Dear MARMAM community, We are pleased to share our recent publication: "Prolonged temperature anomalies alter harbour porpoise acoustic activity and foraging behaviour".
The article is available here: https://www.int-res.com/journals/meps/articles/meps15238 Abstract: The rapid pace of ocean warming and the intensification of marine heatwaves (MHWs) in the Anthropocene are profoundly affecting marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Small cetaceans such as harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena face growing threats, including habitat degradation and climate-driven shifts in prey distribution and abundance. Due to their high metabolic rates and limited energy reserves, harbour porpoises are likely to be particularly sensitive to disruptions in foraging activity. Investigating porpoise acoustic activity and foraging patterns can provide valuable insights into their vulnerability under changing climatic conditions. Using 12 yr of passive acoustic monitoring data from C-PODs deployed at 3 sites in the coastal waters of the Wadden Sea, we quantified the effects of prolonged temperature anomalies on harbour porpoise acoustic activity and foraging-related acoustic behaviour. Our results showed that foraging behaviour was most strongly influenced by short-term temperature anomalies (6 d median anomaly windows), whereas porpoise acoustic activity was more closely associated with longer-term anomalies (16 d median anomaly windows). Porpoise acoustic activity exhibited contrasting seasonal responses to anomalies, while foraging behaviour showed a temperature optimum in spring and autumn, and declined under positive anomalies in summer and negative ones in winter. These findings shed light on the sensitivity of this species to climatic variability and suggest that ongoing ocean warming and the increasing frequency of MHWs may compromise critical foraging opportunities, potentially reducing the suitability of fine-scale coastal foraging habitats in an environment already exposed to increasing anthropogenic pressures. Citation: Moysan L, Öztürk A, Pigeault R, Escobar-Calderon JF, Ramírez-Martínez NC, Baltzer J, Schaffeld T, Siebert U, Schnitzler JG (2026) Prolonged temperature anomalies alter harbour porpoise acoustic activity and foraging behaviour. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 794:meps15238 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps15238 If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me or Joseph Schnitzler ([email protected]). Cheers, Louise -- Louise Moysan, DVM PhD Student Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Brunswick Saint John, NB, Canada, E2L 4L5 ResearchGate<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Louise-Moysan?ev=prf_overview> | Google Scholar<https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=n5gRkfcAAAAJ&hl=en>
_______________________________________________ MARMAM mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
