Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2025
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E34
Höfundar / Authors: Barbara K. Neubarth 1,2 | Patrick J. O. Miller 3 | Rune Roland 4 | Lars Kleivane 5 | Paul J. Wensveen 1,6
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1 Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland | 2 University Centre of the Westfjords | 3 Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews | 4 University of Oslo | 5 LKARTS-Norway | 6 Westman Islands Research Centre, University of Iceland
Kynnir / Presenter: Barbara K. Neubarth
Studying the baseline behavior of deep-diving mammals enhances ecological understanding and provides important benchmarks for assessing climate and human-induced impacts. Despite being the most abundant beaked whale in the Arctic and subarctic, information on the behavior of northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus) is limited. This study used records from 13 satellite tags deployed off Jan Mayen in 2014–2016 to provide an extensive description of the dive behavior of Hyperoodon for the Nordic Seas. A total of 8372 dives, collected over 224 days (or 5376 h), were analyzed. The whales performed extreme dives of up to 2288 m deep and 98 min long—deeper and longer than previously reported for behavior in presumed undisturbed contexts. On average, individuals spent 18% of their time above 40 m, and 22%, 47%, and 12% in epi-, meso-, and bathypelagic dives, respectively. Epipelagic dives averaged 123 m (s.d.: 46 m) and 11 min (5 min), mesopelagic 441 m (217 m) and 24 min (11 min; 1.46 dives/h), and bathypelagic 1487 m (366 m) and 55 min (13 min; 0.23 dives/h). Dive depth distribution was less bimodal than in other beaked whales, with frequent consecutive deep dives. Benthic diving varied individually from 8% to 51%. Overall, our findings demonstrate that bottlenose whales have extraordinary capabilities to dive, and presumably feed, throughout the water column. High rates of deep dives highlight the importance of the Iceland and Norwegian Seas to this deep-sea predators.