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Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution
As zooplanktivorous predators, bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) must routinely locate patches of prey that are energy-rich enough to meet their metabolic needs. However, little is known about how the quality and quantity of prey might influence their feeding behaviours. We addressed this question...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nature Publishing Group UK
2020
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7680138/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33219277 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76071-9 |
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author | Fortune, Sarah M. E. Ferguson, Steven H. Trites, Andrew W. Hudson, Justine M. Baumgartner, Mark F. |
author_facet | Fortune, Sarah M. E. Ferguson, Steven H. Trites, Andrew W. Hudson, Justine M. Baumgartner, Mark F. |
author_sort | Fortune, Sarah M. E. |
collection | PubMed |
description | As zooplanktivorous predators, bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) must routinely locate patches of prey that are energy-rich enough to meet their metabolic needs. However, little is known about how the quality and quantity of prey might influence their feeding behaviours. We addressed this question using a new approach that included: (1) multi-scale biologging and unmanned aerial system observations of bowhead whales in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut (Canada), and (2) an optical plankton counter (OPC) and net collections to identify and enumerate copepod prey species through the water column. The OPC data revealed two prey layers comprised almost exclusively of lipid-rich calanoid copepods. The deep layer contained fewer, but larger, particles (10% greater overall biomass) than the shallow prey layer. Dive data indicated that the whales conducted long deep Square-shaped dives (80% of dives; averaging depth of 260.4 m) and short shallow Square-shaped dives (16%; averaging depth of 22.5 m) to feed. The whales tended to dive proportionally more to the greater biomass of zooplankton that occurred at depth. Combining behavioural recordings with prey sampling showed a more complex feeding ecology than previously understood, and provides a means to evaluate the energetic balance of individuals under current environmental conditions. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7680138 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | Nature Publishing Group UK |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-76801382020-11-24 Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution Fortune, Sarah M. E. Ferguson, Steven H. Trites, Andrew W. Hudson, Justine M. Baumgartner, Mark F. Sci Rep Article As zooplanktivorous predators, bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) must routinely locate patches of prey that are energy-rich enough to meet their metabolic needs. However, little is known about how the quality and quantity of prey might influence their feeding behaviours. We addressed this question using a new approach that included: (1) multi-scale biologging and unmanned aerial system observations of bowhead whales in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut (Canada), and (2) an optical plankton counter (OPC) and net collections to identify and enumerate copepod prey species through the water column. The OPC data revealed two prey layers comprised almost exclusively of lipid-rich calanoid copepods. The deep layer contained fewer, but larger, particles (10% greater overall biomass) than the shallow prey layer. Dive data indicated that the whales conducted long deep Square-shaped dives (80% of dives; averaging depth of 260.4 m) and short shallow Square-shaped dives (16%; averaging depth of 22.5 m) to feed. The whales tended to dive proportionally more to the greater biomass of zooplankton that occurred at depth. Combining behavioural recordings with prey sampling showed a more complex feeding ecology than previously understood, and provides a means to evaluate the energetic balance of individuals under current environmental conditions. Nature Publishing Group UK 2020-11-20 /pmc/articles/PMC7680138/ /pubmed/33219277 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76071-9 Text en © The Author(s) 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
spellingShingle | Article Fortune, Sarah M. E. Ferguson, Steven H. Trites, Andrew W. Hudson, Justine M. Baumgartner, Mark F. Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution |
title | Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution |
title_full | Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution |
title_fullStr | Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution |
title_full_unstemmed | Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution |
title_short | Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution |
title_sort | bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7680138/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33219277 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76071-9 |
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