Behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia
Swim-with-whale tourism is a lucrative and rapidly growing industry worldwide. Whale-watching can cause negative effects on the behaviour of targeted animals. Although this is believed to be particularly true for close-up interactions, such as swim-with operations, few empirical studies have investi...
Published in: | Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology |
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Language: | English |
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2020
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Online Access: | https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/8b16276f-d504-4516-857d-1583c41588b3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151254 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074663770&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ftuniaarhuspubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/8b16276f-d504-4516-857d-1583c41588b3 2024-05-19T07:41:46+00:00 Behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia Sprogis, Kate Rose-Ann Bejder, Lars Hauf , Daniella Christiansen, Fredrik Oscar 2020-01 https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/8b16276f-d504-4516-857d-1583c41588b3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151254 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074663770&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/8b16276f-d504-4516-857d-1583c41588b3 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Sprogis , K R-A , Bejder , L , Hauf , D & Christiansen , F O 2020 , ' Behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia ' , Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology , vol. 522 , 151254 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151254 Anthropogenic impacts Behavioural effects In-water interaction Megaptera novaeangliae Movement patterns Whale-watching article 2020 ftuniaarhuspubl https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151254 2024-05-01T23:46:33Z Swim-with-whale tourism is a lucrative and rapidly growing industry worldwide. Whale-watching can cause negative effects on the behaviour of targeted animals. Although this is believed to be particularly true for close-up interactions, such as swim-with operations, few empirical studies have investigated this. In 2016, the Western Australian State Government commenced a swim-with humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) trial in the Ningaloo Marine Park, where 11 commercial licences were granted. The swim-with trial was conducted during both the northern and southern whale migration (August to November), during which we assessed potential short-term behavioural effects on humpback whales to swim-with activities. From both an independent research vessel (n = 300 h) and on-board commercial swim-with vessels (n = 357 h), we collected group-follow data (n = 224) on whale behaviour before, during and after swim-with activities. Behavioural effects on whales were investigated, including movement patterns (deviation and directness index, heading, swim speed), surfacing patterns (dive duration and respiration rate) and occurrence of agonistic behaviours. Results showed that the most common type of vessel approach to place swimmers in the water was in the path of whales (89.8% of interactions). During in-path approaches, vessels travelled significantly faster (P =.002) compared to when approaching from the side (side/line abreast approaches). When vessels approached in the whales' path, whales exhibited horizontal and vertical avoidance strategies by adopting a less predictable path (deviating from 32° to 46°), increasing turning angles away from the vessel (heading from 73° to >90°), increasing swim speeds (from 1.68 to 1.89 ms −1 ), and decreasing the duration of their dives (from 224 to 194 s). Whales displayed a higher frequency of agonistic behaviours when a swim-with vessel was <100 m distance from them compared to >100 m away (P =.011). Young-of-year calves were present during 19.6% (18 of 92) of ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Aarhus University: Research Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 522 151254 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Aarhus University: Research |
op_collection_id |
ftuniaarhuspubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Anthropogenic impacts Behavioural effects In-water interaction Megaptera novaeangliae Movement patterns Whale-watching |
spellingShingle |
Anthropogenic impacts Behavioural effects In-water interaction Megaptera novaeangliae Movement patterns Whale-watching Sprogis, Kate Rose-Ann Bejder, Lars Hauf , Daniella Christiansen, Fredrik Oscar Behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia |
topic_facet |
Anthropogenic impacts Behavioural effects In-water interaction Megaptera novaeangliae Movement patterns Whale-watching |
description |
Swim-with-whale tourism is a lucrative and rapidly growing industry worldwide. Whale-watching can cause negative effects on the behaviour of targeted animals. Although this is believed to be particularly true for close-up interactions, such as swim-with operations, few empirical studies have investigated this. In 2016, the Western Australian State Government commenced a swim-with humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) trial in the Ningaloo Marine Park, where 11 commercial licences were granted. The swim-with trial was conducted during both the northern and southern whale migration (August to November), during which we assessed potential short-term behavioural effects on humpback whales to swim-with activities. From both an independent research vessel (n = 300 h) and on-board commercial swim-with vessels (n = 357 h), we collected group-follow data (n = 224) on whale behaviour before, during and after swim-with activities. Behavioural effects on whales were investigated, including movement patterns (deviation and directness index, heading, swim speed), surfacing patterns (dive duration and respiration rate) and occurrence of agonistic behaviours. Results showed that the most common type of vessel approach to place swimmers in the water was in the path of whales (89.8% of interactions). During in-path approaches, vessels travelled significantly faster (P =.002) compared to when approaching from the side (side/line abreast approaches). When vessels approached in the whales' path, whales exhibited horizontal and vertical avoidance strategies by adopting a less predictable path (deviating from 32° to 46°), increasing turning angles away from the vessel (heading from 73° to >90°), increasing swim speeds (from 1.68 to 1.89 ms −1 ), and decreasing the duration of their dives (from 224 to 194 s). Whales displayed a higher frequency of agonistic behaviours when a swim-with vessel was <100 m distance from them compared to >100 m away (P =.011). Young-of-year calves were present during 19.6% (18 of 92) of ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sprogis, Kate Rose-Ann Bejder, Lars Hauf , Daniella Christiansen, Fredrik Oscar |
author_facet |
Sprogis, Kate Rose-Ann Bejder, Lars Hauf , Daniella Christiansen, Fredrik Oscar |
author_sort |
Sprogis, Kate Rose-Ann |
title |
Behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia |
title_short |
Behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia |
title_full |
Behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia |
title_fullStr |
Behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia |
title_sort |
behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the ningaloo marine park, western australia |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/8b16276f-d504-4516-857d-1583c41588b3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151254 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074663770&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Sprogis , K R-A , Bejder , L , Hauf , D & Christiansen , F O 2020 , ' Behavioural responses of migrating humpback whales to swim-with-whale activities in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia ' , Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology , vol. 522 , 151254 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151254 |
op_relation |
https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/8b16276f-d504-4516-857d-1583c41588b3 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151254 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology |
container_volume |
522 |
container_start_page |
151254 |
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1799481380974886912 |