Aloha colleagues,
My coauthors and I would like to share with you a paper recently
published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science titled "The
occurrence of humpback whales across the Hawaiian archipelago revealed
by fixed and mobile acoustic monitoring." The paper is presents new
findings about humpback whale presence across the archipelago. it is
open access and can be obtained for free through Frontiers in Marine
Science.
Lammers MO, Goodwin B, Kügler A, Zang EJ, Harvey M, Margolina T,
Martinez JA, Merkens K and Hatch LT (2023) The occurrence of humpback
whales across the Hawaiian archipelago revealed by fixed and mobile
acoustic monitoring. Front. Mar. Sci. 10:1083583. doi:
10.3389/fmars.2023.1083583
The occurrence of humpback whales (/Megaptera novaeangliae) /across the
2600 km of Hawaiian archipelago, which include the remote atolls, banks,
and seamounts of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM),
remains poorly understood. Previous surveys for humpback whales beyond
the main Hawaiian Islands have been scarce due to limited access and the
challenging winter conditions typically found in PMNM when whales are
present. To overcome these limitations, a combination of moored acoustic
recorders and a Wave Glider autonomous surface vehicle were used to
acoustically monitor eight locations and survey approximately 1500 km of
the Hawaiian archipelago for the occurrence of humpback whale song
during the 2019-2020 breeding season.Relative song prevalence was
established using a machine learning tool and by quantifying the level
of song chorusing. A generalized additive model framework was applied to
understand the associations between habitat variables and humpback whale
song occurrence, and sound propagation modeling was performed to examine
whether acoustic propagation influenced observed patterns. Whale song
was recorded at all monitored and surveyed locations across the
archipelago, albeit in varying amounts. Among the locations monitored
with moored recorders, the highest and most sustained seasonal chorusing
levels were measured off Maui followed by French Frigate Shoals
(Kānemilohaʻi), Hawaiʻi Island, Middle Bank, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Gardner
Pinnacles (Pūhāhonu) and Pearl and Hermes Reef (Holoikauaua),
respectively. The Wave Glider mission to PMNM revealed that song
prevalence was highest at Middle Bank and gradually decreased further to
the northwest, reaching a minimum at Gardner Pinnacles (Pūhāhonu).
However, song occurrence increased again at Raita Bank, remaining high
between Raita Bank and the Northampton Seamounts. The results reveal
that nearly the entire Hawaiian archipelago is exploited by humpback
whales during the winter and early spring months. Moreover, song
occurrence patterns suggest that there may be more structure in the
distribution of whales in PMNM than previously known and raises
questions about whether multiple subpopulations occur across the
archipelago.
Best wishes,
Marc
--
*Marc O. Lammers, PhD*
Research Ecologist | Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine
Sanctuary
726 S. Kihei Rd. | Kihei, HI 96753 | Ph: +1-808-419-7211 |
marc.lamm...@noaa.gov
Affiliate Faculty | Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology
46-007 Lilipuna Rd. | Kaneohe, HI 96744 | Ph: +1-808-375-0010 |
lamm...@hawaii.edu
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