Líffræðifélag Íslands
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2015
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E7
Gísli Víkingsson (1), Mads Peter Heide-Jörgensen (2)
1. Hafrannsóknastofnun, 2. Grönlands Naturinstitut
Kynnir / Presenter: Gísli Víkingsson
Tengiliður / Corresponding author: Gísli Víkingsson (gisli@hafro.is)
Humpback whales have become the most important cetacean species in the Icelandic continental shelf area in terms of biomass after being rare in Icelandic waters throughout most of the 20th Century. Since 2007, 15 humpback whales have been instrumented with satellite tags in Icelandic waters. These experiments have revealed local movements in Icelandic coastal waters and information on migration patterns during autumn and winter. Five humpback whales were tracked southwards out of Icelandic waters. One of these started migration in late November and the other four in January and February. Four of these tracks represent only partial migration routes. However, in 2014/2015 we were able to follow the migration of one humpback whale between North Icelandic waters and Silver Bank off the coast of the Dominican Republic. This is the first complete track of a baleen whale between feeding and breeding grounds in the North Atlantic. The soutward migration started on 10th January, two months after tagging. In the following 48 days the whale swam nearly 8000 km to the Caribbean Sea. Average speed during migration was 6.5 km/h and the migration route was remarkably straight. After only two week‘s residence in the Caribbean Sea the humpback whale headed back north and had reached about half way back to Iceland when contact was lost after 154 days of tracking. A photo taken in Skjálfandaflói in late May 2015 confirmed that the whale had reached Iceland by then.