Good day MARMAM Colleagues,
On behalf of my co-authors, I am happy to announce the publication of our below paper in Scientific Reports:
Shabangu, F.W., Munoz, T., Van Uffelen, L., Estabrook, B.E.,
Yemane, D., Stafford, K.M., Branch, T.A., Vermeulen, E., van den Berg, M.A.,
Lamont, T. 2024. Diverse baleen whale acoustic occurrence around two
sub-Antarctic Islands: A tale of residents and visitors. Sci. Rep. 14, 21663. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-72696-2
Abstract
Knowledge on the occurrence and behaviour of baleen whales
around sub-Antarctic regions is limited, and usually based on short, seasonal
sighting research from shore or research vessels and whaling records, neither
of which provide accurate and comprehensive year-round perspectives of these animals’
ecology. We investigated the seasonal acoustic occurrence and diel vocalizing
pattern of baleen whales around the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands (PEIs)
using passive acoustic monitoring data from mid-2021 to mid-2023, detecting six
distinct baleen whale songs from Antarctic blue whales, Madagascan pygmy blue
whales, fin whales, Antarctic minke whales, humpback whales, and sei whales.
Antarctic blue and fin whales were detected year-round whereas the other
species’ songs were detected seasonally, including a new Antarctic minke whale
bio-duck song sub-type described here for the first time. Antarctic minke and
sei whales were more vocally active at night-time whereas the other species had
no clear diel vocalizing patterns. Random forest models identified month and/or
sea surface temperature as the most important predictors of all baleen whale
acoustic occurrence. These novel results highlight the PEIs as a useful habitat
for baleen whales given the number of species that inhabit or transit through
this region.
Kind regards,
Fannie
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Fannie W. Shabangu, PhD (He/Him)
Marine Biologist
Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment
Cape Town, South Africa
E-mail: fannie.shabangu@yahoo.com; fshabangu@dffe.gov.za
Mobile: +27 74 220 0210
Tel: +27 21 402 3553
Research Fellow
Mammal Research Institute
Whale Unit
University of Pretoria
Hatfield, South Africa