Bubble blasts! An adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales
Foraging efficiency is key to animal fitness. Consequently, animals evolved a variety of kinematic, morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations for efficient locomotion to reduce energy expenditure while moving to find, capture, and consume prey. Often suited to specific habitat and pre...
Published in: | Ecology and Evolution |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2024
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Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/bubble-blasts-an-adaptation-for-buoyancy-regulation-in-shallow-foraging-gray-whales(d2dcc03e-3561-4ce7-959a-11675306ae07).html https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70093 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/30343/1/Bird_2024_EcolEvo_Bubble-blasts-adaptation-buoyancy-regulation_CC.pdf |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/d2dcc03e-3561-4ce7-959a-11675306ae07 2024-09-15T17:57:29+00:00 Bubble blasts! An adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales Bird, Clara Pirotta, Enrico New, Leslie Bierlich, K. C. Hildebrand, Lisa Fernandez Ajó, Alejandro Torres, Leigh 2024-08-06 application/pdf https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/bubble-blasts-an-adaptation-for-buoyancy-regulation-in-shallow-foraging-gray-whales(d2dcc03e-3561-4ce7-959a-11675306ae07).html https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70093 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/30343/1/Bird_2024_EcolEvo_Bubble-blasts-adaptation-buoyancy-regulation_CC.pdf eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/bubble-blasts-an-adaptation-for-buoyancy-regulation-in-shallow-foraging-gray-whales(d2dcc03e-3561-4ce7-959a-11675306ae07).html info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Bird , C , Pirotta , E , New , L , Bierlich , K C , Hildebrand , L , Fernandez Ajó , A & Torres , L 2024 , ' Bubble blasts! An adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales ' , Ecology and Evolution , vol. 14 , no. 8 , e70093 . https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70093 Baleen whales Bayesian linear mixed effects models Behavior Diving Drones Morphology article 2024 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70093 2024-08-14T23:40:03Z Foraging efficiency is key to animal fitness. Consequently, animals evolved a variety of kinematic, morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations for efficient locomotion to reduce energy expenditure while moving to find, capture, and consume prey. Often suited to specific habitat and prey types, these adaptations correspond to the terrain or substrate the animal moves through. In aquatic systems, adaptations focus on overcoming drag, buoyancy, and hydrostatic forces. Buoyancy both benefits and hinders diving animals; in particular, shallow divers constantly contend with the costs of overcoming buoyancy to dive and maintain position. Pacific Coast Feeding Group (PCFG) gray whales forage in shallow habitats where they work against buoyancy to dive and feed using various foraging tactics. Bubble blasts (underwater exhalations) have been observed during several foraging tactics performed by PCFG whales. As exhalations aid buoyancy regulation in other diving animals, we hypothesize that bubble blasts are performed by longer, more buoyant whales in shallower water and that bubble blasts increase dive duration while accounting for size and tactic. We test our hypotheses using Bayesian linear mixed effects models and a 7-year dataset of drone footage containing concurrent individual morphological and behavioral data. We find that while headstanding – a stationary, head-down tactic – bubble blasts are performed by longer, more buoyant whales and extend the dive duration, whereas whales using forward-swimming tactics are less likely to bubble blast. Our results suggest that PCFG gray whales may use bubble blasts as a behavioral adaption to mitigate the cost of energetically expensive tactics in their shallow habitat foraging niche. Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whales University of St Andrews: Research Portal Ecology and Evolution 14 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
Baleen whales Bayesian linear mixed effects models Behavior Diving Drones Morphology |
spellingShingle |
Baleen whales Bayesian linear mixed effects models Behavior Diving Drones Morphology Bird, Clara Pirotta, Enrico New, Leslie Bierlich, K. C. Hildebrand, Lisa Fernandez Ajó, Alejandro Torres, Leigh Bubble blasts! An adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales |
topic_facet |
Baleen whales Bayesian linear mixed effects models Behavior Diving Drones Morphology |
description |
Foraging efficiency is key to animal fitness. Consequently, animals evolved a variety of kinematic, morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations for efficient locomotion to reduce energy expenditure while moving to find, capture, and consume prey. Often suited to specific habitat and prey types, these adaptations correspond to the terrain or substrate the animal moves through. In aquatic systems, adaptations focus on overcoming drag, buoyancy, and hydrostatic forces. Buoyancy both benefits and hinders diving animals; in particular, shallow divers constantly contend with the costs of overcoming buoyancy to dive and maintain position. Pacific Coast Feeding Group (PCFG) gray whales forage in shallow habitats where they work against buoyancy to dive and feed using various foraging tactics. Bubble blasts (underwater exhalations) have been observed during several foraging tactics performed by PCFG whales. As exhalations aid buoyancy regulation in other diving animals, we hypothesize that bubble blasts are performed by longer, more buoyant whales in shallower water and that bubble blasts increase dive duration while accounting for size and tactic. We test our hypotheses using Bayesian linear mixed effects models and a 7-year dataset of drone footage containing concurrent individual morphological and behavioral data. We find that while headstanding – a stationary, head-down tactic – bubble blasts are performed by longer, more buoyant whales and extend the dive duration, whereas whales using forward-swimming tactics are less likely to bubble blast. Our results suggest that PCFG gray whales may use bubble blasts as a behavioral adaption to mitigate the cost of energetically expensive tactics in their shallow habitat foraging niche. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bird, Clara Pirotta, Enrico New, Leslie Bierlich, K. C. Hildebrand, Lisa Fernandez Ajó, Alejandro Torres, Leigh |
author_facet |
Bird, Clara Pirotta, Enrico New, Leslie Bierlich, K. C. Hildebrand, Lisa Fernandez Ajó, Alejandro Torres, Leigh |
author_sort |
Bird, Clara |
title |
Bubble blasts! An adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales |
title_short |
Bubble blasts! An adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales |
title_full |
Bubble blasts! An adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales |
title_fullStr |
Bubble blasts! An adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bubble blasts! An adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales |
title_sort |
bubble blasts! an adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/bubble-blasts-an-adaptation-for-buoyancy-regulation-in-shallow-foraging-gray-whales(d2dcc03e-3561-4ce7-959a-11675306ae07).html https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70093 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/30343/1/Bird_2024_EcolEvo_Bubble-blasts-adaptation-buoyancy-regulation_CC.pdf |
genre |
baleen whales |
genre_facet |
baleen whales |
op_source |
Bird , C , Pirotta , E , New , L , Bierlich , K C , Hildebrand , L , Fernandez Ajó , A & Torres , L 2024 , ' Bubble blasts! An adaptation for buoyancy regulation in shallow foraging gray whales ' , Ecology and Evolution , vol. 14 , no. 8 , e70093 . https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70093 |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/bubble-blasts-an-adaptation-for-buoyancy-regulation-in-shallow-foraging-gray-whales(d2dcc03e-3561-4ce7-959a-11675306ae07).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70093 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
8 |
_version_ |
1810433632359153664 |