Identification of humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae wintering habitat in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands using spatial habitat modeling

Johnston, D. W.; Chapla, M. E.; Williams, Laurel E.; Mattila, David K.

doi:10.3354/esr00049

Cited by 34 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The data do not provide a way to evaluate whether this difference reflects fewer whales wintering at the northern atolls or a fundamentally different pattern of occurrence or behavioral use of this habitat. Rasmussen et al (2007) demonstrated that, globally, humpback whales winter in waters with average sea surface temperatures > 21.1°C, which Johnston et al (2007) report is greater than the average temperature at Kure, Midway, and Pearl and Hermes Atolls between January and March. Therefore, it is possible that songs recorded at the northern atolls come from whales that only pass through the area rather than ones wintering there.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…In addition to reporting several sightings, Johnston et al (2007) used spatial modeling to calculate the amount of shallow (< 200 m), warm-water habitat preferred by wintering whales available throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago. Their calculations revealed that the NWHI have nearly twice the available habitat as the MHI.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because they are so remote, most islands and banks in the NWHI are visited infrequently by humans, particularly during winter months when ocean conditions are generally hazardous to mariners. Historically, humpback whales were not thought to occur in the NWHI (Herman & Antinoja 1977, Herman 1979), but in 2006, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cetacean survey reported multiple sightings, suggesting a larger presence than previously believed (Johnston et al 2007). The present study examined the occurrence of humpback whales in the NWHI using an acoustic monitoring approach similar to the one employed by Au et al (2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae song reveals wintering activity in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Lammers¹,

Fisher-Pool²,

Au³

et al. 2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) are the principal breeding ground for humpback whales in the North Pacific. Over the past 3 decades, population recovery from whaling-era losses has resulted in a steady increase in the number of whales wintering in Hawaiian waters and a geographic expansion of their distribution in the MHI. Until recently, no existing evidence showed that this expansion included the islands, atolls, and banks of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). To better understand the occurrence of humpback whales in the NWHI, 9 ecological acoustic recorders (EARs) were deployed at sites throughout the archipelago to record the occurrence of humpback whale song, an indicator of winter breeding activity. Song was found to be prevalent at Maro Reef, Lisianski Island, and French Frigate Shoals but was also recorded at Kure Atoll, Midway Atoll, and Pearl and Hermes Atoll. Both the timing and abundance of song at several locations closely followed trends observed on Oahu, which is one of the MHI, strongly suggesting that humpback whales use the NWHI as a wintering area. This finding is of particular relevance in light of recent suggestions that, based on photo-identification data, a yet undocumented wintering area exists somewhere in the central North Pacific. We propose that the NWHI could be that area.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae song reveals wintering activity in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Lammers¹,

Fisher-Pool²,

Au³

et al. 2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…We selected 4 environmental variables -water depth, sea surface temperature (SST), distance from the coast and seafloor slope (measured in degrees) -based on their importance identified in previously published studies investigating relationships between humpback whale distribution and the environment (Ersts & Rosenbaum 2003, Johnston et al 2007, Rasmussen et al 2007, Oviedo & Solís 2008. Two additional environmental variables, distance to nearest reef and seafloor rugosity, were also investigated to assess whether these variables may contribute to humpback whale distribution and habitat preference in the GBR.…”

Section: Environmental Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of humpback whale breeding and calving habitat in the Great Barrier Reef

Smith

Grantham²,

Gales³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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During the winter months, from June to September, humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae breed and calve in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) after migrating north from Antarctic waters. Clearly defined wintering areas for breeding and calving comparable to those identified in other parts of the world have not yet been identified for humpback whales in the GBR Marine Park (GBRMP), mainly because of its large size, which prohibits broad-scale surveys. To identify important wintering areas in the GBRMP, we developed a predictive spatial habitat model using the Maxent modelling method and presence-only sighting data from nondedicated aerial surveys. The model was further validated using a small independent satellite tag data set of 12 whales migrating north into the GBR. The model identified restricted ranges in water depth (30 to 58 m, highest probability 49 m) and sea surface temperature (21 to 23°C, highest probability 21.8°C) and identified 2 core areas of higher probability of whale occurrence in the GBRMP, which correspond well with the movements of satellite tagged whales. We propose that one of the identified core areas is a potentially important wintering area for humpback whales and the other a migration route. With an estimated increase in port and coastal development and shipping activity in the GBRMP and a rapidly increasing population of whales recovering from whaling off the east Australian coast, the rate of human interactions with whales is likely to increase. Identifying important areas for breeding and calving is essential for the future management of human interactions with breeding humpback whales. KEY WORDS: Humpback whale · Megaptera novaeangliae · Spatial habitat modelling · Great Barrier Reef Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 447: [259][260][261][262][263][264][265][266][267][268][269][270][271][272] 2012 toring of marine species in marine ecosystems can be expensive and logistically prohibitive (Redfern et al. 2006). Increased human use of the marine environment has meant that human activities are posing a greater threat to the persistence of marine mammal populations (Evans 2008). Identifying critical habitat is therefore particularly important in areas where human activities are likely to have the greatest impact so that any deleterious human impacts can be mitigated. Predictive modelling of species' distributions and their habitat is one ap proach that is becoming increasingly popular and proving to be a costeffective approach when applied to marine mammal populations that are difficult to monitor (Redfern et al. 2006).Compared with critical habitat for terrestrial species, the identification and designation of critical habitat in the marine environment can be more complex and the boundaries may be less fixed (Evans 2008). The difficulty in identifying critical habitat largely depends on whether the habitat requirements are dependent on stable, geographical environmental parameters such as depth or top...

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“…Humpback whales migrate annually from their summer feeding grounds in temperate and subpolar waters where they feed on krill and fish, to their winter breeding grounds in low latitude tropical waters (Johnston et al 2007, Rasmussen et al 2007. They have the longest migration of any mammal (Rasmussen et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where the whales are: using habitat modeling to support changes in shipping regulations within National Marine Sanctuaries in Central California

Dransfield¹,

Hines²,

McGowan³

et al. 2014

Endang. Species. Res.

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Understanding habitat preferences for endangered species is a high priority for management strategies to ensure minimum conflict between human uses and wildlife conservation. The purpose of this study was to identify oceanographic variables that predict occurrences of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae within the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries, California, USA, to assess potential conflict with vessel traffic. We used data collected by Applied California Current Ecosystem Studies (ACCESS) conducted from 2004 to 2011. Using zero-inflated negative binomial regression, we developed predictive models and identified locations highly used by whales to characterize humpback whale habitat. We analyzed whale encounter rates at 3-km bin intervals in relation to bathymetric, surface and midwater hydrographic predictor variables and temporal variables characterizing oceanographic conditions. Our models included variables that accounted for detectability of whales. Two models were compared and contrasted: (1) a surface-only model, using only surface oceanographic variables, and (2) a surface + mid-water model, using both surface and mid-water variables. The surface + mid-water model performed significantly better than the surface-only model, which underestimated the amount of suitable whale habitat in the northern half of our study area. We compared resulting predicted habitat areas with previous and current San Francisco Bay Area shipping lane poly gonal footprints to investigate whether newly accepted changes in routes reduced areal overlap with humpback whale habitat. Although our analyses show that the area occupied by shipping traffic has decreased in areas of high predicted humpback whale habitat use, changes in vessel lane footprints do not account for several important aspects of ship-strike risk, including vessel frequency, speed, size and density patterns within the shipping lanes and variability between lanes.

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Identification of humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae wintering habitat in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands using spatial habitat modeling

Cited by 34 publications

References 28 publications

Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae song reveals wintering activity in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae song reveals wintering activity in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Identification of humpback whale breeding and calving habitat in the Great Barrier Reef

Where the whales are: using habitat modeling to support changes in shipping regulations within National Marine Sanctuaries in Central California

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