Western gray whales on their summer feeding ground off Sakhalin Island in 2015: who is foraging where?

ABSTRACT: In the face of cumulative effects of oil and gas activities on the endangered western gray whale, informed management decisions rely on knowledge of gray whale spatial use patterns as a function of demographic group and prey energy. In particular, the gray whale foraging ground off Sakhalin Island consists of two distinct areas (nearshore and offshore) with the offshore feeding area exhibiting markedly high prey energy content. Based on photo-identification data collected from 2002 to 2015, we determined that gray whale use of the offshore feeding area increased with age. Pregnant females were more likely to be sighted only nearshore when nearshore prey energy and the proportion of nearshore energy from amphipods were higher. Likewise, females arriving with calves were less likely to be si

SUBMITTER: Schwarz LK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9579093 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature