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Remote Antarctic feeding ground important for east Australian humpback whales

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Abstract

Understanding the dynamics of population recovery is particularly complex when an organism has multiple, remote breeding and feeding grounds separated by one of the longest known migration routes. This study reports on the most comprehensive assessment of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) movements between remote Antarctic waters south of New Zealand and east Australia (EA), and the migratory corridors and breeding grounds of Australia and Oceania. A total of 112 individual whales were identified; 57 from microsatellites and 61 by fluke with 23 % (n = 26) matched to sites outside Antarctica. Despite large datasets from other southern regions being included in the comparison, the whales were predominantly linked to EA (n = 24). Only two matches to the Oceania catalogues directly north was surprising; therefore the primary feeding grounds of these endangered whales still remain unknown. The confirmation of the Balleny Islands as an important feeding ground for EA whales could provide an insight into reasons behind the rapid recovery of this population. Determining the feeding grounds of Oceania’s whales may explain whether prey energetics or migration length are limiting factors to their recovery and will allow an understanding of future ecosystem changes in these whales.

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Acknowledgments

The Australian and New Zealand Governments funded the AWE with the Australian Antarctic Division and National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research providing excellent logistical support. CETA is funded by the French Government and IPEV. Thank you to the numerous funding agencies and contributors supporting the datasets that allowed this collaboration. Also, thanks to the reviewers who provided helpful comments that improved this paper. Data were collected in accordance with animal ethics and permit requirements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Rochelle Constantine, C. Scott Baker & Kirsten Thompson

  2. Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University, 2030SE Marine Science Dr., Newport, OR, 97365, USA

    Debbie Steel & C. Scott Baker

  3. Antarctic Humpback Whale Catalogue, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME, USA

    Judy Allen & Peter Stevick

  4. Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre, P.O. Box 157, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia

    Megan Anderson, Peta Beeman, Daniel Burns, Trish Franklin, Wally Franklin & Peter Harrison

  5. Whales Alive, 31 Paterson St., Byron Bay, NSW, 2481, Australia

    Olive Andrews

  6. Blue Planet Marine, Jamison Centre, P.O. Box 919, Canberra, ACT, 2614, Australia

    Daniel Burns, Simon Childerhouse & David Paton

  7. Département Milieux Et Peuplement, Aquatiques Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 75231, Paris, France

    Jean-Benoît Charrassin

  8. Australian Antarctic Division, Australian Marine Mammal Centre, 203 Channel Hwy, Kingston, TAS, 7050, Australia

    Simon Childerhouse, Michael Double, Nick Gales & Natalie Schmitt

  9. Governors Bay, RD1, Lyttelton, 8971, New Zealand

    Paul Ensor

  10. The Oceania Project, Byron Bay, NSW, Australia

    Trish Franklin & Wally Franklin

  11. Opération Cétacés, Noumea, 98802, New Caledonia

    Claire Garrigue

  12. Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 10-420, Wellington, New Zealand

    Nadine Gibbs

  13. Cook Islands Whale Research, P.O. Box 3069, Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

    Nan Hauser

  14. Pacific Whale Foundation, Wailuku, HI, 96793, USA

    Amanda Hutsel, Greg Kaufman & Anne Macie

  15. Centre for Whale Research (Western Australia), Fremantle, WA, Australia

    Curt Jenner & Micheline-Nicole Jenner

  16. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, 726 S. Kihei Road, Kihei, HI, 96753, USA

    David Mattila

  17. Fundacion CEQUA, 21 de Mayo #1690, 061, Punta Arenas, Chile

    Carlos Olavarría

  18. Norfolk Island Whale Survey, Scarborough, QLD, Australia

    Adrian Oosterman

  19. Marine Mammal Research Program, BP 698, 98728, Maharepa, Moorea, French Polynesia

    Michael Poole

  20. Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, 5 Holway Avenue, Provincetown, MA, 02657, USA

    Jooke Robbins

  21. Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, P.O. Box 3730, Pago Pago, 96799, American Samoa

    Alden Tagarino

  22. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Government of Samoa, Private Bag, Apia, Samoa

    Juney Ward

Authors
  1. Rochelle Constantine
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  2. Debbie Steel
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  3. Judy Allen
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  4. Megan Anderson
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  5. Olive Andrews
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  6. C. Scott Baker
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  7. Peta Beeman
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  8. Daniel Burns
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  9. Jean-Benoît Charrassin
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  10. Simon Childerhouse
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  11. Michael Double
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  12. Paul Ensor
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  13. Trish Franklin
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  14. Wally Franklin
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  15. Nick Gales
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  16. Claire Garrigue
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  17. Nadine Gibbs
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  18. Peter Harrison
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  19. Nan Hauser
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  20. Amanda Hutsel
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  21. Curt Jenner
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  22. Micheline-Nicole Jenner
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  23. Greg Kaufman
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  24. Anne Macie
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  25. David Mattila
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  26. Carlos Olavarría
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  27. Adrian Oosterman
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  28. David Paton
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  29. Michael Poole
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  30. Jooke Robbins
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  31. Natalie Schmitt
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  32. Peter Stevick
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  33. Alden Tagarino
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  34. Kirsten Thompson
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  35. Juney Ward
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rochelle Constantine.

Additional information

Communicated by J. D. R. Houghton.

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Constantine, R., Steel, D., Allen, J. et al. Remote Antarctic feeding ground important for east Australian humpback whales. Mar Biol 161, 1087–1093 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-014-2401-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-014-2401-2

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