North Atlantic humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781)) migrate from high-latitude summer feeding grounds to low-latitude winter breeding grounds along the Antillean Island chain. In the winters and springs of 2008 through 2012, satellite tags were deployed on humpback whales on Silver Bank (Dominican Republic) and in Guadeloupe (French West Indies) breeding areas. Whales were monitored, on average, for 26 days (range = 4-90 days). Some animals remained near their tagging location for multiple days before beginning their northerly migration, yet some visited habitats along the northwestern coast of the Dominican Republic, northern Haiti, the Turks and Caicos islands, and off Anguilla. Individuals monitored during migration headed towards feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine (USA), Canada, and the eastern North Atlantic (Iceland or Norway). One individual traveled near Bermuda during the migration. This study provides the first detailed description of routes used by North Atlantic humpback whales towards multiple feeding destinations. Additionally, it corroborates previous research showing that individuals from multiple feeding grounds migrate to the Antilles for the breeding season. This study indicates that North Atlantic humpbacks use an area broader than the existing boundaries of marine mammal sanctuaries, which should provide justification for their expansion.

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Humpback whales wintering in the entire West Indies chain are widely treated as comprising a single breeding population. However, most areas outside of Silver Bank and Samana Bay, Dominican Republic, are poorly and sporadically studied. Data is presented on the timing and movement patterns of 262 whales from the southeastern Caribbean, extending from Antigua in the north to Trinidad and Tobago in the south. Whales from the area were re-sighted in all of the major North Atlantic feeding grounds. However, of the 43 individuals re-sighted in feeding areas, animals from eastern feeding grounds were significantly over-represented, while those from western feeding areas were under-represented. This is in direct contrast to the pattern previously demonstrated in the Dominican Republic. Supporting this finding, the proportion of whales showing visible scarring on the flukes from non-lethal attack by killer whales was similar to that previously shown for Norway; yet lower than that presented from western feeding areas. The seasonal pattern of distribution in the southeastern Caribbean shows a peak of occurrence about six weeks later than in the Dominican Republic, and there is little overlap in the periods of greatest use. Sightings are uncommon before February. The peak in abundance occurs during March and April, declining during May, with some sightings extending into June. This is consistent with the pattern of sightings from historical whaling records in the southeastern Caribbean. These results suggest that the humpbacks mating and calving in this region are not a representative subset of those that winter in the Dominican Republic. Further studies will be needed to examine the spatial nature of the pattern shown here and define the nature and limits of this group, but these results suggest that some part of this breeding area represents a previously un-described distinct population segment within the North Atlantic. Given this, the widely held idea that there is a single West Indies humpback whale distinct population segment is in need of reconsideration.

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In the French West Indies, more than 20 species of cetaceans have been observed over the last decades. The recognition of this hotspot of biodiversity of marine mammals, observed in the French Exclusive Economic Zone of the West Indies, motivated the French government to create in 2010 a marine protected area (MPA) dedicated to the conservation of marine mammals: the Agoa Sanctuary. Threats that cetacean populations face are multiple, but well-documented. Cetacean conservation can only be achieved if relevant and reliable data are available, starting by occurrence data. In the Guadeloupe Archipelago and in addition to some data collected by the Agoa Sanctuary, occurrence data are mainly available through the contribution of citizen science and of local stakeholders (i.e. non-profit organisations (NPO) and whale-watchers). However, no observation network has been coordinated and no standards exist for cetacean presence data collection and management. In recent years, several whale watchers and NPOs regularly collected cetacean observation data around the Guadeloupe Archipelago. Our objective was to gather datasets from three Guadeloupean whale watchers, two NPOs and the Agoa Sanctuary, that agreed to share their data. These heterogeneous data went through a careful process of curation and standardisation in order to create a new extended database, using a newly-designed metadata set. This aggregated dataset contains a total of 4,704 records of 21 species collected in the Guadeloupe Archipelago from 2000 to 2019. The database was called Kakila ("who is there?" in Guadeloupean Creole). The Kakila database was developed following the FAIR principles with the ultimate objective of ensuring sustainability. All these data were transferred into the PNDB repository (Pöle National de Données de Biodiversité, Biodiversity French Data Hub, https://www.pndb.fr). In the Agoa Sanctuary and surrounding waters, marine mammals have to interact with increasing anthropogenic pressure from growing human activities. In this context, the Kakila database fulfils the need for an organised system to structure marine mammal occurrences collected by multiple local stakeholders with a common objective: contribute to the knowledge and conservation of cetaceans living in the French Antilles waters. Much needed data analysis will enable us to identify high cetacean presence areas, to document the presence of rarer species and to determine areas of possible negative interactions with anthropogenic activities.