Straight as an arrow: humpback whales swim constant course tracks during long-distance migration

Humpback whale seasonal migrations, spanning greater than 6500 km of open ocean, demonstrate remarkable navigational precision despite following spatially and temporally distinct migration routes. Satellite-monitored radio tag-derived humpback whale migration tracks in both the South Atlantic and So...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBiology letters (2005) Vol. 7; no. 5; pp. 674 - 679
Main Authors Horton, Travis W, Holdaway, Richard N, Zerbini, Alexandre N, Hauser, Nan, Garrigue, Claire, Andriolo, Artur, Clapham, Phillip J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Royal Society 23.10.2011
The Royal Society
Subjects
Animal Behaviour
Animal Migration
Animals
Constant Course
Humpback Whale - physiology
Humpback Whales
Marine
Megaptera novaeangliae
Migration
migratory behavior
Navigation
radio
Sea-Surface Currents
Swimming
whales
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
IS, South Pacific
AS, South Atlantic
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Summary:Humpback whale seasonal migrations, spanning greater than 6500 km of open ocean, demonstrate remarkable navigational precision despite following spatially and temporally distinct migration routes. Satellite-monitored radio tag-derived humpback whale migration tracks in both the South Atlantic and South Pacific include constant course segments of greater than 200 km, each spanning several days of continuous movement. The whales studied here maintain these directed movements, often with better than 1° precision, despite the effects of variable sea-surface currents. Such remarkable directional precision is difficult to explain by established models of directional orientation, suggesting that alternative compass mechanisms should be explored.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1744-9561
1744-957X
DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0279