Foraging energetics and prey density requirements of western North Atlantic blue whales in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
International audience Foraging efficiency (FE) is determined by the ratio of energy intake to energy expenditure and represents a metric for estimating the capacity to store energy. Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus rely mostly on stored energy reserves for reproduction. They feed almost exclusivel...
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Online Access: | https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02296724 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13043 |
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ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-02296724v1 2023-05-15T15:12:25+02:00 Foraging energetics and prey density requirements of western North Atlantic blue whales in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada Guilpin, Marie Lesage, Véronique Doniol-Valcroze, Thomas Mcquinn, Ian Goldbogen, Jeremy A. Potvin, Jean Jeanniard-Du-Dot, Thiphaine Michaud, Robert Moisan, Michel Maurice-Lamontagne Institute Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Marine Science Institute Quebec-Ocean Canada University of Quebec in Rimouski Canada Pacific Biological Station (PBS) Department of Biology Pacific Grove, CA, USA (Hopkins Marine Station) Stanford University Department of Physics, Saint Louis University USA Saint Louis University USA Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) Group of Research and Education on Marine Mammals Canada 2019-08-29 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02296724 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13043 en eng HAL CCSD Inter Research info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3354/meps13043 hal-02296724 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02296724 doi:10.3354/meps13043 ISSN: 0171-8630 EISSN: 1616-1599 Marine Ecology Progress Series https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02296724 Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2019, 625, pp.205-223. ⟨10.3354/meps13043⟩ Krill density Foraging efficiency Foraging Prey requirements Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus Energetics [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2019 ftunivnantes https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13043 2023-01-04T00:01:19Z International audience Foraging efficiency (FE) is determined by the ratio of energy intake to energy expenditure and represents a metric for estimating the capacity to store energy. Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus rely mostly on stored energy reserves for reproduction. They feed almost exclusively on krill, which vary in density and abundance both spatially and temporally. We used 10 depth-velocity archival tags deployed on blue whales foraging in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada, to identify feeding events. We modeled krill densities required to equal or exceed energy expenditures and allow energy storage. During the daytime, blue whales generally dove deeper and performed fewer but longer feeding dives than at other times of the diel cycle (10 vs. 28 feeding dives h-1); however, they performed more lunges per dive during daytime (3 vs. 1 lunge dive-1), which resulted in a stable feeding rate around the clock. Only 11.7 and 5.5% of the Arctic and northern krill patches measured in situ contained densities allowing blue whales to achieve neutral energetic balance (FE = 1); less than 1.5% of patches allowed FE of ≥3. While FE leading to successful reproduction and adequate fitness is unknown, these results underscore the necessity for blue whales to seek the highest densities within patches to reach neutral balance or allow energy storage. These findings further our understanding of blue whale foraging ecology and habitat suitability, and may help predict the effects of climate and natural variability or of potential fisheries on krill densities and blue whale condition. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale North Atlantic Northern krill Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES Arctic Canada Marine Ecology Progress Series 625 205 223 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnantes |
language |
English |
topic |
Krill density Foraging efficiency Foraging Prey requirements Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus Energetics [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Krill density Foraging efficiency Foraging Prey requirements Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus Energetics [SDE]Environmental Sciences Guilpin, Marie Lesage, Véronique Doniol-Valcroze, Thomas Mcquinn, Ian Goldbogen, Jeremy A. Potvin, Jean Jeanniard-Du-Dot, Thiphaine Michaud, Robert Moisan, Michel Foraging energetics and prey density requirements of western North Atlantic blue whales in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada |
topic_facet |
Krill density Foraging efficiency Foraging Prey requirements Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus Energetics [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
description |
International audience Foraging efficiency (FE) is determined by the ratio of energy intake to energy expenditure and represents a metric for estimating the capacity to store energy. Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus rely mostly on stored energy reserves for reproduction. They feed almost exclusively on krill, which vary in density and abundance both spatially and temporally. We used 10 depth-velocity archival tags deployed on blue whales foraging in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada, to identify feeding events. We modeled krill densities required to equal or exceed energy expenditures and allow energy storage. During the daytime, blue whales generally dove deeper and performed fewer but longer feeding dives than at other times of the diel cycle (10 vs. 28 feeding dives h-1); however, they performed more lunges per dive during daytime (3 vs. 1 lunge dive-1), which resulted in a stable feeding rate around the clock. Only 11.7 and 5.5% of the Arctic and northern krill patches measured in situ contained densities allowing blue whales to achieve neutral energetic balance (FE = 1); less than 1.5% of patches allowed FE of ≥3. While FE leading to successful reproduction and adequate fitness is unknown, these results underscore the necessity for blue whales to seek the highest densities within patches to reach neutral balance or allow energy storage. These findings further our understanding of blue whale foraging ecology and habitat suitability, and may help predict the effects of climate and natural variability or of potential fisheries on krill densities and blue whale condition. |
author2 |
Maurice-Lamontagne Institute Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Marine Science Institute Quebec-Ocean Canada University of Quebec in Rimouski Canada Pacific Biological Station (PBS) Department of Biology Pacific Grove, CA, USA (Hopkins Marine Station) Stanford University Department of Physics, Saint Louis University USA Saint Louis University USA Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) Group of Research and Education on Marine Mammals Canada |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Guilpin, Marie Lesage, Véronique Doniol-Valcroze, Thomas Mcquinn, Ian Goldbogen, Jeremy A. Potvin, Jean Jeanniard-Du-Dot, Thiphaine Michaud, Robert Moisan, Michel |
author_facet |
Guilpin, Marie Lesage, Véronique Doniol-Valcroze, Thomas Mcquinn, Ian Goldbogen, Jeremy A. Potvin, Jean Jeanniard-Du-Dot, Thiphaine Michaud, Robert Moisan, Michel |
author_sort |
Guilpin, Marie |
title |
Foraging energetics and prey density requirements of western North Atlantic blue whales in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada |
title_short |
Foraging energetics and prey density requirements of western North Atlantic blue whales in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada |
title_full |
Foraging energetics and prey density requirements of western North Atlantic blue whales in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Foraging energetics and prey density requirements of western North Atlantic blue whales in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Foraging energetics and prey density requirements of western North Atlantic blue whales in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada |
title_sort |
foraging energetics and prey density requirements of western north atlantic blue whales in the estuary and gulf of st. lawrence, canada |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02296724 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13043 |
geographic |
Arctic Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada |
genre |
Arctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale North Atlantic Northern krill |
genre_facet |
Arctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale North Atlantic Northern krill |
op_source |
ISSN: 0171-8630 EISSN: 1616-1599 Marine Ecology Progress Series https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02296724 Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2019, 625, pp.205-223. ⟨10.3354/meps13043⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3354/meps13043 hal-02296724 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02296724 doi:10.3354/meps13043 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13043 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
container_volume |
625 |
container_start_page |
205 |
op_container_end_page |
223 |
_version_ |
1766343098273628160 |