@article{1c7e7eae613044759b057294c34cd5ba,
title = "Dive behavior of North Atlantic right whales on the calving ground in the Southeast USA: Implications for conservation",
abstract = "The North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis is a Critically Endangered whale whose habitat overlaps with areas of high human use. On feeding grounds, aspects of its behavior increase the vulnerability of this species to anthropogenic threats such as entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes. On the calving ground, natural dive behavior and the implications for conservation efforts in this species remain to be evaluated. In this study, we used 102.17 h of tag data collected over 15 deployments of archival tags on 14 individuals to describe the dive behavior of right whales in the Southeast USA. Lactating females spent up to 80% of the time at depths ≤ 3.5 m, leading to increased risk of vessel strike compared to other whale groups that spent a maximum of 30% of the time at those depths in this habitat. Non-lactating whales had significantly deeper maximum dive depths (12.1 m) than lactating females (7.3 m) and spent more time in the bottom phase of dives, closer to the sea floor (45 vs. 37% of the dive duration, respectively). Time spent closer to the sea floor increases the probability of interaction with fishing gear. Therefore, these dive data are useful to justify seasonal closures of fishing activity on the calving ground to protect both lactating and non-lactating whales. Opportunistic comparisons revealed that diel period, calf presence and calf age affect dive behavior of female right whales. In the face of the impacts of anthropogenic mortality on right whale populations, these results will aid vessel strike and entanglement risk assessment on the Southeast USA calving ground.",
keywords = "Diel trend, Entanglement, Mother−calf behavior, Ship-strike, Subsurface behavior, Underwater movement",
author = "Dombroski, {Julia R.G.} and Parks, {Susan E.} and Nowacek, {Douglas P.}",
note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements. We thank the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium for access to whale identification and sighting data used in this study. Funding was provided by the Office of Naval Research and the US Fleet Forces Command and managed by Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic as part of the US Navy Marine Species Monitoring Program. North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, NOAA Southeast Science Center, Oceanworks Group, New England Aquarium, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were instrumental with right whale sightings and logistical support. We also thank the following people who helped with data collection: Lisa Conger, Dana Cusano, Julian Dale, Heather Foley, Alex Loer, Jessica McCordic, Rett Newton, Nicola Quick, Zach Swaim, Danielle Waples and Chen-Yi Wu. Data were collected under NMFS permit 17355-01 issued to Dr. P. Corkeron. Tagging was conducted under US National Marine Fisheries Service permit 17355-01. Methods were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees of Duke University and Syracuse University. Funding Information: We thank the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium for access to whale identification and sighting data used in this study. Funding was provided by the Office of Naval Research and the US Fleet Forces Command and managed by Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic as part of the US Navy Marine Species Monitoring Program. North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, NOAA Southeast Science Center, Oceanworks Group, New England Aquarium, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were instrumental with right whale sightings and logistical support. We also thank the following people who helped with data collection: Lisa Conger, Dana Cusano, Julian Dale, Heather Foley, Alex Loer, Jessica McCordic, Rett Newton, Nicola Quick, Zach Swaim, Danielle Waples and Chen-Yi Wu. Data were collected under NMFS permit 17355-01 issued to Dr. P. Corkeron. Tagging was conducted under US National Marine Fisheries Service permit 17355-01. Methods were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees of Duke University and Syracuse University. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The authors 2021. Open Access under Creative Commons by Attribution Licence. Use, distribution and reproduction are un - restricted. Authors and original publication must be credited.",
year = "2021",
doi = "10.3354/ESR01141",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "46",
pages = "35--48",
journal = "Endangered Species Research",
issn = "1863-5407",
publisher = "Inter-Research",
}