scholarly journals Organismal and 'gametic' capture-recapture using microsatellite genotyping confirm low abundance and reproductive autonomy of humpback whales on the wintering grounds of New Caledonia

2004 ◽  
Vol 274 ◽  
pp. 251-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Garrigue ◽  
R Dodemont ◽  
D Steel ◽  
CS Baker
Keyword(s):  
New Caledonia ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Reproductive Autonomy ◽  
Microsatellite Genotyping ◽  
Wintering Grounds ◽  
Capture Recapture

scholarly journals Migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale song

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 190337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Owen ◽  
Luke Rendell ◽  
Rochelle Constantine ◽  
Michael J. Noad ◽  
Jenny Allen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Wintering Grounds ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
Acoustic Contact ◽  
Migratory Routes ◽  
And Migration

Cultural transmission of behaviour is important in a wide variety of vertebrate taxa from birds to humans. Vocal traditions and vocal learning provide a strong foundation for studying culture and its transmission in both humans and cetaceans. Male humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) perform complex, culturally transmitted song displays that can change both evolutionarily (through accumulations of small changes) or revolutionarily (where a population rapidly adopts a novel song). The degree of coordination and conformity underlying song revolutions makes their study of particular interest. Acoustic contact on migratory routes may provide a mechanism for cultural revolutions of song, yet these areas of contact remain uncertain. Here, we compared songs recorded from the Kermadec Islands, a recently discovered migratory stopover, to multiple South Pacific wintering grounds. Similarities in song themes from the Kermadec Islands and multiple wintering locations (from New Caledonia across to the Cook Islands) suggest a location allowing cultural transmission of song eastward across the South Pacific, active song learning (hybrid songs) and the potential for cultural convergence after acoustic isolation at the wintering grounds. As with the correlations in humans between genes, communication and migration, the migration patterns of humpback whales are written into their songs.

scholarly journals Movement of individual humpback whales between wintering grounds of Oceania (South Pacific), 1999 to 2004

2020 ◽  
pp. 275-282
Author(s):  
Claire Garrigue ◽  
Rochelle Constantine ◽  
Michael Poole ◽  
Nan Hauser ◽  
Phil Clapham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Caledonia ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
French Polynesia ◽  
American Samoa ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Wintering Grounds ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Directional Trend

The movement of individual humpback whales between regional breeding grounds of Oceania (South Pacific) was documented by individualidentification photographs collected from 1999 to 2004. Photographs were collected with comparable effort across the six years in four primaryisland breeding grounds: New Caledonia, Tonga (Vava’u) the Cook Islands and French Polynesia (Mo’orea and Rurutu); with smaller effort inadjacent regions: Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Niue and American Samoa. Interchange among wintering grounds was assessed first with all usablephotographs included in each regional catalogue, representing 1,080 regional sightings (including within-region and between-region resightings)of 949 individual whales from Oceania. From this, 28 cases of movement between (mostly adjacent) regions were documented. Previouslyundocumented interchange was found between regions of central Oceania and the western South Pacific. No individual was sighted in more thantwo regions during this six-year period. The documented movement between regions was one-directional, except for one individual sighted first inFrench Polynesia, then in American Samoa and then back in French Polynesia (each in different years). Only one whale was resighted in more thanone region during the same winter season. No directional trend was apparent and movement between regions did not seem to be sex specific. Asystematic quality control review of all catalogues was then implemented to calculate standardised indices of within-region return and betweenregion interchange, resulting in a quality controlled catalogue of 776 regional sightings of 659 individuals. The standardised indices confirmed thatthe probability of between-region interchange was low, relative to within-region return, supporting the assumption of multiple management unitsor stocks in Oceania. The relative isolation of breeding regions and the movement of individuals across the longitudinal borders of Antarcticmanagement Areas V and VI has important implications for the allocation of historical catches from the Antarctic and therefore, for assessingcurrent levels of recovery for breeding stocks

scholarly journals Abundance of humpback whales in Oceania using photo-identification and microsatellite genotyping

2012 ◽  
Vol 453 ◽  
pp. 249-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Constantine ◽  
JA Jackson ◽  
D Steel ◽  
CS Baker ◽  
L Brooks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Microsatellite Genotyping ◽  
Photo Identification

Errors in identification using natural markings: rates, sources, and effects on capture–recapture estimates of abundance

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (9) ◽  
pp. 1861-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter T Stevick ◽  
Per J Palsbøll ◽  
Tim D Smith ◽  
Mark V Bravington ◽  
Philip S Hammond
Keyword(s):  
Error Rate ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
False Negative ◽  
Parametric Bootstrap ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
The North ◽  
Abundance Estimates ◽  
Capture Recapture ◽  
Quality Rating ◽  
Estimation Of Variance

The results of a double-marking experiment using natural markings and microsatellite genetic markers to identify humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) confirm that natural markings are a reliable means of identifying individuals on a large scale. Of 1410 instances of double tagging, there were 414 resightings. No false positive and 14 false negative errors were identified. The rate of error increased with decreasing photographic quality; no errors were observed among photographs of the highest quality rating, whereas an error rate of 0.125 was identified in sightings for which only part of the area used for identification was visible. There was also a weaker relationship between error rate and the distinctiveness of markings, which may result from non-independence in coding for image quality and distinctiveness. A correction is developed for the Petersen two-sample abundance estimator to account for false negative errors in identification, and a parametric bootstrap procedure for estimation of variance is also developed. In application to abundance estimates from the North Atlantic, the correction reduces the bias in estimates made using poorer quality photographs to a negligible level while maintaining comparable precision.

scholarly journals Against the current: an inter-oceanic whale migration event

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 476-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Pomilla ◽  
Howard C Rosenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Humpback Whale ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Mobile Species ◽  
Capture Recapture ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Direct Genetic Evidence

Humpback whales seasonally migrate long distances between tropical and polar regions. However, inter-oceanic exchange is rare and difficult to document. Using skin biopsy samples collected in the Indian Ocean and in the South Atlantic Ocean, and a genetic capture–recapture approach based on microsatellite genotyping, we were able to reveal the first direct genetic evidence of the inter-oceanic migration of a male humpback whale. This exceptional migration to wintering grounds of two different ocean basins questions traditional notions of fidelity to an ocean basin, and demonstrates how the behaviour of highly mobile species may be elucidated from combining genetics with long-term field studies. Our finding has implications for management of humpback whale populations, as well as for hypotheses concerning cultural transmission of behaviour.

scholarly journals Abundance and survival estimates of the southeastern Pacific humpback whale stock from 1991–2006 photo-identification surveys in Ecuador

2020 ◽  
pp. 301-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Félix ◽  
Cristina Castro ◽  
Jeffrey L. Laake
Keyword(s):  
Annual Variation ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Collaborative Effort ◽  
Transient Effect ◽  
Photo Identification ◽  
Migration Timing ◽  
Open Population ◽  
Southeastern Pacific ◽  
Capture Recapture ◽  
Wintering Areas

Southeastern Pacific humpback whales (Breeding Stock G) breed along the northwestern coast of South America and farther north up to CostaRica. Photo-identification surveys conducted aboard whalewatching vessels during the migration/breeding season from June to September between1991 and 2006 off the coast of Ecuador (2°S, 81°W) have produced a database of 1,511 individual whales. Comparisons of photographs produced190 between-year re-sightings of 155 individual whales. Closed and open capture-recapture models were used to estimate abundance and survival.The best estimate of abundance in 2006 with the Chapman modified-Petersen was 6,504 (95% CI: 4,270–9,907; CV = 0.21). Abundance estimatesfrom open population models were considerably lower due to heterogeneity in capture probability which produced a ‘transient’ effect. Our bestestimate of true survival was 0.919 (95% CI: 0.850–0.958). Heterogeneity most likely occurred from inter-annual variation in sampling and unknownstructure and variation in the migration timing and corridor. A more extensive collaborative effort including other wintering areas further north aswell as integrating breeding-feeding data will help to reduce heterogeneity and increase precision in abundance and survival estimates.

scholarly journals Abundance of East coast Australian humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in 2005 estimated using multi-point sampling and capture-recapture analysis

2020 ◽  
pp. 253-259
Author(s):  
David A. Paton ◽  
Lyndon Brooks ◽  
Daniel Burns ◽  
Trish Franklin ◽  
Wally Franklin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
East Coast ◽  
Megaptera Novaeangliae ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Migration Route ◽  
Closed Population ◽  
Breeding Stock ◽  
Abundance Estimate ◽  
Abundance Estimates ◽  
Capture Recapture ◽  
Near Extinction

The humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) that migrate along the east coast of Australia were hunted to near extinction during the lastcentury. This remnant population is part of Breeding Stock E. Previous abundance estimates for the east Australian portion of Breeding Stock Ehave been based mainly on land-based counts. Here we present a capture-recapture abundance estimate for this population using photo-identificationdata. These data were collected at three locations on the migration route (Byron Bay – northern migration, Hervey Bay and Ballina – southernmigration) in order to estimate the population of humpback whales that migrated along the east coast of Australia in 2005. The capture-recapturedata were analysed using a variety of closed population models with a model-averaged estimate of 7,041 (95% CI 4,075–10,008) whales.

scholarly journals First assessment of interchange of humpback whales between Oceania and the East coast of Australia

2020 ◽  
pp. 269-274
Author(s):  
Claire Garrigue ◽  
Trish Franklin ◽  
Rochelle Constantine ◽  
Kirsty Russell ◽  
Daniel Burns ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
East Coast ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
French Polynesia ◽  
American Samoa ◽  
Individual Identification ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Cook Island ◽  
Breeding Grounds

The interchange of individual humpback whales between the wintering grounds of Oceania (South Pacific) and the east coast of Australia weredocumented by individual identification photographs collected from 1999 to 2004. Interchange was assessed using regional catalogues of flukephotographs, totalling 672 individuals from Oceania (represented by New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Cook Island,French Polynesia and American Samoa) and 1,242 individuals from Hervey Bay and Byron Bay representing the southbound and the northboundmigration along the east coast of Australia (EA). Overall, there were seven documented movements between EA and Oceania. Four instances ofmovement of four individuals were documented between EA and the closest breeding grounds of New Caledonia. A further three movements wererecorded between EA and a small catalogue (n = 13) from the New Zealand migratory corridor. In contrast, during this same period, 20 cases ofinterchange were documented among nine breeding grounds: French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Niue, American Samoa, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatuand New Caledonia. The low level of interchange between Oceania and the east coast of Australia has important implications for understanding thestock structure and abundance of humpback whales in the South Pacific.

scholarly journals A NOVEL BEHAVIOR OBSERVED IN HUMPBACK WHALES ON WINTERING GROUNDS AT ABROLHOS BANK (BRAZIL)

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria E. Morete ◽  
Ana Freitas ◽  
Marcia H. Engel ◽  
Richard M. Pace ◽  
Phillip J. Clapham
Keyword(s):  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Wintering Grounds ◽  
Novel Behavior
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