Centuries of whaling data highlight likely climate change effect

Date:
February 28, 2023
Source:
University of Auckland
Summary:
Centuries-old whaling records show how southern right whales are
altering their feeding habits.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Southern right whales adjusted their foraging grounds over the past 30
years as climate change altered where prey could be found, according to
a University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau scientist.


==========================================================================
Dr Emma Carroll, of the School of Biological Sciences, was senior author
of a paper which used data gleaned from contemporary whale skin samples
along with whaling records stretching back to 1792. Over the past three decades, the whales increased their use of mid-latitude foraging grounds
in the south Atlantic and southwest Indian oceans in the late summer and autumn, according to Carroll and dozens of collaborators including lead
author Sole`ne Derville, of Oregon State University.

The whales also slightly increased their use of high latitude foraging
grounds in the southwest Pacific, according to the article, published in
the journal PNAS. Southern right whales, or Tohorā, live south of the equator, eating krill and copepods, which are small crustaceans. Chemical analysis of skin samples revealed the whales' feeding patterns in recent decades. The main source of historic data was the American whaling
fleet's detailed records of where and what species were observed and
killed in the Southern Hemisphere from the 18th to the early 20th century.

The whales' history and efforts to support Aotearoa's population are
detailed on the website Tohorā Voyages.

Tohorā were hunted to near extinction, with global numbers falling
to as low as 500. By 2009, an estimated 2,200 of the creatures were in
New Zealand waters, moving between the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands (Maungahuka) and Campbell Island (Motu Ihupuku), and occasionally around mainland New Zealand including Stewart Island (Rakiura).

Southern right whales live from about 30 degrees South to more than
60 degrees South, the edge of the Antarctic. Large and slow-moving,
the whales are mostly black in colour and easily identified by white
growths on their heads called callosities. They have no dorsal fin and
a V-shaped blowhole spray.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Plants_&_Animals
# Dolphins_and_Whales # Marine_Biology # Sea_Life # Nature
o Fossils_&_Ruins
# Early_Climate # Early_Mammals # Fossils # Origin_of_Life
* RELATED_TERMS
o Right_whale o Whale o Baleen_whale o Gray_Whale o Hawk o
Sei_Whale o Fin_Whale o Whale_song

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Auckland. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sole`ne Derville, Leigh G. Torres, Seth D. Newsome, Christopher
J. Somes,
Luciano O. Valenzuela, Hannah B. Vander Zanden, C. Scott Baker,
Martine Be'rube', Geraldine Busquets-Vass, Kris Carlyon, Simon
J. Childerhouse, Rochelle Constantine, Glenn Dunshea, Paulo
A. C. Flores, Simon D.

Goldsworthy, Brittany Graham, Karina Groch, Darren R. Gro"cke,
Robert Harcourt, Mark A. Hindell, Pavel Hulva, Jennifer A. Jackson,
Amy S.

Kennedy, David Lundquist, Alice I. Mackay, Petra Neveceralova,
Larissa Oliveira, Paulo H. Ott, Per J. Palsbo/ll, Nathalie
J. Patenaude, Victoria Rowntree, Mariano Sironi, Els Vermeuelen,
Mandy Watson, Alexandre N.

Zerbini, Emma L. Carroll. Long-term stability in the circumpolar
foraging range of a Southern Ocean predator between the eras of
whaling and rapid climate change. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 2023; 120 (10) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2214035120 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230228205235.htm

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