Table 6 - uploaded by Fannie W. Shabangu
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Summary of photo-identification and biopsy sampling of blue whales carried out from the SA Agulhas II during the Antarctic blue whale survey.
Source publication
The South African Antarctic Blue Whale Project proposed two major research objectives during the 2013/2014 South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE) 53 cruise to Queen Maud Land coastal region on the SA Agulhas II. An Autonomous Acoustic Recorder (AAR) mooring deployment was carried out on the Maud Rise at 65°00S; 002°30’E in water depths...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... of photo-identification and biopsy sampling of blue whales are summarised in Table 6 below. A total of four blue whales were successfully biopsied from 8 biopsy shot attempts and at least 16 animals are believed to have been adequately photographed by the three camera systems from either the small boat or the SA Agulhas II. ...
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Citations
... Thus, the region is of interest to post harvesting dynamics of the species. Post whaling era visual sightings remain scarce outside of the Antarctic, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean (Findlay et al. 2014). Here, we present the first sighting of Antarctic blue whale cow-calf pair off the west coast of South Africa post the whaling era, which suggests this region may be a breeding/nursing/calving area for the subspecies. ...
Blue whales are rarely sighted off the coasts of South Africa due to their low numbers and offshore habitat preference. Visual observations to search for marine mammals were conducted onboard a platform of opportunity during the Integrated Ecosystems Programme survey in November 2019. A cow–calf pair of blue whales Balaenoptera musculus was sighted offshore Kleinzee (30°05′02.4" S, 14°24′53.2" E) at a water depth of 1670 m on the west coast of South Africa in the southern Benguela Current System. The pair was identified as Antarctic blue whales B. m. intermedia based on the size of the cow (~ 29 m), “torpedo-shaped” body of the cow, known distribution ranges and recent acoustic data showing that pygmy blue whales B. m. brevicauda do not occur in these waters. The calf was likely born in the Benguela ecosystem given its relatively small size. This is the first sighting of Antarctic blue whale cow–calf pair in South African waters post whaling, indicating that animals might still use this area as a calving or nursing ground. Improved protection of this region in the low latitudes might benefit the recovery and conservation of the species.
... Cetaceans interact with the Southern Ocean ecosystem in several ways and play important roles, e.g. in nutrient recycling and in controlling the structure of the living community (e.g. Bowen 1997, Katona & Whitehead 1988 Findlay et al. (2014) provides further data, but the authors do not recommend their use prior to final validation. Our knowledge about the functional role and the spatial patterns of cetacean activities in the Southern Ocean ecosystem is still sparse. ...
... Highest encounter rates of blue whales (0.17-0.52 sighting/1000 km) were found close to the sea ice edge in the area between 20°W-50°E during the IWC IDCR/SOWER surveys (Branch et al., 2007b). Recently, a survey was conducted in the area 0-20°E along zigzag transect lines from the ice edge to 67˚S, within the period 13-23 January 2014 (Findlay et al., 2014). During 82 hours of dedicated survey effort covering almost 1000 nm (ca 1800 km), 14 observations of 20 blue whales were recorded, corresponding to an encounter rate of almost 0.78 sighting/1000 km. ...
... During 82 hours of dedicated survey effort covering almost 1000 nm (ca 1800 km), 14 observations of 20 blue whales were recorded, corresponding to an encounter rate of almost 0.78 sighting/1000 km. Findlay et al. (2014) concluded that the relatively high number of Antarctic blue whale individuals sighted supports previous findings by the IDCR/SOWER cruises reporting the waters from 0-to 20°E off the Queen Maud Land coast as a hotspot area for Antarctic blue whales. ...
... Our results are well in line with the hotspot areas identified from historical whaling records, SOWER and IDCR surveys, more recent surveys and acoustic detections, but they suggest a more westerly extension of the reported hot spot between the Greenwich Meridian and 20°E (Findlay et al., 2014). ...
During the RV Polarstern PS 89 (ANT-XXX/2) expedition from Cape Town to Atka Bay and back,
20 sightings of 26 individual blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) were recorded in Antarctic waters
west of the Greenwich Meridian between 16-20 January 2015. These observations suggest a more
westerly extension of a reported hot spot between the Greenwich Meridian and 20°E.
Marine mammals, and in particular Antarctic blue whales, represent an important predator component of marine ecosystems. These mammals are considered to be critically endangered due to unsustainable whaling practices in the previous century. Currently, it is also difficult to monitor the species’ population recovery through the use of sighting surveys. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) can be used to research Antarctic blue whales because they are quite vocal and can be detected over long distances through the use of this technology. PAM also has considerable application potential to other baleen species that reside in South African waters, including fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus). It is, however, still an emerging
methodology in South Africa and a number of challenges need to be addressed before it reaches the same level of maturity as visual surveys in South Africa and around the world.
