Extremely low seasonal prey capture efficiency in a deep-diving whale, the narwhal.

ABSTRACT: Successful foraging is essential for individuals to maintain the positive energy balance required for survival and reproduction. Yet, prey capture efficiency is poorly documented in marine apex predators, especially deep-diving mammals. We deployed acoustic tags and stomach temperature pills in summer to collect concurrent information on presumed foraging activity (through buzz detection) and successful prey captures (through drops in stomach temperature), providing estimates of feeding efficiency in narwhals. Compared to the daily number of buzzes (707 ± 368), the daily rate of feeding events was particularly low in summer (19.8 ± 8.9) and only 8-14% of the foraging dives were successful (i.e. with a detectable prey capture). This extremely low success rate resulted in a very low daily fo

SUBMITTER: Chambault P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9943871 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature