I am happy to announce publication of the following paper: Andriolo, A., Zerbini, A., Moreira, S., Pizzorno, J., Maia, Y., Danilewicz, D., Mamede, N, Castro, F. & Clapham, P. 2014. What do humpback whale pairs do after tagging? Zoologia 31: 105-113.
ABSTRACT: The social structure of humpback whales in their tropical wintering grounds is very fluid. To date, no information has been published for cases in which two whales were both satellite-tagged while in association. Here, we report the movements of four humpback whale pairs tagged together off the coast of Brazil. Fieldwork and satellite tagging of humpback whales was conducted between 2003 and 2008 along the eastern coast of Brazil, between 20°S and 8°S. Movement was monitored while whales were still in their breeding ground. A switching state space model was applied to the filtered data of each humpback whale to standardize telemetry data and allow direct comparison of each individual track. GIS was used to plot model-predicted locations and to visually compare animal movements. The results confirm the short-lived nature of associations between breeding humpback whales, and show that individuals differ widely in their movements. Reprints are available from the senior author: *[email protected] <[email protected]>* -- Phillip J. Clapham, Ph.D. Leader, Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program National Marine Mammal Laboratory Alaska Fisheries Science Center 7600 Sand Point Way NE Seattle, WA 98115, USA tel 206 526 4037 fax 206 526 6615 email [email protected]
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