis W., Holdaway, Richard N., Zerbini, Alexandre N., Hauser, Nan, Garrigue, Claire, Andriolo, Artur, Clapham, Phillip J.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2011
Subjects:
Animal Behaviour
Pacific
Humpback Whale
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3169072
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21508023
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.0279
Description
Summary:Humpback whale seasonal migrations, spanning greater than 6500 km of open ocean, demonstrate remarkable navigational precision despite following spatially and temporally distinct migration routes. Satellite-monitored radio tag-derived humpback whale migration tracks in both the South Atlantic and South Pacific include constant course segments of greater than 200 km, each spanning several days of continuous movement. The whales studied here maintain these directed movements, often with better than 1° precision, despite the effects of variable sea-surface currents. Such remarkable directional precision is difficult to explain by established models of directional orientation, suggesting that alternative compass mechanisms should be explored.

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