Submarine canyons as important habitat for cetaceans, with special reference to the Gully: A review

Crowdsourcing Modern and Historical Data Identifies Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) Habitat Offshore of South-Western Australia

“…Toothed whales, especially sperm whales and beaked whales (family Ziphiidae), appear to exhibit the strongest associations with these features throughout the year (Moorsmurphy, 2014). By contrast, a recent review of submarine canyons found baleen whales tend to occur in canyons seasonally (Moors-murphy, 2014). Results show that submarine canyons are preferred habitat for sperm whales in south-west Australia, specifically in the Albany Canyon group and the Perth Canyon.…”

“…Their higher productivity leads to marine megafauna often inhabiting and/or feeding in them, thereby making them important areas to consider in systematic conservation planning (Hooker et al, 1999;Hooker and Gerber, 2004;Moors-murphy, 2014).…”

Movement and foraging behavior of short-finned pilot whales in the Mid-Atlantic Bight: importance of bathymetric features and implications for management

“…In particular, submarine canyons along the shelf break have steep and complex bathymetry and create foraging habitat for deep-diving odontocetes such as sperm whales and beaked whales (e.g. Hooker et al 1999, Waring et al 2001, Moors-Murphy 2014. Examining the habitat use of marine predators within shelf break systems is necessary to understand the impact of these systems on food web dynamics in pelagic ecosystems.…”

Ecological Role of Submarine Canyons and Need for Canyon Conservation: A Review

“…Canyons have also been shown to provide habitat for spawning females of pelagic and benthic species of commercial interest (Farrugio, 2012). Other faunal components of marine ecosystems, including mammals and marine birds, also use canyons, for example, as feeding grounds (Abelló et al, 2003;Garcia and Thomsen, 2008;Roditi-Elasar et al, 2013;Moors-Murphy, 2014). Habitat diversity and specific abiotic characteristics enhance the occurrence of high levels of biodiversity in some canyons (Vetter and Dayton, 1998;McClain and Barry, 2010;Company et al, 2012;De Leo et al, 2014).…”