Depredating sperm whales in the Gulf of Alaska: local habitat use and long distance movements across putative population boundaries
Satellite tags were attached to 10 sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus (1 whale was tagged in 2 different years) to determine the movements of sperm whales involved in removal of sablefish from longline fishing gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Tags transmitted from 3 to 34 d (median = 22) in 2007 a...
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Published in | Endangered species research Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 125 - 135 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Inter-Research
01.01.2014
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Satellite tags were attached to 10 sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus (1 whale was tagged in 2 different years) to determine the movements of sperm whales involved in removal of sablefish from longline fishing gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Tags transmitted from 3 to 34 d (median = 22) in 2007 and 7 to 158 d (median = 45) in 2009. Seven whales stayed in the GOA; all were associating with fishing vessels along the slope. Two whales headed south in June shortly after being tagged; one reached the inner third of the Sea of Cortez; the other's last location was offshore Mexico at 14 degree N. A third whale stayed in the GOA until October and then headed south, reaching central Baja, Mexico, 158 d after tagging. The whales that travelled to lower latitudes followed no pattern in timing of departure, and at least 2 had different destinations. All whales passed through the California Current without stopping and did not travel to Hawaii; both are areas with known concentrations of sperm whales. Whales travelled faster when south of 56 degree N than when foraging in the GOA (median rate of median horizontal movement = 5.4 [range:4.1 to 5.5] and 1.3 [range:0.6 to 2.5] km h super(-1), respectively). Tagged sperm whales primarily travelled over the slope, but one spent considerable time over the ocean basin. Information on the timing and movement patterns of sperm whales may provide a means for fishermen to avoid fishing at whale hot spots, potentially reducing interactions between whales and fishermen. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1863-5407 1613-4796 |
DOI: | 10.3354/esr00595 |