St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Population abundance of recovering humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae and other baleen whales in Scotia Arc, South Atlantic

Thumbnail
View/Open
Baines_2021_Population_abundance_of_MEPS_AAM.pdf (1.572Mb)
Date
14/10/2021
Author
Baines, Mick
Kelly, Natalie
Reichelt, Maren
Lacey, Claire
Pinder, Simon
Fielding, Sophie
Murphy, Eugene
Trathan, Phil
Biuw, Martin
Lindstrøm, Ulf
Krafft, Bjørn A.
Jackson, Jennifer A.
Keywords
Humpback whale
Baleen whale
Abundance
Krill consumption
South Georgia
South Sandwich Islands
GC Oceanography
QH301 Biology
DAS
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
Following the cessation of whaling, South Atlantic populations of humpback Megaptera novaeangliae and some other baleen whale species are recovering, but there has been limited monitoring of their recovery in the Scotia Arc, a former whaling epicentre and a hotspot for Antarctic krill Euphausia superba. To inform the management of krill fisheries, up-to-date assessment of whale biomass and prey consumption is essential. Using a model-based approach, we provide the first estimates of whale abundance and krill consumption for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and total abundance of humpback whales across their southwestern Atlantic feeding grounds, using data collected in 2019. Humpback whale abundance was estimated at 24543 (coefficient of variation, CV = 0.26; 95% CI = 14863-40528), similar to that measured in Brazil on the main wintering ground for this population. The abundance of baleen whales in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, including those not identified to species level, was estimated at 43824 (CV = 0.15, 95% CI = 33509-59077). Based on the proportion of humpback whales identified during the surveys (83%), the majority of these are likely to be humpback whales. Annual krill consumption by baleen whales was estimated to be in the range 4.8 to 7.2 million tons, representing 7 to 10% of the estimated krill biomass in the region. However, there is a need to better understand feeding rates in baleen whales, and further research into this field should be a priority to improve the accuracy and precision of prey consumption rate estimation.
Citation
Baines , M , Kelly , N , Reichelt , M , Lacey , C , Pinder , S , Fielding , S , Murphy , E , Trathan , P , Biuw , M , Lindstrøm , U , Krafft , B A & Jackson , J A 2021 , ' Population abundance of recovering humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae and other baleen whales in Scotia Arc, South Atlantic ' , Marine Ecology Progress Series , vol. 676 , pp. 77-94 . https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13849
Publication
Marine Ecology Progress Series
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13849
ISSN
0171-8630
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2021 Inter-Research. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13849 .
Description
The data collected from the RV ‘Kronprins Haakon’ work was supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (NFD, via project number 15208), the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) and the IMR project Krill (project number 14246). The data collected from the FV ‘Cabo de Hornos’ was financed by the Association of Responsible Krill Harvesting Companies (ARK, www.ark-krill.org), Aker Biomarine AS (www.akerbiomarine.com), NFD via project number 15208 and the IMR project Krill.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530411/
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/24364

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter