Shaped by Their Environment: Variation in Blue Whale Morphology across Three Productive Coastal Ecosystems
No hay miniatura disponible
Archivos
Fecha
2023
Profesor/a Guía
Facultad/escuela
Idioma
en
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
Oxford University Press
Nombre de Curso
Licencia CC
CC BY 4.0 Attribution 4.0 International Deed
Licencia CC
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Resumen
Species ecology and life history patterns are often reflected in animal morphology. Blue whales are globally dis-tributed, with distinct populations that feed in different productive coastal regions worldwide. Thus, they provide an oppor-tunity to investigate how regional ecosystem characteristics may drive morphological differences within a species. Here, we compare physical and biological oceanography of three different blue whale foraging grounds: (1) Monterey Bay, Califor-nia, USA; (2) the South Taranaki Bight (STB), Aotearoa New Zealand; and (3) the Corcovado Gulf, Chile. Additionally, we compare the morphology of blue whales from these regions using unoccupied aircraft imagery. Monterey Bay and the Cor-covado Gulf are seasonally productive and support the migratory life history strategy of the Eastern North Pacific (ENP) and Chilean blue whale populations, respectively. In contrast, the New Zealand blue whale population remains in the less productive STB year-round. All three populations were indistinguishable in total body length. However, New Zealand blue whales were in significantly higher body condition despite lower regional productivity, potentially attributable to their non-migratory strategy that facilitates lower risk of spatiotemporal misalignment with more consistently available foraging op-portunities. Alternatively, the migratory strategy of the ENP and Chilean populations may be successful when their pres-ence on the foraging grounds temporally aligns with abundant prey availability. We document differences in skull and fluke morphology between populations, which may relate to different feeding behaviors adapted to region-specific prey and habi-tat characteristics. These morphological features may represent a trade-off between maneuverability for prey capture and efficient long-distance migration. As oceanographic patterns shift relative to long-term means under climate change, these blue whale populations may show different vulnerabilities due to differences in migratory phenology and feeding behavior between regions. © 2023 The Author(s).
Notas
Indexación: Scopus.
Palabras clave
Species Ecology, Blue Whales, Ecosystem Characteristics, Biological Oceanography, Monterey Bay, The South Taranaki Bight, New Zealand, Morphology across, Productive Coastal Ecosystems
Citación
Integrative Organismal Biology. Volume 5, Issue 1. 2023. Article number obad039
DOI
10.1093/iob/obad039