Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground
© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Royal Society Open Science 3 (2016): 160616, doi:10.1098/rsos.160616. Assessing the movement patterns and key habitat features of breeding humpback...
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ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/8664 2023-05-15T16:35:59+02:00 Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground Trudelle, Laurène Cerchio, Salvatore Zerbini, Alexandre N. Geyer, Ygor Mayer, François-Xavier Jung, Jean-Luc Herve, Maxime R. Pous, Stephane Sallee, Jean-Baptiste Rosenbaum, Howard C. Adam, Olivier Charrassin, Jean-Benoit 2016-12-21 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8664 en eng The Royal Society https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160616 Royal Society Open Science 3 (2016): 160616 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8664 doi:10.1098/rsos.160616 Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Royal Society Open Science 3 (2016): 160616 doi:10.1098/rsos.160616 Humpback whales Satellite telemetry Madagascar Movement patterns Environmental parameters Habitat use Article 2016 ftwhoas https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160616 2022-05-28T22:59:48Z © The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Royal Society Open Science 3 (2016): 160616, doi:10.1098/rsos.160616. Assessing the movement patterns and key habitat features of breeding humpback whales is a prerequisite for the conservation management of this philopatric species. To investigate the interactions between humpback whale movements and environmental conditions off Madagascar, we deployed 25 satellite tags in the northeast and southwest coast of Madagascar. For each recorded position, we collated estimates of environmental variables and computed two behavioural metrics: behavioural state of ‘transiting’ (consistent/directional) versus ‘localized’ (variable/non-directional), and active swimming speed (i.e. speed relative to the current). On coastal habitats (i.e. bathymetry < 200 m and in adjacent areas), females showed localized behaviour in deep waters (191 ± 20 m) and at large distances (14 ± 0.6 km) from shore, suggesting that their breeding habitat extends beyond the shallowest waters available close to the coastline. Males' active swimming speed decreased in shallow waters, but environmental parameters did not influence their likelihood to exhibit localized movements, which was probably dominated by social factors instead. In oceanic habitats, both males and females showed localized behaviours in shallow waters and favoured high chlorophyll-a concentrations. Active swimming speed accounts for a large proportion of observed movement speed; however, breeding humpback whales probably exploit prevailing ocean currents to maximize displacement. This study provides evidence that coastal areas, generally subject to strong human pressure, remain the core habitat of humpback whales off Madagascar. Our results expand the knowledge of humpback whale habitat use in oceanic habitat and response to variability of environmental factors such as oceanic current and chlorophyll level. Funding was ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) Royal Society Open Science 3 12 160616 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) |
op_collection_id |
ftwhoas |
language |
English |
topic |
Humpback whales Satellite telemetry Madagascar Movement patterns Environmental parameters Habitat use |
spellingShingle |
Humpback whales Satellite telemetry Madagascar Movement patterns Environmental parameters Habitat use Trudelle, Laurène Cerchio, Salvatore Zerbini, Alexandre N. Geyer, Ygor Mayer, François-Xavier Jung, Jean-Luc Herve, Maxime R. Pous, Stephane Sallee, Jean-Baptiste Rosenbaum, Howard C. Adam, Olivier Charrassin, Jean-Benoit Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground |
topic_facet |
Humpback whales Satellite telemetry Madagascar Movement patterns Environmental parameters Habitat use |
description |
© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Royal Society Open Science 3 (2016): 160616, doi:10.1098/rsos.160616. Assessing the movement patterns and key habitat features of breeding humpback whales is a prerequisite for the conservation management of this philopatric species. To investigate the interactions between humpback whale movements and environmental conditions off Madagascar, we deployed 25 satellite tags in the northeast and southwest coast of Madagascar. For each recorded position, we collated estimates of environmental variables and computed two behavioural metrics: behavioural state of ‘transiting’ (consistent/directional) versus ‘localized’ (variable/non-directional), and active swimming speed (i.e. speed relative to the current). On coastal habitats (i.e. bathymetry < 200 m and in adjacent areas), females showed localized behaviour in deep waters (191 ± 20 m) and at large distances (14 ± 0.6 km) from shore, suggesting that their breeding habitat extends beyond the shallowest waters available close to the coastline. Males' active swimming speed decreased in shallow waters, but environmental parameters did not influence their likelihood to exhibit localized movements, which was probably dominated by social factors instead. In oceanic habitats, both males and females showed localized behaviours in shallow waters and favoured high chlorophyll-a concentrations. Active swimming speed accounts for a large proportion of observed movement speed; however, breeding humpback whales probably exploit prevailing ocean currents to maximize displacement. This study provides evidence that coastal areas, generally subject to strong human pressure, remain the core habitat of humpback whales off Madagascar. Our results expand the knowledge of humpback whale habitat use in oceanic habitat and response to variability of environmental factors such as oceanic current and chlorophyll level. Funding was ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Trudelle, Laurène Cerchio, Salvatore Zerbini, Alexandre N. Geyer, Ygor Mayer, François-Xavier Jung, Jean-Luc Herve, Maxime R. Pous, Stephane Sallee, Jean-Baptiste Rosenbaum, Howard C. Adam, Olivier Charrassin, Jean-Benoit |
author_facet |
Trudelle, Laurène Cerchio, Salvatore Zerbini, Alexandre N. Geyer, Ygor Mayer, François-Xavier Jung, Jean-Luc Herve, Maxime R. Pous, Stephane Sallee, Jean-Baptiste Rosenbaum, Howard C. Adam, Olivier Charrassin, Jean-Benoit |
author_sort |
Trudelle, Laurène |
title |
Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground |
title_short |
Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground |
title_full |
Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground |
title_fullStr |
Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Madagascar breeding ground |
title_sort |
influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales (megaptera novaeangliae) in the madagascar breeding ground |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8664 |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science 3 (2016): 160616 doi:10.1098/rsos.160616 |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160616 Royal Society Open Science 3 (2016): 160616 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8664 doi:10.1098/rsos.160616 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160616 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
160616 |
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1766026299217805312 |