Population comparison of right whale body condition reveals poor state of the North Atlantic right whale

• Published in: Marine Ecology Progress Series
• Main Authors: Christiansen, Fredrik, Dawson, Stephen M., Durban, John W., Fearnbach, Holly, Miller, Carolyn A., Bejder, Lars, Uhart, Marcela, Sironi, Mariano, Corkeron, Peter, Rayment, William, Leunissen, Eva, Haria, Eashani, Ward, Rhianne, Warick, Hunter A., Kerr, Iain, Lynn, Morgan S., Pettis, Heather M., Moore, Michael J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Inter Research 2020
• Subjects: Baleen whale; Bioenergetics; Eubalaena; Morphometrics; Photogrammetry; Unmanned aerial vehicles; New Zealand; Argentina; Kerr; baleen whale; Eubalaena glacialis; North Atlantic; North Atlantic right whale
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1912/26022

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Christiansen, F., Dawson, S. M., Durban, J. W., Fearnbach, H., Miller, C. A., Bejder, L., Uhart, M., Sironi, M., Corkeron, P., Rayment, W., Leunissen, E., Haria, E., Ward, R., Warick, H. A., Kerr, I., Lynn, M. S., Pettis, H. M., & Moore, M. J. Population comparison of right whale body condition reveals poor state of the North Atlantic right whale. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 640, (2020): 1-16, doi:10.3354/meps13299. The North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis (NARW), currently numbering <410 individuals, is on a trajectory to extinction. Although direct mortality from ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements remain the major threats to the population, reproductive failure, resulting from poor body condition and sublethal chronic entanglement stress, is believed to play a crucial role in the population decline. Using photogrammetry from unmanned aerial vehicles, we conducted the largest population assessment of right whale body condition to date, to determine if the condition of NARWs was poorer than 3 seemingly healthy (i.e. growing) populations of southern right whales E. australis (SRWs) in Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. We found that NARW juveniles, adults and lactating females all had lower body condition scores compared to the SRW populations. While some of the difference could be the result of genetic isolation and adaptations to local environmental conditions, the magnitude suggests that NARWs are in poor condition, which could be suppressing their growth, survival, age of sexual maturation and calving rates. NARW calves were found to be in good condition. Their body length, however, was strongly determined by the body condition of their mothers, suggesting that the poor condition of lactating NARW females may cause a reduction in calf growth rates. This could potentially lead to a reduction in calf survival or an increase in ...