Summer and fall habitat of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) inferred from satellite telemetry
- 1 March 2005
- journal article
- Published by Canadian Science Publishing in Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
- Vol. 62 (3), 527-543
- https://doi.org/10.1139/f04-238
Abstract
Satellite-monitored radio tags were attached to North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Grand Manan Basin of the lower Bay of Fundy during the summer and early fall seasons of 1989–1991 and 2000. Monte Carlo tests were used to examine the distribution of the tagged whales in space and time and with respect to a variety of environmental variables to characterize right whale habitat on their northern feeding grounds. These environmental variables included depth, depth gradient, climatological surface and bottom hydrographic properties, and remotely sensed surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration, and their respective horizontal gradients. Site fidelity in the Bay of Fundy was very low during 1989–1991 and high during 2000. When the tagged animals left the Bay, they did not frequently visit the deep basins of the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf, where abundances of their primary copepod prey, Calanus finmarchicus, are thought to be high. Instead, right whales visited areas characterized by low bottom water temperatures, high surface salinity, and high surface stratification. No evidence was found that the tagged right whales associated with oceanic fronts or regions with high standing stocks of phytoplankton.Keywords
This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit:
- Summertime foraging ecology of North Atlantic right whalesMarine Ecology Progress Series, 2003
- Associations between North Atlantic right whales and their prey, Calanus finmarchicus, over diel and tidal time scalesMarine Ecology Progress Series, 2003
- North Atlantic right whale habitat in the lower Bay of Fundy and on the SW Scotian Shelf during 1999-2001Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2003
- Data analysis system developed for ocean color satellite sensorsEos, 2001
- Declining survival probability threatens the North Atlantic right whaleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1999
- Baleen whales: conservation issues and the status of the most endangered populationsMammal Review, 1999
- Late fall-early winter recruitment of Calanus finmarchicus on Georges BankMarine Ecology Progress Series, 1997
- Diel feeding behavior and ingestion rate in the copepod Calanus finmarchicus in the southern Gulf of Maine during late springContinental Shelf Research, 1995
- Relationship between the distribution pattern of right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, and satellite-derived sea surface thermal structure in the Great South ChannelContinental Shelf Research, 1989
- Processing and analysis of large volumes of satellite‐derived thermal infrared dataPublished by American Geophysical Union (AGU) ,1987