My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the publication of the following article:
Migratory insights from
singing humpback whales
recorded around central
New Zealand. Victoria E. Warren, Rochelle Constantine, Michael Noad, Claire Garrigue and Ellen C. Garland. Royal Society Open Science, 2020, Vol 7: 201084; doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201084
ABSTRACT The migration routes of wide-ranging species can
be difficult to study, particularly at sea. In the western South Pacific,
migratory routes of humpback whales between breeding and feeding areas are
unclear. Male humpback whales sing a population-specific song, which can be
used to match singers on migration to a breeding population. To investigate
migratory routes and breeding area connections, passive acoustic recorders were
deployed in the central New Zealand migratory corridor (2016); recorded
humpback whale song was compared to song from the closest breeding populations
of East Australia and New Caledonia (2015-2017). Singing northbound whales
migrated past New Zealand from June to August via the east coast of the South
Island and Cook Strait. Few song detections were made along the east coast of
the North Island. New Zealand song matched New Caledonia song, suggesting a
migratory destination, but connectivity to East Australia could not be ruled
out. Two song types were present in New Zealand, illustrating the potential for
easterly song transmission from East Australia to New Caledonia in this shared migratory
corridor. This study enhances our understanding of western South Pacific
humpback whale breeding population connectivity, and provides novel insights
into the dynamic transmission of song culture.