Dear Marmam friends,
My coauthors and I are pleased to announce the online publication of our recent investigations of sperm whales in Alaskan waters in Endangered Species Research. Straley JM, Schorr GS, Thode AM, Calambokidis J, Lunsford CR, Chenoweth EM, O’Connell VM, Andrews RD (2014) Depredating sperm whales in the Gulf of Alaska: local habitat use and long distance movements across putative population boundaries. Endang Species Res. Vol. 24:125-135<http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v24/n2/p125-135/> ABSTRACT: Satellite tags were attached to 10 sperm whales *Physeter macrocephalus* (1 whale was tagged in 2 different years) to determine the movements of sperm whales involved in removal of sablefish from longline fishing gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Tags transmitted from 3 to 34 d (median = 22) in 2007 and 7 to 158 d (median = 45) in 2009. Seven whales stayed in the GOA; all were associating with fishing vessels along the slope. Two whales headed south in June shortly after being tagged; one reached the inner third of the Sea of Cortez; the other’s last location was offshore Mexico at 14°N. A third whale stayed in the GOA until October and then headed south, reaching central Baja, Mexico, 158 d after tagging. The whales that travelled to lower latitudes followed no pattern in timing of departure, and at least 2 had different destinations. All whales passed through the California Current without stopping and did not travel to Hawaii; both are areas with known concentrations of sperm whales. Whales travelled faster when south of 56°N than when foraging in the GOA (median rate of median horizontal movement = 5.4 [range:4.1 to 5.5] and 1.3 [range:0.6 to 2.5] km h-1, respectively). Tagged sperm whales primarily travelled over the slope, but one spent considerable time over the ocean basin. Information on the timing and movement patterns of sperm whales may provide a means for fishermen to avoid fishing at whale hot spots, potentially reducing interactions between whales and fishermen A PDF of the paper is available through the ESR open access policy by copying this link into your browser http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v24/n2/p125-135/ . Or contact the corresponding author: [email protected] Regards Jan Straley University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus
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