Humpback whales

Simple Summary: Nursing in large baleen whales and specifically the humpback whale is not well documented and difficult to capture in real time. Using underwater video documentation techniques, we collected digital video footage of humpback whale nursing events. From this, we provide an enhanced descriptive account of humpback whale suckling and recorded milk in the water near a nursing mother and calf column for the first time. As part of our investigation into nursing behaviors, we assessed if humpback calves demonstrated any patterns of laterality during nursing events. A pattern of laterality was noted in that all suckling events had a right side bias. Nursing bouts were short and intermittent, which coincides with what is known of larger terrestrial mammals such as the African elephant and other baleen whales. These shorter nursing periods are likely are due to the energetics of baleen whale milk coupled with the calf s short respiration cycle before it has to return to the surface to breathe. Our study shows that underwater observations in marine mammal science provide valuable insight into real time events not easily accessible from vessel or aerial platforms. Abstract: We investigated nursing behavior on the Hawaiian breeding grounds for first year humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) calves. We observed and video-documented underwater events with nursing behavior from five different whale groups. The observed nursing events include behaviors where a calf positions itself at a 30–45 • angle to the midline of the mother's body, with its mouth touching her mammary slit (i.e., suckling position). On two occasions, milk in the water column was recorded in close proximity to a mother/calf pair, and on one occasion, milk was recorded 2.5 min after suckling observed. Nursing events, where the calf was located in the suckling position, were found to be short in duration with a mean of 30.6 s (range 15.0–55.0, standard deviation (SD) = 16.9). All observations of the calf in the suckling position (n = 5, 100%) were with the calf located on the right side of the mother, suggesting a potential for right side laterality preference in the context of nursing behavior. Our study provides insight into mother/calf behaviors from a unique underwater vantage. Results supplement previous accounts of humpback whale nursing in Hawaiian waters, validate mother/calf positioning, document milk in the water column, and introduce the potential for laterality in nursing behavior for humpback whale calves.

El Centro para la Conservación y Ecodesarrollo de la Bahía de Samaná (CEBSE, Inc.) y la Asociación de Dueños de Barcos de la Bahía de Samaná (ASDUBAHISA) han unido esfuerzos para elaborar el Catálogo de ballenas jorobadas del Santuario de Mamíferos Marinos de República Dominicana. Este catálogo, que se presenta en su primera versión, cuenta con más de 900 individuos de ballenas jorobadas que han sido fotoidentificados desde el 2000 al 2013, tanto en la Bahía de Samaná como en el Banco de la Plata.

Desde 1999, cada temporada, el CEBSE coordina el Programa de Monitoreo de ballenas jorobadas desde las propias embarcaciones comerciales de observación turística de ballenas, con el apoyo de ASDUBAHISA. En este programa participan investigadores nacionales y extranjeros, estudiantes locales y voluntarios. Producto del trabajo de cientos de monitores que han realizado más de 1,900 salidas al mar en la Bahía de Samaná, se han documentado más de 3,800 avistamientos de ballenas en el extremo Noreste de la bahía, el borde Este de la Península de Samaná y las aguas oceánicas adyacentes. Para la elaboración del catálogo se contó con la colaboración del equipo de Conscious Breath Adventures, quienes con una experiencia de más de 10 temporadas, han documentando a las ballenas jorobadas en el Banco de la Plata.

Las ballenas jorobadas, Megaptera novaeangliae, del Atlántico Norte Occidental migran cada invierno desde sus áreas de alimentación en las aguas costeras frías de Norte América, Groenlandia e Islandia, hasta las aguas cálidas del Atlántico Occidental Tropical y el Caribe insular. El motivo de tan extenso viaje es reproductivo, pues se aparean y paren sus crías en estas bajas latitudes. Es una maravilla de la adaptación natural que estos mamíferos gigantes puedan administrar tan bien sus reservas de energía en un periodo de unos 3-4 meses, usualmente entre Enero–Abril, para realizar ese largo viaje ida y vuelta, emplear energía en el cortejo, las hembras preñadas parir y alimentar sus crías, todo sin alimentarse mientras permanecen en las áreas reproductivas y hacen la travesía.
La Bahía de Samaná es uno de los destinos de una porción de la población, y lo ha sido por mucho tiempo, como lo testifican pictografías tainas en cuevas de la zona. En tiempos mucho más recientes la visita anual ha dado lugar a una actividad turística de observación que es una de las más atractivas en el mundo, por lo cerca que se encuentran las ballenas en la entrada de la bahía. Para la región y el resto del turismo nacional, la observación de ballenas genera una importante actividad económica, en especial para la flota de embarcaciones que provee los servicios

Arias-Gaviria, D.,  Muñoz-Vargas, C.A. & I.C. Avila. 2011. Tourist Guide of Whalewatching in Colombia. Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Vice Ministry of Tourism, Directorate of Quality and Sustainable Development of Tourism of Colombia. Bogotá, Colombia. 61p. (Español & English).
Available online http://www.guiadeballenas.com/english/
Disponible en linea http://www.guiadeballenas.com/

Este informe de la temporada de observación de ballenas 2013, tiene el objetivo general
de mostrar y describir los resultados obtenidos en el monitoreo de ballenas jorobadas en
la Bahía de Samaná durante la temporada 2013.
Objetivos Especificos:
• mantener actualizado el conocimiento de la situación y las tendencias de variación de la distribución, estructura social y conducta del segmento poblacional de las ballenas jorobadas sometido a observación turística en la Bahía de Samaná,
• estimar el número de individuos que visitaron la Bahía de Samaná en 2013 a través de la fotoidentificación,
• darle seguimiento al estado de salud de los individuos a través de la identificación de afectaciones en la piel y/o malformaciones,
• identificar y describir los principales impactos antropogénicos que puedan estar afectando a las ballenas jorobadas en el área de observación, conociendo que es una zona de múltiples usos en la bahía, y
• derivar recomendaciones con medidas de manejo a fin de proteger y conservar este recurso natural considerado como un patrimonio nacional.

In this paper, hydrodynamic effects of ventral pleats covering mouth and bell parts of humpback whales are studied for the first time. In this regard, turbulent flows over a simplified model of the animal body as a half grooved ellipsoid are numerically simulated using Lam-Bremhorst low Reynolds turbulence model resolving to the wall at different angles of attack and sideslip. The results show that presence of the ventral pleats leads to formation of low speed strips and shear layer/vortex on the bottom surface of the animal, which in turn results in a relatively higher pressure region on the bell and higher drag coefficient compared to a case without grooves. In this way, pleats generate lift and contribute to buoyancy force and also increase tendency of flow separation. The results also depict superior performance of the grooved body at sideslip angles. Furthermore, results of cavitating flow simulation over the grooved model showed a suppression of lift generation contribution of the ventral grooved surface in cavitating conditions, the most similar situations to bubbly flows experienced by humpback whales in bubble net fishing environment.

Inspired by topology of humpback whale flippers, a meta-model is designed for wing planform design. The net is trained based on experimental data using cascade-forward artificial neural network (ANN) to investigate effects of the amplitude and wavelength of sinusoidal leading edge configurations on the wing performance. Afterwards, the trained ANN is coupled with a genetic algorithm method towards an optimum design strategy. Finally, flow physics of the problem for an optimized rectangular planform and also a real flipper geometry planform is simulated using Lam-Bremhorst low Reynolds number turbulence model with damping wall-functions resolving to the wall. Lift and drag coefficients and also details of flow are presented along with comparisons to available experimental data. Results show that the proposed strategy can be adopted with success as a fast-estimation tool for performance prediction of wing planforms with wavy leading edge at preliminary design phase.

Flórez-González, L., I.C. Avila, J. Capella, P. Falk, F. Félix, J. Gibbons, H. Guzmán, B. Haase, J. Herrera, V. Peña, L. Santillán, I.C. Tobón & K. Van Waerebeek. 2007. The Conservation Strategy of the Southeastern Pacific humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). Fundación Yubarta (Ed.). Cali. Colombia. 106p. ISBN 978-958-96199-3-2.

Estrategia para la conservación de la ballena jorobada del Pacífico Sudeste. Lineamientos para un plan de acción regional e iniciativas nacionales.

El objetivo general de este informe es el apoyo en la gestión del Santuario de Mamíferos Marinos de la República Dominicana a través del Programa de Monitoreo de Ballenas Jorobadas (Esquema 1. y Esquema 2.) y por lo tanto, a su vez, conservar este recurso natural y proteger la biodiversidad

El libro expone y discute datos sobre distribución, uso del hábitat, grupos sociales, abundancia relativa y fotoidentificación de las ballenas jorobadas en la Bahía de Samaná, obtenidos entre enero y marzo de los años 2004, 2005 y 2006. Se presenta el modelo batimétrico digital del área de observación de ballenas de la Bahía de Samaná y una caracterización de las variables oceanográficas durante los meses de la temporada reproductiva.

A large complete wall of the whale barnacle Coronula diadema (Linnaeus, 1767) occurring in early Pleistocene (Calabrian) mudstones near Riparbella (Tuscany, Italy) is described. Sedimentary facies analysis indicates that these deposits represent an open shelf setting, similar to many of those reported for whale fossils to date. The extant and fossil record of C. diadema and other species belonging to the genus and family are revised herein. The study confirms a global distribution for C. diadema and dates its presence in the Mediterranean from the early Pleistocene (Calabrian). A global distribution is attributed to the only other well-known fossil coronulid, Coronula bifida Bronn, 1831, which is common within the Pliocene record of the Mediterranean, and is documented in the Pliocene of the Pacific domain and in the earliest Pleistocene of the Atlantic [as C. barbara (Darwin, 1854)]. No overlap of stratigraphic ranges has been noted: C. bifida occurs in the Piacenzian-Gelasian and C. diadema is recorded from the Calabrian to the present. It is therefore suggested herein that C. diadema is a direct descendant of C. bifida and that the evolution of the former included a pronounced increase in size of the adult shell. The fossil record of large whales supports this hypothesis, which is further reinforced by the global character of its hosts such as the ocean-going humpback, blue, fin, and sperm whales. The general high host specificity of whale barnacles, which today include Cetopirus complanatus (Mörch, 1853) of the same family, can be extended back to the Pliocene. Considering these aspects, a coevolutionary trend towards an increase in size linking oceanic whales with coronulids is proposed.

This is the first annual report on distribution, seasonal movements and migration behaviours of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve (PPMR). Humpback whale research has been undertaken in the area for the past 10 years as part of Dolphin Encountours Research Center (DERC) and DolphinCareAfrica’s (DCA) opportunistic monitoring work. Data has been previously compiled within the annual DolphinCare Report - Monitoring of Marine Megafauna within the PPMR.

The study introduces a new blade geometry that was inspired by a hump back whale flippers. This blade was introduced first by Dr. Frank Fish and named “whale- inspired blade”.
Using solidworks and qblade softwares we simulate the blade geometry and the wind turbine rotor. Whale- inspired blade shows that it increased its Cl/Cd more than the unbumped blade’s Cl/Cd when the velocity is increasing and also when the angle of attack is increasing. During the flow simulation the unbumped blade’s flow lines already separates at 15o angle of attack, as the angle of attack increases the flow separation also increases that will cause stall and we don’t want that to happen, but the whale- inspired blade’s flow simulation result was different as it creates swirling vortices that re- energized the boundary layer to re attach the flow lines, that’s why whale- inspired blade have more Cl/Cd compared to the unbumped blade when the angle of attack is increasing.
We compare our Cl/Cd results to the previous year’s corrugated dragonfly- wing blade and we can tell that our whale- inspired blade is much better than their corrugated dragonfly- wing blade.

Uramba Bahía Málaga Natural National Park is one of the most
important places visited by tourists to see humpback whales
(Megaptera novaeangliae) in Colombia. Humpback whales arrive
from Southern Chile and the Antarctic Peninsula every year
between May and December to reproduce, give birth and rear
calves. To evaluate the current state of whale watching in Málaga
we analyzed tourist visitation data from 2011 to 2019 during the
peak whale-watching season (July–October), and during one
week in October 2020. We found that whale-watching activity
has increased considerably. In 2019, 21,186 tourists realized
whale watching in Málaga. Whale watchers per month increased
by 108% and monthly whale-watching boat trips increased by
140%, in the last decade. Currently there are in average 19
boat trips per day (±18.0), and most boats are small (≤15 m).
Tourists came mainly from Colombia (90%). August was the most
important month for whale watching. Although environmental
education activities are undertaken, currently responsible whalewatching guidelines are overlooked. At present, whale-watching
activity produces important economic benefits for local people
and neighboring sites, with a monthly expenditure of at least
$362,409 USD, but to ensure the sustainable continuity of this
activity, negative impacts on whales need to be minimized. We classified management challenges into social, economic and biological aspects. From a social perspective, operators should form a whale-watching community association; this would improve cooperation amongst operators, promote good practices in whale-watching and reduce pressure on whales. Economic recommendations include 1) whale-watching trips handled mainly by local people; 2) ticket prices unification; and 3) investment in tourist facilities. Biological recommendations focus on the welfare of whales and include: 1) follow the current whalewatching recommendations strictly; 2) reduce transit speeds to below 10 knots in the area during whale season; 3) use propeller guards; 4) promote land-based whale watching; 5) implement acoustic whale tourism; 6) reinforce environmental education programs; and 7) support long-term monitoring and scientific research. Based on these three aspects, we urge environmental and ethnic authorities, conferring with relevant stakeholders, to determine the whale-watching carrying capacity of the area and to promote a responsible tourism. Authorities need to strengthen the monitoring, oversight and control of this growing tourist activity in order to ensure its long-term persistence.

A atividade baleeira no Brasil marcou a construção da territorialidade portuguesa na América, num período de transferência e circulação de conhecimento, produtos e pessoas. Numa triangulação de interesses económicos, entre a Europa, África e a América, a baleação teve impacto a nível social, cultural, científico e ambiental. A prática de uma caça dirigida a fêmeas e crias levou ao início das preocupações conservacionistas, consequente do desequilíbrio das populações pristinas de baleias, e pode ter desencadeado uma substituição sequencial das espécies alvo. Este é um tema de pesquisa da Ação Europeia COST Oceans Past Platform que, no âmbito da história ambiental, pretende analisar a relação humanos-meio natural e as trajetórias de mudança perante o meio marinho e aos seus elementos, vivos e atores da mesma história.

Many baleen whales were commercially harvested during the 20th century almost to extinction. Reliable assessments of how this mass depletion impacted whale populations , and projections of their recovery, are crucial but there are uncertainties regarding the status of Southern Hemisphere whale populations. We developed a Southern Hemisphere spatial " Model of Intermediate Complexity for Ecosystem Assessments " (MICE) for phytoplankton, krill (Euphausia superba) and five baleen whale species, to estimate whale population trajectories from 1890 to present. To forward project to 2100, we couple the predator–prey model to a global climate model. We used the most up to date catch records, fitted to survey data and accounted for key uncertainties. We predict Antarctic blue (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia), fin (Balaenoptera physalus) and southern right (Eubalaena australis) whales will be at less than half their pre-exploitation numbers (K) even given 100 years of future protection from whaling, because of slow growth rates. Some species have benefited greatly from cessation of harvesting, particularly humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae), currently at 32% of K, with full recovery predicted by 2050. We highlight spatial differences in the recovery of whale species between oceanic areas, with current estimates of Atlantic/Indian area blue (1,890, <1% of K) and fin (16,950, <4% of K) whales suggesting slower recovery from harvesting, whilst Pacific southern right numbers are <7% of K (2,680). Antarctic minke (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) population trajectories track future expected increases in primary productivity. Population estimates and plausible future predicted trajectories for Southern Hemisphere baleen whales are key requirements for management and conservation.

We present a multi-agent system which incor-porates mobile agents that communicate using a simple song-grammar made up of a small vocabulary. Agents are attracted to move towards other agents who by singing demonstrate a similar grammar. Agents also adapt their grammars based on the singing of other nearby agents. The closer the nearby agents are, the greater the influence. These features consistent with a number of the proposed hypotheses for the singing behaviours of Humpback whales and other marine mammals. As a result of these features we show how over time the agents song grammars become more correlated, and agents which are closer geographically have more closely correlated grammars. Furthermore the agents group into clusters, or “schools”, which exhibit highly correlated grammers, and hence similar songs, and will tend to continue moving in these “schools”.

Uramba Bahía Málaga Natural National Park is one of the most important places visited by tourists to see humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Colombia. Humpback whales arrive from Southern Chile and the Antarctic Peninsula every year between May and December to reproduce, give birth and rear calves. To evaluate the current state of whale-watching in Málaga we analyzed tourist visitation data from 2011 to 2019 during the peak whale-watching season (July–October), and during one week in October 2020. We found that whale-watching activity has increased considerably. In 2019, 21,186 tourists realized whale watching in Málaga. Whale watchers per month increased by 108% and monthly whale-watching boat trips increased by 140%, in the last decade. Currently there are in average 19 boat trips per day (±18.0), and most boats are small (≤15 m). Tourists came mainly from Colombia (90%). August was the most important month for whale watching. Although environmental education activities ar...

This study provides the first detailed long-term research on the seasonal pod characteristics, seasonal social behaviour and temporal segregation of different reproductive and maturational classes of humpback whales in Hervey Bay (Queensland, Australia). The overall aim was to investigate the importance of the Bay for particular classes of humpback whales. This study revealed that Hervey Bay is an important habitat for mature females accompanying immature whales early in the season and mothers with calves later in the season. Hervey Bay is neither a terminal destination nor a calving or breeding area but rather a stopover early in the southern migration.

Considerable uncertainty exists regarding the migratory destinations of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from the Antarctic
Peninsula region and the breeding grounds off the coasts of South America. Evidence is presented on the migratory patterns of Antarctic
humpback whales based upon movements of individuals identified by natural markings as part of a large-scale international collaboration.
Recapture rates were compared between animals from the low latitude breeding and calving areas along the northeastern (n=288) and
northwestern (n=325) margins of South America with those identified in the high-latitude feeding areas in the region of the Antarctic
Peninsula (n=535). The number of individuals re-sighted in the Antarctic Peninsula differed dramatically between eastern and western
South America (c2=40.98, p=1.5 3 10–10). No individuals from Brazil were re-sighted in either the Antarctic Peninsula or off western South
America. In contrast, 43 individuals from western South America were identified off the Antarctic Peninsula. These findings suggest that
the northwest coast of South America represents an important breeding ground destination for at least some of the humpback whales that
feed near the Antarctic Peninsula, but provide no support for movement between the Antarctic Peninsula and the east coast of South
America.

We examined the incidence of rake mark scars from killer whales Orcinus orca on the flukes of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae throughout the North Pacific to assess geographic variation in predation pressure. We used 3650 identification photographs from 16 wintering or feeding areas collected during 1990 to 1993 to determine conservative estimates in the percentage of whales with rake mark scarring. Dramatic differences were seen in the incidence of rake marks among regions, with highest rates on wintering grounds off Mexico (26 vs. 14% at others) and feeding areas off California (20 vs. 6% at others), 2 areas between which humpback whales migrate. Although attacks are rarely witnessed, the prevalence of scars demonstrates that a substantial portion of animals are attacked, particularly those that migrate between California and Mexico. Our data also suggest that most attacks occur at or near the wintering grounds in the eastern North Pacific. The prevalence of attacks indicates that killer whale predation has the potential to be a major cause of mortality and a driving force in migratory behavior; however, the location of the attacks is inconsistent with the hypothesis that animals migrate to tropical waters to avoid predation. Our conclusion is that, at least in recent decades, attacks are made primarily on calves at the wintering grounds; this contradicts the hypothesis that killer whales historically preyed heavily on large whales in high-latitude feeding areas in the North Pacific.