Alongside but separate : Sympatric baleen whales choose different habitat conditions in São Miguel, Azores

González García, Laura; Pierce, Graham J.; Autret, Emmanuelle; Torres-Palenzuela, Jesús M.

Publication

Alongside but separate : Sympatric baleen whales choose different habitat conditions in São Miguel, Azores

2022-06Journal article

dc.contributor.author	González García, Laura
dc.contributor.author	Pierce, Graham J.
dc.contributor.author	Autret, Emmanuelle
dc.contributor.author	Torres-Palenzuela, Jesús M.
dc.date.accessioned	2022-12-20T16:11:10Z
dc.date.available	2022-12-20T16:11:10Z
dc.date.issued	2022-06
dc.description.abstract	Fin whales and sei whales are two migratory baleen whale species sighted every year across the waters of the Azores. Improved understanding of the ecological niche and habitat requirements of these baleen whales is needed to identify persistent or predictable oceanographic events that may set the time of their migration, as well as local or ephemeral oceanographic features that may aggregate their prey in a particular area. In dynamic environments such as the open ocean, mesoscale and submesoscale features can become decisive to determine the distributions of highly mobile species such as baleen whales. In this study, we analyse the habitat preferences of fin whales and sei whales around São Miguel Island (Azores) using environmental variables at different temporal and spatial scales. For both species, model results showed a clear influence of variables linked with primary production and therefore, prey availability; as well as a noticeable preference for oceanographically dynamic areas which directly affect distribution and aggregation of prey. Those environmental choices may indicate different levels of foraging habitat use for both species. Differences were found between the species, highlighting preferences for colder waters in fin whales and areas with stronger sea surface temperature gradients in sei whales. Model results obtained for fin whales were similar with those previously published for blue whales, suggesting that both species make similar use of the waters around São Miguel, often foraging during the migration across these waters. Results for sei whale, however, emphasize dynamic variables, indicating that travelling may prevail over feeding behaviour during their migration by the Azores.	en
dc.description.sponsorship	This work was supported by the Applied Physics Department of the Universidad de Vigo (Spain); a predoctoral grant from Conselleria de Cultura, Educacion e Ordenacion Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia [Modalidade B] (PRE/2013/409); and a grant from LabexMER action for young researchers in 2016.	en
dc.description.version	info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion	pt_PT
dc.identifier.citation	González García, L., Pierce, G. J., Autret, E., & Torres-Palenzuela, J. M. (2022). Alongside but separate: sympatric baleen whales choose different habitat conditions in São Miguel, Azores. "Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers", 184, 103766. DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr.2022.103766	pt_PT
dc.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.dsr.2022.103766	pt_PT
dc.identifier.eissn	1879-0119
dc.identifier.issn	0967-0637
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/267820
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/6523
dc.identifier.wos	000793827700001
dc.language.iso	eng	pt_PT
dc.peerreviewed	yes	pt_PT
dc.publisher	Elsevier	pt_PT
dc.relation.publisherversion	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063722000796	pt_PT
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	pt_PT
dc.subject	Marine Mammals	en
dc.subject	Habitat Selection	en
dc.subject	Modelling Azores	en
dc.subject	GAMs	pt_PT
dc.subject	Baleen Whales	en
dc.title	Alongside but separate : Sympatric baleen whales choose different habitat conditions in São Miguel, Azores	en
dc.type	journal article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
oaire.citation.conferencePlace	United Kingdom	en
oaire.citation.title	Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers	en
oaire.citation.volume	184	pt_PT
person.familyName	González García
person.givenName	Laura
person.identifier.ciencia-id	ED1A-5BDB-E64A
person.identifier.orcid	0000-0001-7353-0983
rcaap.rights	openAccess	pt_PT
rcaap.type	article	pt_PT
relation.isAuthorOfPublication	af3b34b5-c4eb-448e-b6cc-1d2b2a630e54
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	af3b34b5-c4eb-448e-b6cc-1d2b2a630e54