Speaker: Angela Szesciorka, Marine Mammal Bioacoustics and Ecology Lab, Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University

Topic:

Are we there yet? Exploring the drivers of whale migration in the tropics and the poles

Species from every major animal group migrate, including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. For long-lived, highly mobile baleen whales, migration typically involves seasonal movement between discrete habitats for feeding or breeding. Despite being widely documented, however, the driving force behind modern whale migration has been contentious. Although not every population or individual migrates, modern whale migration may optimize conditions for feeding; decrease competition; limit parasitism and pathogens; reduce calf predation; or aid thermoregulation for calf growth in the winter. Migration timing involves a dynamic interplay between internal mechanisms and environmental conditions throughout the year, such as temperature and photoperiod. But as the planet continues to warm, the environmental cues that whales likely use to time migration are changing (e.g., initiation of the spring phytoplankton bloom). In response, whales are changing the timing and patterns of their annual migrations. In this talk I’ll discuss the migratory behaviors of two iconic baleen whale species — blue whales and bowhead whales — including their migration patterns, some of the ecological drivers behind the timing of their migration, and how migration patterns are changing in a changing world.