scholarly journals Long distance runners in the marine realm: New insights into genetic diversity, kin relationships and social fidelity of Indian Ocean male sperm whales

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Girardet ◽  
Francois Sarano ◽  
Gaëtan Richard ◽  
Paul Tixier ◽  
Christophe Guinet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
Distance Runners ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Male Sperm ◽  
Marine Realm ◽  
The Indian Ocean

AbstractAdult male sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are long distance runners of the marine realm, feeding in high latitudes and mating in tropical and subtropical waters where stable social groups of females and immatures live. Several areas of uncertainty still limit our understanding of their social and breeding behaviour, in particular concerning the potential existence of geographical and/or social fidelities.In this study, using underwater observation and sloughed-skin sampling, we looked for male social fidelity to a specific matrilineal sperm whale group near Mauritius. In addition, we captured a wider picture of kin relationships and genetic diversity of male sperm whales in the Indian Ocean thanks to biopsies of eight unique individuals taken in a feeding ground near the Kerguelen and Crozet Archipelagos (Southern Indian Ocean).Twenty-six adult male sperm whales, of which 13 were sampled, were identified when socializing with adult females and immatures off Mauritius. Long-term underwater observation recorded several noteworthy social interactions between adult males and adult females and/or immatures. We identified seven possible male recaptures over different years (three by direct observation, and four at the gametic level), which supports a certain level of male social fidelity. Several first- and second-degree kin relationships were highlighted between members of the social unit and adult males, confirming that some of the adult males observed in Mauritian waters are reproductive. Male social philopatry to their natal group can be excluded, as none of the males sampled shared the haplotype characteristic of the matrilineal social group. Mitochondrial DNA control region haplotype and nucleotide diversities calculated over the 21 total male sperm whales sampled were similar to values found by others in the Indian Ocean.Our study strongly supports the existence of some levels of male sperm whale social fidelity, not directed to their social group of birth, in the Indian Ocean. Males sampled in breeding and feeding grounds are linked by kin relationships. Our results support a model of male mediated gene flow occurring at the level of the whole Indian Ocean, likely interconnected with large-scale geographical fidelity to ocean basin, and a small-scale social fidelity to matrilineal social groups.

scholarly journals Kin relationships in cultural species of the marine realm: case study of a matrilineal social group of sperm whales off Mauritius island, Indian Ocean

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francois Sarano ◽  
Justine Girardet ◽  
Véronique Sarano ◽  
Hugues Vitry ◽  
Axel Preud'homme ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Western Indian Ocean ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
Social Unit ◽  
Mtdna Haplotype ◽  
Second Degree

Understanding the organization and dynamics of social groups of marine mammals through the study of kin relationships is particularly challenging . Here, we studied a stable social group of sperm whales off Mauritius, using underwater observations, individual-specific identification, non-invasive sampling and genetic analyses based on mitochondrial sequencing and microsatellite profiling. Twenty-four sperm whales were sampled between 2017 and 2019. All individuals except one adult female shared the same mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotype—one that is rare in the western Indian Ocean—thus confirming with near certainty the matrilineality of the group. All probable first- and second-degree kin relationships were depicted in the sperm whale social group: 13 first-degree and 27 second-degree relationships were identified. Notably, we highlight the likely case of an unrelated female having been integrated into a social unit, in that she presented a distinct mtDNA haplotype and no close relationships with any members of the group. Investigating the possible matrilineality of sperm whale cultural units (i.e. vocal clans) is the next step in our research programme to elucidate and better apprehend the complex organization of sperm whale social groups.

scholarly journals Cues, creaks, and decoys: using passive acoustic monitoring as a tool for studying sperm whale depredation

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 1621-1636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Thode ◽  
Delphine Mathias ◽  
Janice Straley ◽  
Victoria O'Connell ◽  
Linda Behnken ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
Passive Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Fishing Activity ◽  
Fishing Vessels ◽  
Passive Acoustic

Abstract Since 2003, a collaborative effort (SEASWAP) between fishers, scientists, and managers has researched how Alaskan sperm whales locate demersal longline fishing activity and then depredate sablefish from gear. Sperm whales constantly produce relatively low-frequency biosonar signals whenever foraging; therefore, over the past decade, passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has become a basic tool, used for both measuring depredation activity and accelerating field tests of potential depredation countermeasures. This paper reviews and summarizes past published PAM research on SEASWAP, and then provides a detailed example of how PAM methods are currently being used to test countermeasures. The review covers two major research thrusts: (i) identifying acoustic outputs of fishing vessels that provide long-distance “cues” that attract whales to fishing activity; and (ii) validating whether distinctive “creak” sounds can be used to quantify and measure depredation rates, using both bioacoustic tags and statistical comparisons between visual and acoustic depredation estimates during federal sablefish surveys. The latter part of the paper then provides an example of how PAM is being used to study a particular potential countermeasure: an “acoustic decoy” which transmits fishing vessel acoustic cues to attract animals away from true fishing activity. The results of an initial 2011 field trial are presented to show how PAM was used to design the decoy signals and monitor the efficacy of the deployment. The ability of PAM to detect both whale presence and depredation behaviour has reduced the need to deploy researchers or other specialists on fishing cruises. Instead, volunteer fishers can deploy “user-friendly” acoustic recorders on their gear, greatly facilitating the testing of various deterrents, and providing the industry and regulators a convenient and unobtrusive tool for monitoring both the scale and long-term spread of this behaviour across the Alaskan fishery.

Dating the Cassis rufa shell from the Mousterian levels of the Grotte du Prince, Monaco

Antiquity ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 67 (256) ◽  
pp. 609-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Hayden ◽  
D. E. Nelson ◽  
Jean Cataliotti-Valdina
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Long Distance Movement

A fragment of Cassis rufa shell, in modern times a species of the Indian Ocean, was reliably reported from the deep Mousterian deposits excavated at the beginning of the century from the Grotte du Prince, Monaco. Because its known habitat is so distant and exotic, there has always been question about the specimen's authenticity. A radiocarbon determination shows it to be recent, and no evidence for long-distance movement of shell in the European Middle Palaeolithic.

scholarly journals Phylogeny and Biogeography of Exacum (Gentianaceae): A Disjunctive Distribution in the Indian Ocean Basin Resulted from Long Distance Dispersal and Extensive Radiation

2005 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong-Ming Yuan ◽  
Sébastien Wohlhauser ◽  
Michael Möller ◽  
Jens Klackenberg ◽  
Martin W. Callmander ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Long Distance Dispersal ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The Indian Ocean

scholarly journals Atmospheric pollutant outflow from southern Asia: a review

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (22) ◽  
pp. 11017-11096 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Lawrence ◽  
J. Lelieveld
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Scale Effects ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutant ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Southern Asia ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Abstract. Southern Asia, extending from Pakistan and Afghanistan to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, is one of the most heavily populated regions of the world. Biofuel and biomass burning play a disproportionately large role in the emissions of most key pollutant gases and aerosols there, in contrast to much of the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, where fossil fuel burning and industrial processes tend to dominate. This results in polluted air masses which are enriched in carbon-containing aerosols, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons. The outflow and long-distance transport of these polluted air masses is characterized by three distinct seasonal circulation patterns: the winter monsoon, the summer monsoon, and the monsoon transition periods. During winter, the near-surface flow is mostly northeasterly, and the regional pollution forms a thick haze layer in the lower troposphere which spreads out over millions of square km between southern Asia and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), located several degrees south of the equator over the Indian Ocean during this period. During summer, the heavy monsoon rains effectively remove soluble gases and aerosols. Less soluble species, on the other hand, are lifted to the upper troposphere in deep convective clouds, and are then transported away from the region by strong upper tropospheric winds, particularly towards northern Africa and the Mediterranean in the tropical easterly jet. Part of the pollution can reach the tropical tropopause layer, the gateway to the stratosphere. During the monsoon transition periods, the flow across the Indian Ocean is primarily zonal, and strong pollution plumes originating from both southeastern Asia and from Africa spread across the central Indian Ocean. This paper provides a review of the current state of knowledge based on the many observational and modeling studies over the last decades that have examined the southern Asian atmospheric pollutant outflow and its large scale effects. An outlook is provided as a guideline for future research, pointing out particularly critical issues such as: resolving discrepancies between top down and bottom up emissions estimates; assessing the processing and aging of the pollutant outflow; developing a better understanding of the observed elevated pollutant layers and their relationship to local sea breeze and large scale monsoon circulations; and determining the impacts of the pollutant outflow on the Asian monsoon meteorology and the regional hydrological cycle, in particular the mountain cryospheric reservoirs and the fresh water supply, which in turn directly impact the lives of over a billion inhabitants of southern Asia.

Commercial Networks Connecting Southeast Asia with the Indian Ocean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Hoogervorst
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Commercial Networks ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Southeast Asian history has seen remarkable levels of mobility and durable connections with the rest of the Indian Ocean. The archaeological record points to prehistoric circulations of material culture within the region. Through the power of monsoon sailing, these small-scale circuits coalesced into larger networks by the 5th century bce. Commercial relations with Chinese, Indian, and West Asian traders brought great prosperity to a number of Southeast Asian ports, which were described as places of immense wealth. Professional shipping, facilitated by local watercraft and crews, reveals the indigenous agency behind such long-distance maritime contacts. By the second half of the first millennium ce, ships from the Indo-Malayan world could be found as far west as coastal East Africa. Arabic and Persian merchants started to play a larger role in the Indian Ocean trade by the 8th century, importing spices and aromatic tree resins from sea-oriented polities such as Srivijaya and later Majapahit. From the 15th century, many coastal settlements in Southeast Asia embraced Islam, partly motivated by commercial interests. The arrival of Portuguese, Dutch, and British ships increased the scale of Indian Ocean commerce, including in the domains of capitalist production systems, conquest, slavery, indentured labor, and eventually free trade. During the colonial period, the Indian Ocean was incorporated into a truly global economy. While cultural and intellectual links between Southeast Asia and the wider Indian Ocean have persisted in the 21st century, commercial networks have declined in importance.

Putting the ‘Indo’ back into the Indo-Pacific: resolving marine phylogeographic gaps

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 86 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. G. Wilson ◽  
L. A. Kirkendale
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Western Indian Ocean ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Coral Triangle ◽  
West Pacific ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Leeuwin Current ◽  
Marine Realm ◽  
The Indian Ocean

The Indo-Pacific is an extremely large marine realm that unites two oceans via a restricted Coral Triangle corridor, which was historically subjected to lowered sea levels during global glaciation. Although a strong phylogeographic focus on the Central and West Pacific has produced a large body of research, the Indian Ocean has been largely neglected. This may have serious consequences, because the Indian Ocean hosts a large number of marine centres of endemism, yet a large number of nations rely on its marine resources. We examine reasons for this neglect and review what is known about this region and its connectivity to the Indo-West Pacific. We draw attention to the ‘Leeuwin Effect’, a phenomenon where the southward flow of the Leeuwin Current is responsible for transporting larval propagules from the Coral Triangle region down the coast of Western Australia, resulting in broader Indo-West Pacific rather than Indian Ocean affinities. Given challenges in accessing infrastructure and samples, collaboration will inevitably be key to resolving data gaps. We challenge the assumption that the peak of shallow-water marine biodiversity is solely centred in the Coral Triangle, and raise awareness of a seemingly forgotten hypothesis promoting a secondary peak of biodiversity in the western Indian Ocean.

scholarly journals BERENIKE CROSSROADS: THE INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
◽  
◽  
◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Textual Evidence ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Different Sources

AbstractThe harbor town of Berenike functioned in the long-distance trade between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean Basin from the third century BC to the early sixth century AD. This contribution aims to view the Berenike material within its wider historical context through a preliminary analysis of the combined archaeological and textual evidence. By comparing the results of the work of different specialists, the potential of a multi-disciplinary approach becomes apparent. A number of caveats are given, which illustrate the interpretative problems arising from comparing the results of different disciplines. Lastly, this attempt at integration shows that the discrepancies between the different sources offer important insights. Le port maritime de Berenike fonctionnait dans le commerce de longue distance entre la Méditerranée et le bassin de la Mer des Indes depuis le troisième siècle avant JC jusqu'au début du sixième siècle après JC. Cette contribution examine le matériel de Berenike dans un contexte plus large par une analyse préliminaire croisant des données archéologiques et textuelles. En comparant les résultats proposés par plusieurs spécialistes, le potentiel du travail multidisciplinaire devient évident. Un nombre de caveats est présenté pour illustrer des problèmes d'interprétation, provenant des comparaisons de résultats de plusieurs disciplines. Enfin, cet essai d'intégration montre que les divergences entre plusieurs sources offre des aperçus importants.

An Open Knowledge System for Navigational Science: Zheng He’s Maritime Expeditions and Sino-Foreign Overseas Exchange

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-91
Author(s):  
Liu Yingsheng
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Knowledge System ◽  
Chinese People ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Geographical Knowledge ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Return Journey

The first section of this article begins by investigating the term “going down to the Western Oceans” (xia xiyang 下西洋), which was used as early as the time of Zheng He. It also discusses the origin of the concepts of the Eastern and Western Oceans. The second section discusses the influx of overseas geographical knowledge into China before the time of Zheng He, especially over two important periods: first, the coming of Indian geographical knowledge along with Buddhism to China from the Wei-Jin period (220–420 ce), and second, the advent of Islamic geographical knowledge during the Mongol-Yuan period (ca. 1206–1368). The third section discusses the contributions of foreign members in Zheng He’s fleet, especially fanhuozhang 番火長 (foreign pilot). Through an analysis of the records of three military encounters—the suppression of the pirate Chen Zuyi 陳祖義, the attack on Ceylon, and the battle with pirates on a return journey—we find that the term fanhuozhang appears in all three cases, showing that foreign experts were commonly present in all branches or segments of Zheng He’s fleet, and that it must have been their job to navigate in the Indian ocean portion of the journey. Based on these findings, the author suggests that even before the beginning of Ming, Chinese people had developed an understanding of navigation technology and absorbed expertise from other peoples, and that this knowledge formed the technological foundation of Zheng He’s long-distance voyages, evident of the fact that China’s ancient navigational technology was an open knowledge system.

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