Humpback Whale Movements and Behavior in Response to Whale-Watching Vessels in Juneau, AK
The whale-watching industry in Juneau, Alaska relies primarily on the presence of North Pacific humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). To meet demands from the rapidly growing tourism industry, the number of whale-watching vessels in this region has tripled over the last 18 years. As a result, in...
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ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/11665 2023-05-15T16:35:48+02:00 Humpback Whale Movements and Behavior in Response to Whale-Watching Vessels in Juneau, AK Schuler, Alicia, R. Piwetz, Sarah Clemente, Jacopo Di Steckler, David Mueter, Franz Pearson, Heidi C. 2019-11-20 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/11665 en_US eng Schuler, A. R., Piwetz, S., Di Clemente, J., Steckler, D., Mueter, F., & Pearson, H. C. (2019). Humpback whale movements and behavior in response to whale-watching vessels in Juneau, AK. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, 710. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00710 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/11665 Frontiers in Marine Science Frontiers in Marine Science whale watching Juneau AK North Pacific humpback whales tourism industry behavioral disturbance whale-watching vessels vessel presence whale movement behavior patterns Article 2019 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:37:44Z The whale-watching industry in Juneau, Alaska relies primarily on the presence of North Pacific humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). To meet demands from the rapidly growing tourism industry, the number of whale-watching vessels in this region has tripled over the last 18 years. As a result, increased vessel presence could have negative effects on humpback whales, ranging from short-term behavioral disturbance to long-term impacts. The whale-watching industry in Juneau, Alaska relies primarily on the presence of North Pacific humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). To meet demands from the rapidly growing tourism industry, the number of whale-watching vessels in this region has tripled over the last 18 years. As a result, increased vessel presence could have negative effects on humpback whales, ranging from short-term behavioral disturbance to long-term impacts. The current humpback whale viewing regulations are outdated and may not be as effective as they were 18 years ago, when both the whale-watching industry and humpback whale population were smaller. The present study assessed how humpback whale movement and behavioral patterns were affected by (1) vessel presence and number of vessels present, and (2) time spent in the presence of vessels. The study also determined how humpback whale behavioral state transitions were affected by vessel presence. A total of 201 humpback whale focal follows were conducted during summer 2016 and 2017. Based on linear mixed effects models, whales in the presence (vs. absence) of vessels exhibited 38.9% higher deviation in linear movement (p = 0.001), 6.2% increase in swimming speed (p = 0.047) and a 6.7% decrease in inter-breath intervals (IBI) (p = 0.025). For each additional vessel present, deviation increased by 6.2% (p = 0.022) and IBI decreased by 3.4% (p = 0.001). As time spent in the presence of vessels increased, respiration rate increased (p = 0.011). Feeding and traveling humpback whales were likely to maintain their behavioral state regardless of vessel ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Pacific |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalaska |
language |
English |
topic |
whale watching Juneau AK North Pacific humpback whales tourism industry behavioral disturbance whale-watching vessels vessel presence whale movement behavior patterns |
spellingShingle |
whale watching Juneau AK North Pacific humpback whales tourism industry behavioral disturbance whale-watching vessels vessel presence whale movement behavior patterns Schuler, Alicia, R. Piwetz, Sarah Clemente, Jacopo Di Steckler, David Mueter, Franz Pearson, Heidi C. Humpback Whale Movements and Behavior in Response to Whale-Watching Vessels in Juneau, AK |
topic_facet |
whale watching Juneau AK North Pacific humpback whales tourism industry behavioral disturbance whale-watching vessels vessel presence whale movement behavior patterns |
description |
The whale-watching industry in Juneau, Alaska relies primarily on the presence of North Pacific humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). To meet demands from the rapidly growing tourism industry, the number of whale-watching vessels in this region has tripled over the last 18 years. As a result, increased vessel presence could have negative effects on humpback whales, ranging from short-term behavioral disturbance to long-term impacts. The whale-watching industry in Juneau, Alaska relies primarily on the presence of North Pacific humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). To meet demands from the rapidly growing tourism industry, the number of whale-watching vessels in this region has tripled over the last 18 years. As a result, increased vessel presence could have negative effects on humpback whales, ranging from short-term behavioral disturbance to long-term impacts. The current humpback whale viewing regulations are outdated and may not be as effective as they were 18 years ago, when both the whale-watching industry and humpback whale population were smaller. The present study assessed how humpback whale movement and behavioral patterns were affected by (1) vessel presence and number of vessels present, and (2) time spent in the presence of vessels. The study also determined how humpback whale behavioral state transitions were affected by vessel presence. A total of 201 humpback whale focal follows were conducted during summer 2016 and 2017. Based on linear mixed effects models, whales in the presence (vs. absence) of vessels exhibited 38.9% higher deviation in linear movement (p = 0.001), 6.2% increase in swimming speed (p = 0.047) and a 6.7% decrease in inter-breath intervals (IBI) (p = 0.025). For each additional vessel present, deviation increased by 6.2% (p = 0.022) and IBI decreased by 3.4% (p = 0.001). As time spent in the presence of vessels increased, respiration rate increased (p = 0.011). Feeding and traveling humpback whales were likely to maintain their behavioral state regardless of vessel ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schuler, Alicia, R. Piwetz, Sarah Clemente, Jacopo Di Steckler, David Mueter, Franz Pearson, Heidi C. |
author_facet |
Schuler, Alicia, R. Piwetz, Sarah Clemente, Jacopo Di Steckler, David Mueter, Franz Pearson, Heidi C. |
author_sort |
Schuler, Alicia, R. |
title |
Humpback Whale Movements and Behavior in Response to Whale-Watching Vessels in Juneau, AK |
title_short |
Humpback Whale Movements and Behavior in Response to Whale-Watching Vessels in Juneau, AK |
title_full |
Humpback Whale Movements and Behavior in Response to Whale-Watching Vessels in Juneau, AK |
title_fullStr |
Humpback Whale Movements and Behavior in Response to Whale-Watching Vessels in Juneau, AK |
title_full_unstemmed |
Humpback Whale Movements and Behavior in Response to Whale-Watching Vessels in Juneau, AK |
title_sort |
humpback whale movements and behavior in response to whale-watching vessels in juneau, ak |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/11665 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Alaska |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Alaska |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
op_relation |
Schuler, A. R., Piwetz, S., Di Clemente, J., Steckler, D., Mueter, F., & Pearson, H. C. (2019). Humpback whale movements and behavior in response to whale-watching vessels in Juneau, AK. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, 710. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00710 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/11665 Frontiers in Marine Science |
_version_ |
1766026107257094144 |