Photo-identification comparison of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) flukes from Antarctic Area IV with fluke catalogues from East Africa, Western Australia and Eastern Australia

Wally Franklin; Trish Franklin; Sal Cerchio; Howard Rosenbaum; Curt Jenner; Micheline Jenner; Leandra Goncalves; Russell Leaper; Peter Harrison; Lyndon Brooks; Phil Clapham

doi:10.47536/jcrm.v17i1.425

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Photo-identification comparison of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) flukes from Antarctic Area IV with fluke catalogues from East Africa, Western Australia and Eastern Australia

Wally Franklin, Trish Franklin, Sal Cerchio, Howard Rosenbaum, Curt Jenner, Micheline Jenner, Leandra Goncalves, Russell Leaper, Peter Harrison, Lyndon Brooks, …

The journal of cetacean research and management, Vol.17(1), pp.1-7

24/01/2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47536/jcrm.v17i1.425

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Abstract

humpback whale

photo-identification

migratory movements

antarctic

Africa

Australasia

Feeding areas

Breeding grounds

Management areas

Early ‘Discovery mark’ data together with recent photo-identification, acoustic, genetic and satellite-radio tag data revealed linkages between humpback whales migrating from breeding grounds (C) off East Africa and the Area III feeding area, from Western Australian breeding grounds (D) and the Antarctic Area IV feeding area and the East Australian breeding grounds (E1) and Antarctic Area V feeding area. These data also revealed low levels of intermingling between (E1) and (D) humpback whales in the Antarctic Area IV feeding area consistent with these being separate populations. Greenpeace photographed the ventral tail flukes of 30 individual humpback whales in the Antarctic Area IV feeding area (70°E–130°E) from 2 to 9 January 2008, between 62°47’S and 64°14’S latitude and 80°00’E and 112°57’E longitude. Comparisons of the Antarctic Area IV Greenpeace fluke catalogue (n = 30) with existing reconciled fluke catalogues from East Africa (n = 842), Western Australia (n = 1,558) and Eastern Australia (n = 1,964), yielded no photo-identification matches. An analysis of the frequencies of whales seen and not seen in Antarctica, East Africa, Western Australia and Eastern Australia relative to the frequencies expected to have been seen and not seen, based on the estimated population sizes and the sizes of the catalogues, provided evidence that the Antarctic whales photographed are from a different population to the East African and East Australian populations. There was weak evidence supporting the hypothesis that the Antarctic whales are from the Western Australian population but insufficient data were available to determine a clear outcome. A comparison of the Antarctic Area IV Greenpeace catalogue (n = 30) with other existing African, Indian Ocean, Western and Eastern Australian and/or Antarctic catalogues, together with increased sampling across the humpback whale feeding season in Antarctica and along the Western and Eastern Australian coastline during their winter migration, is likely to provide further evidence of the migratory destination of these humpback whales. It will also add to our limited knowledge of the extent of population overlap within the Antarctic Area III, IV and V feeding areas.

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Title: Photo-identification comparison of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) flukes from Antarctic Area IV with fluke catalogues from East Africa, Western Australia and Eastern Australia
Creators: Wally Franklin - Southern Cross University
Trish Franklin - Southern Cross University
Sal Cerchio - Center for Biodiversity and Conservation and Conservation Genetics Program, American Museum of Natural History
Howard Rosenbaum - Columbia University
Curt Jenner - Centre for Whale Research, Fremantle WA
Micheline Jenner - Centre for Whale Research, Fremantle WA
Leandra Goncalves - Greenpeace International
Russell Leaper - International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
Peter Harrison - Southern Cross University
Lyndon Brooks - Southern Cross University
Phil Clapham - University of Sao Paulo
Publication Details: The journal of cetacean research and management, Vol.17(1), pp.1-7
Identifiers: 991013081982902368
Copyright: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Academic Unit: Marine Ecology Research Centre; Faculty of Science and Engineering; Science
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

Photo-identification comparison of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) flukes from Antarctic Area IV with fluke catalogues from East Africa, Western Australia and Eastern Australia

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