Dear
colleagues,
We are pleased to announce the publication of the following paper. Apologies
for cross-posting
A link between male sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, of the Azores
and Norway
Lisa Steiner,
Luca Lamoni, Marta Acosta Plata, Silje-Kristin Jensen, Erland Lettevall and
Jonathan Gordon
Journal of
the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , page 1 of 6.
Marine
Biological Association of the United Kingdom , 2012
doi:10.1017/S0025315412000793
Abstract
Little is
known about the movements of male sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the
North Atlantic . Recoveries of
traditional harpoons and tags during commercial whaling indicated movements
from Nova Scotia to
Spain and from the
Azores to Iceland and
Spain . We
compared collections of photo-identification images from different areas using
the North
Atlantic and Mediterranean Sperm Whale
Catalogue and the Eurphlukes Phlex/Match programs. The largest collections
of identified males (number of individuals, start and end date for data
collection shown in parentheses) are for the Azores
(297, 1987–2008), Andenes (375, 1988–1996 and 2008), Tromsø (84, 2005–2008).
There were six matches between
Andenes and Tromsø (25 nm), with three of these re-sighted in multiple years
and three photo-identification matches
from the Azores to Norway
(2400 nm). In all cases individuals first photographed in the Azores
(in 1993, 1999 and
2003) were matched to images collected later in Tromsø (in 2007 and 2008). In
1997 a photo-identification image from
Andenes matched a male stranded on the west coast of
Ireland . No matches were made to
images in smaller collections
from Iceland ,
Nova Scotia , Greenland ,
Dominica , Guadeloupe, Gulf of Mexico and the
Mediterranean . These findings
show the value of data collected from whale watching vessels and the importance
of collaboration between groups to allow
investigation on an ocean basin scale. It is hoped that with the coordinated
collection of more images from around the
Atlantic, further insight might be gained into the movements of these widely
ranging animals.
Please do not
hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments.
Lisa Steiner
Whale Watch Azores
w...@yahoo.com
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