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Dodson S, Oestreich WK, Savoca MS, Hazen EL, Bograd SJ, Ryan JP, Fiechter J, Abrahms B. Long-distance communication can enable collective migration in a dynamic seascape. Sci Rep 2024; 14:14857. [PMID: 38937635 PMCID: PMC11211507 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65827-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Social information is predicted to enhance the quality of animals' migratory decisions in dynamic ecosystems, but the relative benefits of social information in the long-range movements of marine megafauna are unknown. In particular, whether and how migrants use nonlocal information gained through social communication at the large spatial scale of oceanic ecosystems remains unclear. Here we test hypotheses about the cues underlying timing of blue whales' breeding migration in the Northeast Pacific via individual-based models parameterized by empirical behavioral data. Comparing emergent patterns from individual-based models to individual and population-level empirical metrics of migration timing, we find that individual whales likely rely on both personal and social sources of information about forage availability in deciding when to depart from their vast and dynamic foraging habitat and initiate breeding migration. Empirical patterns of migratory phenology can only be reproduced by models in which individuals use long-distance social information about conspecifics' behavioral state, which is known to be encoded in the patterning of their widely propagating songs. Further, social communication improves pre-migration seasonal foraging performance by over 60% relative to asocial movement mechanisms. Our results suggest that long-range communication enhances the perceptual ranges of migrating whales beyond that of any individual, resulting in increased foraging performance and more collective migration timing. These findings indicate the value of nonlocal social information in an oceanic migrant and suggest the importance of long-distance acoustic communication in the collective migration of wide-ranging marine megafauna.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Dodson
- Department of Mathematics, Colby College, Waterville, ME, 04901, USA.
| | | | - Matthew S Savoca
- Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, 93950, USA
| | - Elliott L Hazen
- Environmental Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Monterey, CA, 93940, USA
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA
| | - Steven J Bograd
- Environmental Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Monterey, CA, 93940, USA
| | - John P Ryan
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, 95039, USA
| | - Jerome Fiechter
- Department of Ocean Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA
| | - Briana Abrahms
- Department of Biology, Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
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Ferreira LC, Jenner C, Jenner M, Udyawer V, Radford B, Davenport A, Moller L, Andrews-Goff V, Double M, Thums M. Predicting suitable habitats for foraging and migration in Eastern Indian Ocean pygmy blue whales from satellite tracking data. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2024; 12:42. [PMID: 38845039 PMCID: PMC11157879 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-024-00481-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Accurate predictions of animal occurrence in time and space are crucial for informing and implementing science-based management strategies for threatened species. METHODS We compiled known, available satellite tracking data for pygmy blue whales in the Eastern Indian Ocean (n = 38), applied movement models to define low (foraging and reproduction) and high (migratory) move persistence underlying location estimates and matched these with environmental data. We then used machine learning models to identify the relationship between whale occurrence and environment, and predict foraging and migration habitat suitability in Australia and Southeast Asia. RESULTS Our model predictions were validated by producing spatially varying accuracy metrics. We identified the shelf off the Bonney Coast, Great Australian Bight, and southern Western Australia as well as the slope off the Western Australian coast as suitable habitat for migration, with predicted foraging/reproduction suitable habitat in Southeast Asia region occurring on slope and in deep ocean waters. Suitable foraging habitat occurred primarily on slope and shelf break throughout most of Australia, with use of the continental shelf also occurring, predominanly in South West and Southern Australia. Depth of the water column (bathymetry) was consistently a top predictor of suitable habitat for most regions, however, dynamic environmental variables (sea surface temperature, surface height anomaly) influenced the probability of whale occurrence. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate suitable habitat is related to dynamic, localised oceanic processes that may occur at fine temporal scales or seasonally. An increase in the sample size of tagged whales is required to move towards developing more dynamic distribution models at seasonal and monthly temporal scales. Our validation metrics also indicated areas where further data collection is needed to improve model accuracy. This is of particular importance for pygmy blue whale management, since threats (e.g., shipping, underwater noise and artificial structures) from the offshore energy and shipping industries will persist or may increase with the onset of an offshore renewable energy sector in Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luciana C Ferreira
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
| | - Curt Jenner
- Centre for Whale Research (WA) Inc., Fremantle, WA, Australia
| | | | - Vinay Udyawer
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Ben Radford
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Andrew Davenport
- Centre for Whale Research (WA) Inc., Fremantle, WA, Australia
- Centre for Marine Science and Technology, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia
| | - Luciana Moller
- Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, Australia
| | - Virginia Andrews-Goff
- Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Kingston, TAS, Australia
| | - Mike Double
- Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Kingston, TAS, Australia
| | - Michele Thums
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
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Fahlbusch JA, Cade DE, Hazen EL, Elliott ML, Saenz BT, Goldbogen JA, Jahncke J. Submesoscale coupling of krill and whales revealed by aggregative Lagrangian coherent structures. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232461. [PMID: 38378145 PMCID: PMC10878820 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
In the marine environment, dynamic physical processes shape biological productivity and predator-prey interactions across multiple scales. Identifying pathways of physical-biological coupling is fundamental to understand the functioning of marine ecosystems yet it is challenging because the interactions are difficult to measure. We examined submesoscale (less than 100 km) surface current features using remote sensing techniques alongside ship-based surveys of krill and baleen whale distributions in the California Current System. We found that aggregative surface current features, represented by Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS) integrated over temporal scales between 2 and 10 days, were associated with increased (a) krill density (up to 2.6 times more dense), (b) baleen whale presence (up to 8.3 times more likely) and (c) subsurface seawater density (at depths up to 10 m). The link between physical oceanography, krill density and krill-predator distributions suggests that LCS are important features that drive the flux of energy and nutrients across trophic levels. Our results may help inform dynamic management strategies aimed at reducing large whales ship strikes and help assess the potential impacts of environmental change on this critical ecosystem.
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Grants
- Funding for ACCESS was provided in part by the Angell Family Foundation, Bently Foundation, Bonnell Cove Foundation, Boring Family Foundation, California Sea Grant, Elinor Patterson Baker Trust, Faucett Catalyst Fund, Firedoll Foundation, Hellman Family Foundation, Moore Family Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Pacific Life Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund, Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals and Point Blue donors.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A. Fahlbusch
- Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
- Cascadia Research Collective, Olympia, WA, USA
| | - David E. Cade
- Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
| | - Elliott L. Hazen
- Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
- Ecosystem Science Division, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Monterey, CA, USA
| | - Meredith L. Elliott
- California Current Group, Point Blue Conservation Science, Petaluma, CA, USA
| | | | - Jeremy A. Goldbogen
- Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
| | - Jaime Jahncke
- California Current Group, Point Blue Conservation Science, Petaluma, CA, USA
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Fahlbusch JA, Czapanskiy MF, Calambokidis J, Cade DE, Abrahms B, Hazen EL, Goldbogen JA. Blue whales increase feeding rates at fine-scale ocean features. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221180. [PMID: 35975432 PMCID: PMC9382224 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Marine predators face the challenge of reliably finding prey that is patchily distributed in space and time. Predators make movement decisions at multiple spatial and temporal scales, yet we have a limited understanding of how habitat selection at multiple scales translates into foraging performance. In the ocean, there is mounting evidence that submesoscale (i.e. less than 100 km) processes drive the formation of dense prey patches that should hypothetically provide feeding hot spots and increase predator foraging success. Here, we integrated environmental remote-sensing with high-resolution animal-borne biologging data to evaluate submesoscale surface current features in relation to the habitat selection and foraging performance of blue whales in the California Current System. Our study revealed a consistent functional relationship in which blue whales disproportionately foraged within dynamic aggregative submesoscale features at both the regional and feeding site scales across seasons, regions and years. Moreover, we found that blue whale feeding rates increased in areas with stronger aggregative features, suggesting that these features indicate areas of higher prey density. The use of fine-scale, dynamic features by foraging blue whales underscores the need to take these features into account when designating critical habitat and may help inform strategies to mitigate the impacts of human activities for the species.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A. Fahlbusch
- Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA,Cascadia Research Collective, Olympia, WA, USA
| | - Max F. Czapanskiy
- Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
| | | | - David E. Cade
- Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
| | - Briana Abrahms
- Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Elliott L. Hazen
- Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA,Environmental Research Division, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Monterey, CA, USA
| | - Jeremy A. Goldbogen
- Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
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