Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T15:39:53.663Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

New records of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) with evidence of possible feeding behaviour from the continental shelf slopes to the west of Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2009

Dave Wall ,
Ivan O'kelly ,
Pádraig Whooley  and
Peter Tyndall
Dave Wall*
Affiliation:
Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, Merchants Quay, Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland
Ivan O'kelly
Affiliation:
77 Kincora Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3, Ireland
Pádraig Whooley
Affiliation:
Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, Merchants Quay, Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland
Peter Tyndall
Affiliation:
Bord Iascaigh Mhara, New Docks, Galway, Ireland.
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: D. Wall Marine Biodiversity Research Group, Galway–Mayo Institute of Technology, Dublin Road, Galway, Ireland email: dave.wall@iwdg.ie
Get access

Abstract

On 15 and 17 September 2008 two sightings of blue whales were recorded (with photographic confirmation of species identity) on the continental shelf slopes to the west of Ireland. Blue whale sightings within the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (200 nm limit) are extremely rare with only three reported sightings since the closure of the Irish/Norwegian whaling stations in 1922, none of which were confirmed by photo-identification. These new records are considered to be of two separate animals due to the distances between sightings and fluking behaviour being exhibited by only one of the animals. Evidence suggesting that these animals were feeding was collected during both sightings, with northern krill thought to be the prey species. Photographs taken on 15 September allowed for photo-identification comparison with the North Atlantic blue whale catalogue, however no match was found. Together these sightings may indicate a previously unrecorded feeding area for blue whales in the north-east Atlantic.

Keywords

new recordsblue whalesBalaenoptera musculusfeeding behaviourcontinental shelf slopeswest of Ireland
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 2 , January 2009 , e128
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

2

Present address: Marine Biodiversity Research Group, Galway–Mayo Institute of Technology, Dublin Road, Galway, Ireland

References

REFERENCES

Berrow, S.D. and Rogan, E. (1997) Cetaceans stranded on the Irish coast, 1901–1995. Mammal Review 27, 51–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, I., Haug, T. and Øien, N. (1992) Seasonal distribution, exploitation and present abundance of stocks of large baleen whales (Mysticeti) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) in Norwegian and adjacent waters. ICES Journal of Marine Science 49, 341–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, C.W. (1994) Blue deep voices: insights from the Navy's Whales ‘93 program. Whalewatcher 28, 6–11.Google Scholar
Charif, R.A. and Clark, C.W. (2000) Acoustic monitoring of large whales off north and west Britain and Ireland: a two-year study, October 1996–September 1998. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Aberdeen, Scotland. Report No. 313, 33 pp.Google Scholar
COSEWIC (2002) COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa, vi + 32 pp.Google Scholar
Croll, D.A., Acevedo-Gutierrez, A., Tershy, B.R. and Urbán-Ramírez, J. (2001) The diving behaviour of blue and fin whales: is dive duration shorter than expected based on oxygen stores? Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology 129, 797–809.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crouch, W. (1891) Sibbald's rorqual on the Irish coast. Zoologist 15, 215.Google Scholar
Fairley, J.S. (1981) Irish whales and whaling. Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 218 pp.Google Scholar
Green, C.H., Widder, E.A., Youngbleuth, M.J., Tamse, A. and Johnson, G.E. (1992) The migration behaviour, fine structure, and bioluminescent activity of krill sound-scattering layers. Limnology and Oceanography 37, 650–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonsgård, Å. (1955) The stocks of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) in the northern Atlantic Ocean and adjacent arctic waters. Norsk Hvalfangsttid 44, 505–519.Google Scholar
Ó’Cadhla, O., Mackey, M., Aguilar de Soto, N., Rogan, E. & Connolly, N. (2004) Cetaceans and seabirds of Ireland's Atlantic Margin. Volume II—Cetacean distribution and abundance. Report on research carried out under the Irish Infrastructure Programme (PIP). Coastal and Marine Resources Centre, Haulbowline, County Cork, 82 pp.Google Scholar
Reeves, R.R., Smith, T.D. and Woolmer, G. (2001) Historical observations of humpback and blue whales in the North Atlantic Ocean: clues to migratory routes and possibly additional feeding grounds. Marine Mammal Science 20, 774–786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, J.B., Evans, P.G.H. and Northridge, S.P. (2003) Atlas of cetacean distribution in north-west European waters. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee.Google Scholar
Roervik, C.J. and Jonsgaard, A.A. (1981) Review of balaenopterids in the North Atlantic Ocean. In Gordon-Clark, J. (ed.) Mammals in the seas. General papers and large cetaceans. Rome: FAO Advisory Committee on Marine Resources Research, Working Party on Marine Mammals, FAO Fisheries Series, Volume 3, FAO, pp. 269–286.Google Scholar
Scharff, R.F. (1900) A list of Irish Cetacea. Irish Naturalist 9, 83–91.Google Scholar
Sears, R.J., Williamson, M., Wenzel, F.W., Bérubé, M., Gendron, D. and Jones, P.W. (1990) Photographic identification of the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Canada. Report of the International Whaling Commission (Special Issue 12), 335–342.Google Scholar
Sears, R., Burton, C.L.K. and Vikingson, G. (2005) Review of Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) photo-identification distribution data in the North Atlantic, including the first long range match between Iceland and Mauritania. Society for Marine Mammalogy Conference, 12–16 December, 2005, San Diego, California, USA. Poster presentation.Google Scholar
Sigurjónsson, J. and Gunnlaugsson, T. (1990) Recent trends in abundance of blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off west and southwest Iceland, with a note on occurrence of other cetacean species. Report of the International Whaling Commission 40, 537–551.Google Scholar
Thompson, W. (1849–1856) The natural history of Ireland. London: Bohn.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wall, D. (2006) Cetacean Distribution and Relative Abundance Survey during FSS Deep Water Survey 2006. Report to the Irish Marine Institute, Oranmore, Galway, Ireland.Google Scholar
Wall, D. (2007) Cetacean Distribution and Relative Abundance Survey during FSS Deep Water Survey 2007. Report to the Irish Marine Institute, Oranmore, Galway, Ireland.Google Scholar
Yochem, P.K. and Leatherwood, S. (1985) Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus, 1758). In Ridgway, S.H. and Harrison, R. (eds) Handbook of marine mammals, volume 3: the sirenians and baleen Whales. London: Academic Press, pp. 193–240.Google Scholar