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Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open
Journal article
Interchange of Southern Hemisphere humpback whales across the South Atlantic Ocean
Scientific reports, Vol.13, 4621
21/03/2023
PMID: 36944685
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Abstract
The cosmopolitan distribution of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) is largely driven by migrations between winter low-latitude breeding grounds and summer high-latitude feeding grounds. Southern Hemisphere humpback whales faced intensive exploitation during the whaling eras and recently show evidence of population recovery. Gene flow and shared song indicate overlap between the western (A) and eastern (B1, B2) Breeding Stocks in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans (C1). Here, we investigated photo-identification evidence of population interchange using images of individuals photographed during boat-based tourism and research in Brazil and South Africa from 1989 to 2022. Fluke images were uploaded to Happywhale, a global digital database for marine mammal identification. Six whales were recaptured between countries from 2002 to 2021 with resighting intervals ranging from 0.76 to 12.92 years. Four whales originally photographed off Abrolhos Bank, Brazil were photographed off the Western Cape, South Africa (feeding grounds for B2). Two whales originally photographed off the Western Cape were photographed off Brazil, one traveling to the Eastern Cape in the Southwestern Indian Ocean (a migration corridor for C1) before migrating westward to Brazil. These findings photographically confirm interchange of humpback whales across the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the importance of international collaboration to understand population boundaries.
Details
- Title
- Interchange of Southern Hemisphere humpback whales across the South Atlantic Ocean
- Creators
- Eric Angel Ramos - Fundación Internacional para la Naturaleza y la SustentabilidadTed Cheeseman - Southern Cross UniversityMilton Cesar C Marcondes - Instituto Baleia JubarteMarilia Olio - HappywhaleAlexander Vogel - Seafari App, Cape Town, South AfricaSimon Elwen - Stellenbosch UniversityThais H M de Melo - Cia do Mar & Baleia à VistaCecília Facchola - Cia do Mar & Baleia à VistaSérgio Cipolotti - Instituto Baleia JubarteKen Southerland - HappywhaleKen Findlay - Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyElisa Seyboth - Cape Peninsula University of TechnologySteven A McCue - Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (Cape Town, South Africa)Pieter G H Kotze - Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (Cape Town, South Africa)S Mduduzi Seakamela - Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (Cape Town, South Africa)
- Publication Details
- Scientific reports, Vol.13, 4621
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Grant note
- Funding to the Whales & Climate Research Program/CPUT was provided by a private charitable trust. Dedicated cruises (2011–2019) in South Africa were funded by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Sea Search Research and Conservation received funding from the National Research Foundation.
- Identifiers
- 991013120911502368
- Copyright
- © The Author(s) 2023. Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.)
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article