Nijs, G.

Rowntree, V.J.

Open Marine Archive

Notes
MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, 33(1): 342–349 (January 2017)
© 2016 Society for Marine Mammalogy
DOI: 10.1111/mms.12354
Rare sightings of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) on a
feeding ground off the South Sandwich Islands, including a known
individual from Penınsula Valdes, Argentina
GRIET NIJS,1,2 Laboratory for Polar Ecology (PolE), B-1367 Ramillies, Belgium;
VICTORIA J. ROWNTREE, Department of Biology, University of Utah, 257 South 1400 East,
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, U.S.A.
Southern right whales (SRW, Eubalaena australis) were severely depleted through-
out the 19th and 20th centuries but since protection in 1935, most populations are
recovering (IWC 2012). Over the last few decades, they have been intensively studied
during austral winter when they are on coastal calving grounds where researchers have
documented their population dynamics, longevity, and birthing intervals (Payne
1986, Best 2000, Burnell 2001, Rowntree et al. 2001, Patenaude et al. 2007, Ban-
nister 2011, Carroll et al. 2011, IWC 2012, Galletti Vernazzani et al. 2014). How-
ever, little information is available on their current offshore movements and
distribution during the 8–9 mo they are on their feeding grounds. Ensuring the full
recovery of a species requires protection throughout its range. Whaling records pro-
vide information on former feeding grounds (Townsend 1935, Tormosov et al.
1998), but current feeding grounds are known mainly from opportunistic sightings
made from ships that happen to travel through remote polar seas and from the tracks
of about 25 satellite-tagged individuals (Best and Mate 2007, Best et al. 2015, Zer-
bini et al. 2015). Photo-identification of whales sighted offshore therefore provides
valuable information on the movements of SRW in the remote polar seas. Here we
report offshore sightings of 21 SRWs along the South Sandwich Islands, where the
species has rarely been seen, and to the east of South Georgia, where sightings are
more frequent (Moore et al. 1999). Photographs of 6 of the 21 whales were individu-
ally identifiable and were compared to catalogues of SRWs photographed on calving
grounds off South Africa and Argentina.
The whales were sighted from the R/V Polarstern during the PS81 (ANT-XXIX/4)
expedition as part of a long-term study to document spatial and temporal changes in
1Corresponding author (e-mail: griet.nijs@natuurpunt.be).
2Current address: Research Department, Natuurpunt Studie, B-2800, Mechelen, Belgium.
342
the at-sea distribution, dispersal movements, and aggregations of cetaceans, pin-
nipeds, and seabirds in the western South Atlantic Ocean (Joiris et al. 2015). Surveys
were conducted along a transect that began at Punta Arenas, Chile, on 22 March
2013, proceeded to South Georgia along the North Scotia Ridge and the South Sand-
wich Trench before returning to the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands on 16 April 2013
(Fig. 1). Shipboard surveys (n = 365) were conducted daily on a continuous basis (vis-
ibility permitting) from dawn to dusk from a height of 18 m above sea level. Obser-
vation time was partitioned into 30 min segments, with observers changing every 3
h to avoid fatigue. In addition, there were nine aerial surveys (height 1,500 ft, speed
80 kn) from a ship-based helicopter lasting about 2 h each (for details see Joiris et al.
2015). Surveys were suspended when the ship was stationary (station list in Bohr-
mann 2014). Data recorded for each whale sighting included: location, species, group
size, group composition, and any unusual behavior. Whales were photographed
opportunistically when they were close enough to the ship or helicopter and condi-
tions allowed. Since the main objective of the ANT-XXIX/4 expedition was to inves-
tigate hydrothermal activity, the transect path was fixed and could not be diverted to
photograph individual animals.
SRWs can be individually identified by the shape and placement of distinctive
markings on their heads (callosities) and white or gray pigmentation patterns on their
backs (Payne et al. 1983, Schaeff et al. 1999). Photographs were sent to the holders of
catalogs of SRWs photo-identified on calving grounds off South Africa (1,680 indi-
viduals, Peter Best) and Penınsula Valdes (PV), Argentina (3,031 individuals, Ocean
Alliance/Instituto de Conservacion de Ballenas), who searched the catalogs for
matches. Searches in both catalogs used the computer-assisted photo-identification
Figure 1. Survey track (solid line) of the ANT-XXIX/4 expedition to South Georgia and
the South Sandwich Islands. The map also shows the SRW calving ground off Penınsula
Valdes, Argentina, where whale #A0262 was first sighted (1972). The stars indicate locations
of SRW sightings and the star size indicates the group size. Black stars = the locations of
photo-identified SRW; white stars = the locations of the nonidentifiable SRW; black triangle
= the location of whale #A0262.
NOTES 343
system developed by Hiby and Lovell (2001). All matches were scored for picture
quality, distinctiveness of pattern and certainty of identity (IWC 1990, p. 9).
Twenty-one SRWs were sighted during the expedition including 10 during ship-
board surveys, three while the ship was stationary and nine during helicopter surveys
(Fig. 1). Six whales were photographed in sufficient detail to be individually identifi-
able (Fig. 2) (four during helicopter surveys and two when the whales approached the
ship while it was stationary). No matches were found in the South African catalog or
among SRWs photo-identified off South Georgia by Moore et al. (1999), but one
whale, SS0882, matched whale #A0262 in the Argentine catalog. The match is
unambiguous owing to the distinctive pattern of gray pigmentation on the whale’s
back. Whale #A0262 was first seen at PV in 1972, but not again until the present
observation on 6 April 2013 (Fig. 3). This represents a southeastward movement of
approximately 3,090 km.
Four of the animals seen during the aerial surveys were close to a free-drifting ice-
berg. It remains unclear whether the whales were logging in the protection of the
Figure 2. Southern right whales photographed between 29 March and 9 April 2013 off
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. For further details see Joiris et al. 2015. Pho-
tos: G. Nijs/PolE and H. Robert/PolE.
344 MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, VOL. 33, NO. 1, 2017
iceberg or were attracted by a higher local prey abundance caused by an upwelling
resulting from melting water (Smith et al. 2007, Kaufmann et al. 2011, Joiris et al.
2015). The whales showed no active feeding behavior during the time of observation.
The three whales that were sighted while the ship was stationary showed inquisitive
behavior, approaching the ship and swimming up to CTD equipment that was being
winched out of the water. One whale was observed actively feeding around the ship,
closing its mouth before surfacing every 2–5 min to breathe. The whale was closely
followed by a raft of chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus) that appeared to be
feeding on prey surrounding the surfacing whale.
Whaling data indicate that the waters around South Georgia were historically
known as a major feeding ground for large whales during the austral summer (Kemp
Figure 3. (A, B) Southern right whale #A0262 photographed off Penınsula Valdes in 1972
at 42S, 64W (Ocean Alliance/Instituto de Conservacion de Ballenas); (C) #A0262(SS0882)
photographed west of Montagu Island at 58.53S, 27.02W on 6 April 2013. This gray-
morph whale shows a distinctive splatter of black markings over the right shoulder, making it
easy to photo-identify. Photo: G. Nijs/PolE.
NOTES 345
and Bennett 1932, Matthews 1938, Tormosov et al. 1998, Moore et al. 1999).
Between 1965–1966 and 1981–1982 Japanese scouting boats operating in the South
Atlantic found SRWs to be most abundant to the southeast of South America
(70W–30W, 35S–45S), but they found no SRWs between 70W–30W and
50S–60S, as reported here, even though they frequented this region (Ohsumi and
Kasamatsu 1986). They did sight 48 SRWs in January between 30W–30E and
50S–55S, but none south of 55S (Ohsumi and Kasamatsu 1986). Most of their
sightings occurred between 35S and 50S, i.e., generally north of the Antarctic con-
vergence. The only other record of SRWs on a feeding ground off the South Sandwich
Islands (700 km south of South Georgia), are two whales taken by Russian whalers in
January 1966 to the east of the islands (57.7S, 23.4W) (Tormosov et al. 1998).
SRW populations are slowly recovering from whaling with most stocks increasing at
a rate of 6%–8% per year (IWC 2001, 2012). During a 1997 shipboard survey of
cetaceans that included the historically rich large whale feeding ground off South
Georgia (56.5W–35W, 53S–54.5S), SRWs were the most frequently sighted
large whale species, with most sightings occurring northwest and north of the Island
(Moore et al. 1999). The addition of 21 more SRW sightings southeast of South
Georgia and along the South Sandwich Islands suggest that SRWs may be slowly
reclaiming some of their historic feeding grounds and extending them farther to the
south.
Aside from the resighting of Argentine whale #A0262 reported here, the only
other direct link between right whale calving and summer feeding grounds in the
western South Atlantic comes from three individuals identified at Penınsula Valdes
and later resighted on feeding grounds off South Georgia and Shag Rocks (Best et al.
1993, Moore et al. 1999, Rowntree et al. 2001).
The resighted whale, #A0262, is unusual because of its distinctive body coloration,
being predominately gray with a splatter of black pigmentation over the right shoul-
der (Fig. 3) described by Schaeff et al. (1999) as a gray-morph phenotype. Individuals
of this type appear white with black splatterings at birth, but the white skin darkens
to gray over the next year or two (Payne et al. 1983; Best 1990; VJR, personal obser-
vation).
Gray-morph phenotypes are rare, comprising 0.3% of cow and 3.6% of calf SRWs
off South Africa, and 0% and 1% off Argentina (Schaeff et al. 1999). Gray-morph
males are much more common than females which more often show a partial gray-
morph phenotype (predominantly black skin, with white patches that turn gray with
age) (Schaeff et al. 1999). Whale #A0262 is assumed to be a male based on the fact
that most of the sexed gray-morph individuals are male (Schaeff et al. 1999).
Although right whales are believed to have a lifespan of at least 60 yr (Hamilton
et al. 1998), it has been suggested that gray-morph males may have shorter sighting
histories than normal black males (Schaeff et al. 1999). Right whale #A0262 was at
least 2 yr old when photographed off PV in 1972 as judged by the darkness of gray
skin. Thus, it must have been at least 43 yr old when photographed off the South
Sandwich Islands in 2013.
The observations reported here extend the current known foraging range of western
South Atlantic right whales in a region of the Southern Ocean where Antarctic krill
are especially abundant (Atkinson et al. 2004). This population appears to be sensi-
tive to periods of low krill abundance (Leaper et al. 2006) and therefore seems likely
to benefit from the South Georgia and South Sandwich Island Marine Protected Area,
which was established in 2012 (GSGSSI 2012). However, most of the sightings
reported here were outside the protected 12 nmi perimeter of the islands, suggesting
346 MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, VOL. 33, NO. 1, 2017
that further limitation of krill fishing in the region, spatially and/or temporally,
might help to protect this population and other recovering species of large whales.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the Alfred Wegener Institute for logistic and financial support and the
invitation to join the scientific crew of the R/V Polarstern. We thank Claude Joiris for the
research opportunity and the other members of the PolE research team: Roseline Beudels, Ger-
ald Driessens, Rene-Marie Lafontaine, and Henri Robert for their contributions. We dedicate
this note to the late Peter Best who looked for matches in the South African catalog near the
end of his life and generously helped us in other ways during preparation of the manuscript.
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NOTES 349


Rare sightings of southern right whales (<i>Eubalaena australis</i>) on a feeding ground off the South Sandwich Islands, including a known individual from Peninsula Valdes, Argentina

Rare sightings of southern right whales (<i>Eubalaena australis</i>) on a feeding ground off the South Sandwich Islands, including a known individual from Peninsula Valdes, Argentina

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