How does Covid-19 lockdown impact boating and Humpback whale singing activity?

The Wildlife Refuge of Caño Island in Costa Rica is an important breeding ground for southern Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The predictable occurrence of these whales has stimulated the growth of boat-based whale watching in this area. Male humpback whales sing complex songs to attract m...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Durant, Grace E
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: UVM ScholarWorks 2021
Subjects:
Humpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
Online Access:https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/src/2021/covid19/12
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spelling ftunivermont:oai:scholarworks.uvm.edu:src-1942 2023-07-02T03:32:32+02:00 How does Covid-19 lockdown impact boating and Humpback whale singing activity? Durant, Grace E 2021-06-23T17:09:53Z https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/src/2021/covid19/12 unknown UVM ScholarWorks https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/src/2021/covid19/12 UVM Student Research Conference text 2021 ftunivermont 2023-06-13T18:34:05Z The Wildlife Refuge of Caño Island in Costa Rica is an important breeding ground for southern Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The predictable occurrence of these whales has stimulated the growth of boat-based whale watching in this area. Male humpback whales sing complex songs to attract mates and compete with other males. Previous studies have found a potential negative relationship between boat occurrence and whale signing activity. However, such relationships are difficult to test without adequate controls. The Covid-19 lockdowns provide a rare opportunity to test this observation. We used autonomous underwater recorders to study boat and whale singing activity. We generated presence-absence data for whales and boats from September 2019 and 2020. We predict that boat presence will decrease and humpback whale song detections will increase during Covid-19 lockdowns. This provides a unique glimpse at the effects of boat activity on male humpback whales singing activity and can lead to policy that regulate more effectively tour-boats in their breeding area. Text Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae The University of Vermont: ScholarWorks @ UVM
institution Open Polar
collection The University of Vermont: ScholarWorks @ UVM
op_collection_id ftunivermont
language unknown
description The Wildlife Refuge of Caño Island in Costa Rica is an important breeding ground for southern Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The predictable occurrence of these whales has stimulated the growth of boat-based whale watching in this area. Male humpback whales sing complex songs to attract mates and compete with other males. Previous studies have found a potential negative relationship between boat occurrence and whale signing activity. However, such relationships are difficult to test without adequate controls. The Covid-19 lockdowns provide a rare opportunity to test this observation. We used autonomous underwater recorders to study boat and whale singing activity. We generated presence-absence data for whales and boats from September 2019 and 2020. We predict that boat presence will decrease and humpback whale song detections will increase during Covid-19 lockdowns. This provides a unique glimpse at the effects of boat activity on male humpback whales singing activity and can lead to policy that regulate more effectively tour-boats in their breeding area.
format Text
author Durant, Grace E
spellingShingle Durant, Grace E
How does Covid-19 lockdown impact boating and Humpback whale singing activity?
author_facet Durant, Grace E
author_sort Durant, Grace E
title How does Covid-19 lockdown impact boating and Humpback whale singing activity?
title_short How does Covid-19 lockdown impact boating and Humpback whale singing activity?
title_full How does Covid-19 lockdown impact boating and Humpback whale singing activity?
title_fullStr How does Covid-19 lockdown impact boating and Humpback whale singing activity?
title_full_unstemmed How does Covid-19 lockdown impact boating and Humpback whale singing activity?
title_sort how does covid-19 lockdown impact boating and humpback whale singing activity?
publisher UVM ScholarWorks
publishDate 2021
url https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/src/2021/covid19/12
genre Humpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
genre_facet Humpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
op_source UVM Student Research Conference
op_relation https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/src/2021/covid19/12
_version_ 1770272121804554240

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