MSGID: 1:317/3 63fed4ea   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Centuries of whaling data highlight likely climate change effect    
      
     Date:   
         February 28, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Auckland   
     Summary:   
         Centuries-old whaling records show how southern right whales are   
         altering their feeding habits.   
      
      
         Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email   
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Southern right whales adjusted their foraging grounds over the past 30   
   years as climate change altered where prey could be found, according to   
   a University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau scientist.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Dr Emma Carroll, of the School of Biological Sciences, was senior author   
   of a paper which used data gleaned from contemporary whale skin samples   
   along with whaling records stretching back to 1792. Over the past three   
   decades, the whales increased their use of mid-latitude foraging grounds   
   in the south Atlantic and southwest Indian oceans in the late summer and   
   autumn, according to Carroll and dozens of collaborators including lead   
   author Sole`ne Derville, of Oregon State University.   
      
   The whales also slightly increased their use of high latitude foraging   
   grounds in the southwest Pacific, according to the article, published in   
   the journal PNAS. Southern right whales, or Tohorā, live south of the   
   equator, eating krill and copepods, which are small crustaceans. Chemical   
   analysis of skin samples revealed the whales' feeding patterns in recent   
   decades. The main source of historic data was the American whaling   
   fleet's detailed records of where and what species were observed and   
   killed in the Southern Hemisphere from the 18th to the early 20th century.   
      
   The whales' history and efforts to support Aotearoa's population are   
   detailed on the website Tohorā Voyages.   
      
   Tohorā were hunted to near extinction, with global numbers falling   
   to as low as 500. By 2009, an estimated 2,200 of the creatures were in   
   New Zealand waters, moving between the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands   
   (Maungahuka) and Campbell Island (Motu Ihupuku), and occasionally around   
   mainland New Zealand including Stewart Island (Rakiura).   
      
   Southern right whales live from about 30 degrees South to more than   
   60 degrees South, the edge of the Antarctic. Large and slow-moving,   
   the whales are mostly black in colour and easily identified by white   
   growths on their heads called callosities. They have no dorsal fin and   
   a V-shaped blowhole spray.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Dolphins_and_Whales # Marine_Biology # Sea_Life # Nature   
             o Fossils_&_Ruins   
                   # Early_Climate # Early_Mammals # Fossils # Origin_of_Life   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Right_whale o Whale o Baleen_whale o Gray_Whale o Hawk o   
             Sei_Whale o Fin_Whale o Whale_song   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Auckland. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Sole`ne Derville, Leigh G. Torres, Seth D. Newsome, Christopher   
      J. Somes,   
         Luciano O. Valenzuela, Hannah B. Vander Zanden, C. Scott Baker,   
         Martine Be'rube', Geraldine Busquets-Vass, Kris Carlyon, Simon   
         J. Childerhouse, Rochelle Constantine, Glenn Dunshea, Paulo   
         A. C. Flores, Simon D.   
      
         Goldsworthy, Brittany Graham, Karina Groch, Darren R. Gro"cke,   
         Robert Harcourt, Mark A. Hindell, Pavel Hulva, Jennifer A. Jackson,   
         Amy S.   
      
         Kennedy, David Lundquist, Alice I. Mackay, Petra Neveceralova,   
         Larissa Oliveira, Paulo H. Ott, Per J. Palsbo/ll, Nathalie   
         J. Patenaude, Victoria Rowntree, Mariano Sironi, Els Vermeuelen,   
         Mandy Watson, Alexandre N.   
      
         Zerbini, Emma L. Carroll. Long-term stability in the circumpolar   
         foraging range of a Southern Ocean predator between the eras of   
         whaling and rapid climate change. Proceedings of the National   
         Academy of Sciences, 2023; 120 (10) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2214035120   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230228205235.htm   
      
   --- up 1 year, 1 day, 10 hours, 50 minutes   
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)   
   SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 153/7715 226/30 227/114 229/111   
   SEEN-BY: 229/112 113 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 292/854 298/25   
   SEEN-BY: 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45   
   PATH: 317/3 229/426