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A link between male sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, of the Azores and Norway

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2012

Lisa Steiner ,
Luca Lamoni ,
Marta Acosta Plata ,
Silje-Kristin Jensen ,
Erland Lettevall  and
Jonathan Gordon
Lisa Steiner*
Affiliation:
Whale Watch Azores, Estrada da Caldeira, No. 2, Horta, 9900-089, Faial, Azores
Luca Lamoni
Affiliation:
Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LB, UK
Marta Acosta Plata
Affiliation:
Whalesafari, PO Box 58, Andenes, 8483, Norway
Silje-Kristin Jensen
Affiliation:
Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LB, UK
Erland Lettevall
Affiliation:
Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM), Science Affairs Dept. PO Box 11930, SE-40439 Gothenburg, Sweden
Jonathan Gordon
Affiliation:
Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LB, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: L. Steiner, Estrada da Caldeira, No. 2, Horta, 9900-089, Faial, Azores, Portugal email: wwa2@yahoo.com
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Abstract

Little is known about the movements of male sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the North Atlantic. Recoveries of traditional harpoons and tags during commercial whaling indicated movements from Nova Scotia to Spain and from the Azores to Iceland and Spain. We compared collections of photo-identification images from different areas using the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sperm Whale Catalogue and the Eurphlukes Phlex/Match programs. The largest collections of identified males (number of individuals, start and end date for data collection shown in parentheses) are for the Azores (297, 1987–2008), Andenes (375, 1988–1996 and 2008), Tromsø (84, 2005–2008). There were six matches between Andenes and Tromsø (~25 nm), with three of these re-sighted in multiple years and three photo-identification matches from the Azores to Norway (~2400 nm). In all cases individuals first photographed in the Azores (in 1993, 1999 and 2003) were matched to images collected later in Tromsø (in 2007 and 2008). In 1997 a photo-identification image from Andenes matched a male stranded on the west coast of Ireland. No matches were made to images in smaller collections from Iceland, Nova Scotia, Greenland, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean. These findings show the value of data collected from whale watching vessels and the importance of collaboration between groups to allow investigation on an ocean basin scale. It is hoped that with the coordinated collection of more images from around the Atlantic, further insight might be gained into the movements of these widely ranging animals.

Keywords

sperm whalePhyseter macrocephalusphoto-identificationAzoresNorwaydistributionmigration
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 92 , Issue 8: Marine Mammals , December 2012 , pp. 1751 - 1756
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2012

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