Horizontal and vertical movements of humpback whales inform the use of critical pelagic habitats in the western South Pacific.

ABSTRACT: Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known for their nearshore distribution during the breeding season, but their pelagic habitat use patterns remain mostly unexplored. From 2016 to 2018, 18 humpback whales were equipped with depth-recording satellite tags (SPLASH10) to shed light on environmental and social drivers of seamount association around New Caledonia in the western South Pacific. Movement paths were spatially structured around shallow seamounts (<200 m). Indeed, two males stopped over the Lord Howe seamount chain during the first-ever recorded longitudinal transit between New Caledonia and the east coast of Australia. Residence time significantly increased with proximity to shallow seamounts, while dive depth increased in the vicinity of seafloor ridges. Most of the 7,986

SUBMITTER: Derville S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7078318 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature