scholarly journals Humpback Whale Instigates Object Play with a Lion’s Mane Jellyfish

Oceans ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 386-392
Author(s):  
Brendan D. Shea ◽  
Austin J. Gallagher
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Humpback Whale ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Object Play ◽  
Novel Object ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
Object Use ◽  
Novel Objects ◽  
Cyanea Capillata

Cetaceans are well-known for their intelligence, charismatic nature, and curiosity. Many species, particularly odontocetes, are known to investigate and manipulate novel objects they encounter. Yet, disentangling the drivers of these behaviors and distinguishing between those that are simply playful and those which serve a specific function remains challenging due to a lack of direct observations and detailed descriptions of behaviors. This is particularly true for mysticetes such as humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), as records of object use are far less common than in odontocetes. Here, we present evidence of novel object use from a first of its kind encounter between an individual humpback whale and a large lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) in the coastal waters off New England. We detail the interaction and discuss possible drivers for the behavior, with a focus on cetacean innovation, ectoparasite removal, and wound healing.

scholarly journals Line transect estimates of humpback whale abundance and distribution on their wintering grounds in the coastal waters of Gabon

2020 ◽  
pp. 153-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Strindberg ◽  
Peter J. Ersts ◽  
Tim Collins ◽  
Guy-Philippe Sounguet ◽  
Howard C. Rosenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Distance Sampling ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Humpback Whale ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Hydrocarbon Exploration ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Equatorial Guinea ◽  
Line Transect

There have been few recent estimates of abundance for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the eastern South Atlantic Ocean. The firstdistance sampling survey of the coastal waters of Gabon was conducted in 2002. The difficult logistics of covering a large survey region withlimited time, effort and refuelling opportunities required a line transect survey design that carefully balanced the theoretical demands of distancesampling with these constraints. Inshore/offshore zigzag transects were conducted to a distance of up to approximately 50 n.miles from the coastof Gabon corresponding to the 1,000m depth contour, from the border with Equatorial Guinea to a point south of Mayumba, near the Congo borderrepresenting 1,488 n.miles of survey effort. Seventy-nine different groups of humpback whales were observed throughout the survey area comprisinga northern (Equatorial Guinea to Cap Lopez) and southern (Cap Lopez to Gamba) survey stratum. Relatively large numbers of whales wereencountered throughout the southern stratum; encounter rates and densities were considerably lower in the northern stratum. The initial abundanceestimate from a distance sampling analysis suggests that more than 1,200 humpback whales were present in Gabon’s coastal waters during thesurvey period. This estimate does not account for either availability or perception bias. In addition, this instantaneous snapshot of the number ofwhales occupying Gabon’s coastal waters is likely to correspond to only a portion of the population that uses these waters over time. However, theabundance estimate derived from the aerial survey are consistent with those based on photographic and genetic capture-recapture techniques. Acontinuing research programme in this area will help refine estimates of humpback whale abundance and using genetic and photographic data alsoestablish the relationships between this and other populations. This is important given the potential overlap of humpback whales in large numbersthroughout this region and the current extent and continued expansion of hydrocarbon exploration and extraction activities throughout the Gulf ofGuinea.

scholarly journals Humpback whales of the Persian Gulf

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyed Mohammad Hashem Dakhteh ◽  
Sharif Ranjbar ◽  
Mostafa Moazeni ◽  
Nazanin Mohsenian ◽  
Hossein Delshab ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Persian Gulf ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
New Records ◽  
Humpback Whale ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Formal Description ◽  
Endangered Population ◽  
The Persian Gulf ◽  
New Evidence

AbstractThe humpback whale has long been considered a rare straggler into the Persian Gulf, however new evidence contradicts this concept. We here critically review published and new records forMegaptera novaeangliaeoccurrence in the Gulf for the period 1883-2017. Of eight authenticated records (6 specimens, 2 live-sightings), seven are contemporary cases while one is a mid-Holocene specimen from UAE. An additional four are possible but unsubstantiated reports. Four regional, current, range states are confirmed, i.e. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar. Four of the five newly reported cases are from Iran’s coastal waters. We conclude that the Persian Gulf is part of the habitual range of the Arabian Sea humpback whale population, and has been since at least the mid-Holocene. It is unknown whether frequent passage occurs through the Strait of Hormuz or whether whales are (semi)resident. The low abundance of this endangered population and frequent deleterious anthropogenic events, particularly ship strikes and net entanglements, are cause for major concern. In view of its historical and taxonomic relevance, the formal description ofMegaptera indicaGervais, 1883, from Iraq, now thought to be a subspeciesM. novaeangliae indica, is here translated from French.

scholarly journals Combining Regional Habitat Selection Models for Large-Scale Prediction: Circumpolar Habitat Selection of Southern Ocean Humpback Whales

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2074
Author(s):  
Ryan R. Reisinger ◽  
Ari S. Friedlaender ◽  
Alexandre N. Zerbini ◽  
Daniel M. Palacios ◽  
Virginia Andrews-Goff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Predictive Models ◽  
Regional Variation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Predictive Performance ◽  
Humpback Whale ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Environmental Covariates ◽  
Animal Habitat

Machine learning algorithms are often used to model and predict animal habitat selection—the relationships between animal occurrences and habitat characteristics. For broadly distributed species, habitat selection often varies among populations and regions; thus, it would seem preferable to fit region- or population-specific models of habitat selection for more accurate inference and prediction, rather than fitting large-scale models using pooled data. However, where the aim is to make range-wide predictions, including areas for which there are no existing data or models of habitat selection, how can regional models best be combined? We propose that ensemble approaches commonly used to combine different algorithms for a single region can be reframed, treating regional habitat selection models as the candidate models. By doing so, we can incorporate regional variation when fitting predictive models of animal habitat selection across large ranges. We test this approach using satellite telemetry data from 168 humpback whales across five geographic regions in the Southern Ocean. Using random forests, we fitted a large-scale model relating humpback whale locations, versus background locations, to 10 environmental covariates, and made a circumpolar prediction of humpback whale habitat selection. We also fitted five regional models, the predictions of which we used as input features for four ensemble approaches: an unweighted ensemble, an ensemble weighted by environmental similarity in each cell, stacked generalization, and a hybrid approach wherein the environmental covariates and regional predictions were used as input features in a new model. We tested the predictive performance of these approaches on an independent validation dataset of humpback whale sightings and whaling catches. These multiregional ensemble approaches resulted in models with higher predictive performance than the circumpolar naive model. These approaches can be used to incorporate regional variation in animal habitat selection when fitting range-wide predictive models using machine learning algorithms. This can yield more accurate predictions across regions or populations of animals that may show variation in habitat selection.

scholarly journals Disfluencies signal reference to novel objects for adults but not children

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. OWENS ◽  
Justine M. THACKER ◽  
Susan A. GRAHAM
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Novel Object ◽  
Filled Pauses ◽  
Novel Objects ◽  
Novel Targets ◽  
The Way ◽  
Familiar Objects

AbstractSpeech disfluencies can guide the ways in which listeners interpret spoken language. Here, we examined whether three-year-olds, five-year-olds, and adults use filled pauses to anticipate that a speaker is likely to refer to a novel object. Across three experiments, participants were presented with pairs of novel and familiar objects and heard a speaker refer to one of the objects using a fluent (“Look at the ball/lep!”) or disfluent (“Look at thee uh ball/lep!”) expression. The salience of the speaker's unfamiliarity with the novel referents, and the way in which the speaker referred to the novel referents (i.e., a noun vs. a description) varied across experiments. Three- and five-year-olds successfully identified familiar and novel targets, but only adults’ looking patterns reflected increased looks to novel objects in the presence of a disfluency. Together, these findings demonstrate that adults, but not young children, use filled pauses to anticipate reference to novel objects.

scholarly journals Cetacean records along a coastal-offshore gradient in the Vitória-Trindade Chain, western South Atlantic Ocean

2014 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
LL Wedekin ◽  
MR Rossi-Santos ◽  
C Baracho ◽  
AL Cypriano-Souza ◽  
PC Simões-Lopes
Keyword(s):  
Humpback Whale ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Balaenoptera Physalus ◽  
Fin Whale ◽  
Antarctic Minke Whale ◽  
Trindade Island ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Species Being

Oceanic waters are difficult to assess, and there are many gaps in knowledge regarding cetacean occurrence. To fill some of these gaps, this article provides important cetacean records obtained in the winter of 2010 during a dedicated expedition to collect visual and acoustic information in the Vitória-Trindade seamounts. We observed 19 groups of cetaceans along a 1300-km search trajectory, with six species being identified: the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae, N = 9 groups), the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus, N = 1), the Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis, N = 1), the rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis, N = 1), the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus, N = 2), and the killer whale (Orcinus orca, N = 1). Most humpback whale groups (N = 7; 78%) were observed in the Vitória-Trindade seamounts, especially the mounts close to the Abrolhos Bank. Only one lone humpback whale was observed near Trindade Island after a search effort encompassing more than 520 km. From a total of 28 acoustic stations, humpback whale songs were only detected near the seamounts close to the Abrolhos Bank, where most groups of this species were visually detected (including a competitive group and groups with calves). The presence of humpback whales at the Trindade Island and surroundings is most likely occasional, with few sightings and low density. Finally, we observed a significant number of humpback whales along the seamounts close to the Abrolhos Bank, which may function as a breeding habitat for this species. We also added important records regarding the occurrence of cetaceans in these mounts and in the Western South Atlantic, including the endangered fin whale.

scholarly journals More of the same: allopatric humpback whale populations share acoustic repertoire

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle E.H. Fournet ◽  
Lauren Jacobsen ◽  
Christine M. Gabriele ◽  
David K. Mellinger ◽  
Holger Klinck
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Humpback Whale ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Massachusetts Bay ◽  
Baleen Whale ◽  
Southeast Alaska ◽  
Allopatric Populations ◽  
Strong Contrast

Background Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a widespread, vocal baleen whale best known for producing song, a complex, repetitive, geographically distinct acoustic signal sung by males, predominantly in a breeding context. Humpback whales worldwide also produce non-song vocalizations (“calls”) throughout their migratory range, some of which are stable across generations. Methods We looked for evidence that temporally stable call types are shared by two allopatric humpback whale populations while on their northern hemisphere foraging grounds in order to test the hypothesis that some calls, in strong contrast to song, are innate within the humpback whale acoustic repertoire. Results Despite being geographically and genetically distinct populations, humpback whales in Southeast Alaska (North Pacific Ocean) share at least five call types with conspecifics in Massachusetts Bay (North Atlantic Ocean). Discussion This study is the first to identify call types shared by allopatric populations, and provides evidence that some call types may be innate.

scholarly journals A description and summary of the Antarctic Humpback Whale Catalogue

2020 ◽  
pp. 95-99
Author(s):  
Judith Allen ◽  
Carole Carlson ◽  
Peter T. Stevick
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Humpback Whale ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Dorsal Fin ◽  
Feeding Area ◽  
The Antarctic

The Antarctic Humpback Whale Catalogue (AHWC) is an international collaborative project investigating movement patterns of humpback whales in the Southern Ocean and corresponding lower latitude waters. The collection contains records contributed by 261 researchers and opportunistic sources. Photographs come from all of the Antarctic management areas, the feeding grounds in southern Chile and also most of the known or suspected low-latitude breeding areas and span more than two decades. This allows comparisons to be made over all of the major regions used by  Southern Hemisphere humpback whales. The fluke, left dorsal fin/flank and right dorsal fin/flank collections represent 3,655, 413 and 407 individual whales respectively. There were 194 individuals resighted in more than one year, and 82 individuals resighted in more than one region. Resightings document movement along the western coast of South America and movement between the Antarctic Peninsula and western coast of South America and Central America. A single individual from Brazil was resighted off South Georgia, representing the first documented link between the Brazilian breeding ground and any feeding area. A second individual from Brazil was resighted off Madagascar, documenting long distance movement of a female between non-adjacent breeding areas. Resightings also include two matches between American Samoa and the Antarctic Peninsula, documenting the first known feeding site for American Somoa and setting a new long distance seasonal migration record. Three matches between Sector V and eastern Australia support earlier evidence provided by Discovery tags. Multiple resightings of individuals in the Antarctic Peninsula during more than one season indicate that humpback whales in this area show some degree of regional feeding area fidelity. The AHWC provides a powerful non-lethal and non-invasive tool for investigating the movements and population structure of the whales utilising the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. Through this methodical, coordinated comparison and maintenance of collections from across the hemisphere, large-scale movement patterns may be examined, both within the Antarctic, and from the Antarctic to breeding grounds at low latitudes.

scholarly journals Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) observations in Laskeek Bay, western Hecate Strait, in spring and early summer, 1990–2018

2020 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-269
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Gaston ◽  
Neil G. Pilgrim ◽  
Vivian Pattison
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Humpback Whale ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Megaptera Novaeangliae ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
The West ◽  
Peak Period ◽  
West Side

We describe observations of Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) made along the west side of central Hecate Strait, British Columbia, during the spring and summer of 1990–2018. From none in March, the frequency of sightings increased from early April to a peak in May, then fell in June with few in July. The frequency of sightings during the peak period (1 May–20 June) increased over the course of the study at a mean rate of 6% a year, similar to increases recorded elsewhere in British Columbian waters. The frequency of sightings was highest in years when the Oceanic Niño Index for January–March was low and peaked earlier in years when the Oceanic Niño Index was high. Both of these relationships suggest a connection between Humpback Whale sightings in western Hecate Strait and the larger oceanographic context, with sightings more frequent in years of lower water temperatures.

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