Title
Tracking southern right whales through the southwest Atlantic: An update on movements, migratory routes and feeding grounds
Author(s)
Zerbini, Alexandre N.; Rosenbaum, Howard; Mendez, Martin; Sucunza, Federico; Andriolo, Artur; Harris, Guillermo; Clapham, Phillip J.; Sironi, Mariano; Uhart, Marcela; Ajo, Alejandro F.
Published
2016
Abstract
Satellite transmitters were attached to seven southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) in their breeding grounds in Golfo Nuevo, Península Valdés, Argentina, to monitor their movements and migration towards feeding destinations. Fifteen integrated transdermal implanted tags were deployed in juvenile and adult whales. Tag duration varied between 10 and 237 days (average of 90 days). Movement patterns showed substantial individual and yearly variation. Tagged whales visited the outer Patagonian shelf east of Península Valdés and north of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, the Scotia Sea near South Georgia/Islas Georgia del Sur and the South Sandwich Islands/Islas Sandwich del Sur, and the South Atlantic basin between 38 and 58oS. State-space models were used to estimate behavioral states and suggested areas of potential foraging importance in the Patagonian shelf, the subtropical convergence and the continental shelf break east of South Georgia/Islas Georgia del Sur. A preliminary investigation of movement patterns relative to oceanographic features indicated that SRWs may be using anti-cyclonic cold eddies in the Subtropical Convergence for foraging. In addition, dive profiles suggest potential differences in how juvenile and adult whales explore the water column.
Keywords
Feeding grounds; Migration; Satellite tagging; Southern right whales; Western South Atlantic
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PUB27043