Humpback whale song occurrence reflects ecosystem variability in feeding and migratory habitat of the northeast Pacific

Authors
Ryan, John P.
Cline, Danelle E.
Joseph, John E.
Margolina, Tetyana
Santora, Jarrod A.
Kudela, Raphael M.
Chavez, Francisco P.
Pennington, J. Timothy
Wahl, Christopher
Michisaki, Reiko
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Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2019-09-16
Date
September 2019
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Language
Abstract
This study examines the occurrence of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song in the northeast Pacific from three years of continuous recordings off central California (36.713˚N, 122.186˚W). Song is prevalent in this feeding and migratory habitat, spanning nine months of the year (September–May), peaking in winter (November–January), and reaching a maximum of 86% temporal coverage (during November 2017). From the rise of song in fall through the end of peak occurrence in winter, song length increases significantly from month to month. The seasonal peak in song coincides with the seasonal trough in day length and sighting-based evidence of whales leaving Monterey Bay, consistent with seasonal migration. During the seasonal song peak, diel variation shows maximum occurrence at night (69% of the time), decreasing during dawn and dusk (52%), and further decreasing with increasing solar elevation during the day, reaching a minimum near solar noon (30%). Song occurrence increased 44% and 55% between successive years. Sighting data within the acoustic detection range of the hydrophone indicate that variation in local population density was an unlikely cause of this large interannual variation. Hydrographic data and modeling of acoustic transmission indicate that changes in neither habitat occupancy nor acoustic transmission were probable causes. Conversely, the positive interannual trend in song paralleled major ecosystem variations, including similarly large positive trends in winddriven upwelling, primary productivity, and krill abundance. Further, the lowest song occurrence during the first year coincided with anomalously warm ocean temperatures and an extremely toxic harmful algal bloom that affected whales and other marine mammals in the region. These major ecosystem variations may have influenced the health and behavior of humpback whales during the study period.
Type
Article
Description
Most physical oceanographic data and some biological data used in this study are available through servers supported by federal and state agencies, as specified in the Methods section. Glider data are available from UCSD: https://spraydata.ucsd.edu/ projects/CUGN/. All other data presented have been deposited in a repository and are available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4584026.v1.
The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222456
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/10945/64426
Series/Report No
Department
Organization
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System
Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS)
NOAA
NOAA ECOHAB
Funder
JPR
DEC
FPC
JTP
JTP
CW
RM
KBB
NOAA NA16NOS0120021
NOAA ECOHAB Program (NA11NOS4780030
NSF Award 1514756
Format
24 p.
Citation
Ryan, John P., et al. "Humpback whale song occurrence reflects ecosystem variability in feeding and migratory habitat of the northeast Pacific." PloS one 14.9 (2019).
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.
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