Dear Colleagues, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the publication of our manuscript ‘Interannual variability in the lipid and fatty acid profiles of east Australia‐migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) across a 10‐year timeline’ in Scientific Reports. The full manuscript is available online at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-75370-5 Abstract Southern hemisphere humpback whales are classified as high‐fidelity Antarctic krill consumers and as such are vulnerable to variability and long‐term changes in krill biomass. Evidence of heterogeneous feeding patterns of east coast of Australia migrating humpback whales has been observed, warranting a comprehensive assessment of interannual variability in their diet. We examined the lipid and fatty acid profiles of individuals of the east coast of Australia migrating stock sampled between 2008 and 2018. The use of live‐sampled blubber biopsies showed that fatty acid profiles varied significantly among all years. The two trophic indicator fatty acids for Antarctic krill, 20:5ω3 and 22:6ω3 remained largely unchanged across the 10‐year period, suggesting that Antarctic krill is the principal prey item. A distance‐based linear model showed that 33% of the total variation in fatty acid profiles was explained by environmental variables and climate indices. Most of the variation was explained by the Southern Annular Mode (23.7%). The high degree of variability observed in this study was unexpected for a species that is thought to feed primarily on one prey item. We propose that the observed variability likely arises from changes in the diet of Antarctic krill rather than changes in the whale’s diet. Citation Groß, J., Virtue, P., Nichols, P. D., Waugh, C. A. & Bengtson Nash, S. (2020). Interannual variability in the lipid and fatty acid profiles of east Australia‐migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) across a 10‐year timeline. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75370-5 To request a PDF, please send me an email (j.gross@griffith.edu.au<mailto:jasmin.gross@griffithuni.edu.au>). All the best, —— Jasmin Groß PhD Candidate Southern Ocean Persistent Organic Pollutants Program (SOPOPP) Environmental Futures Research Institute (EFRI) | School of Environment and Science | Griffith University | Nathan Campus, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan QLD 4111 Australia HDR Representative on the Griffith Board of Graduate Research I EFRI HDR Representative I GUESS HDR Vice President I GUPSA Research Officer I ANZSCSMM Chapter Head I Young Science Ambassador Email: jasmin.gross@griffithuni.edu.au<mailto:jasmin.gross@griffithuni.edu.au> Phone: +61 (0)7 3735 6665 Mobile: +61 (0)491 074 464 Twitter: @jasmin4689<https://twitter.com/jasmin4689> [cid:EF6987BC-B8F9-4188-B60E-025B22B92AA2]
