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SST fronts and the summer sperm whale distribution in the north-west Mediterranean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2007

Alexandre Gannier  and
Emilie Praca
Alexandre Gannier
Affiliation:
Groupe de Recherche sur les Cétacés (GREC), BP715, 06633 Antibes Cedex, France
Emilie Praca
Affiliation:
Centre de Recherche sur les Cétacés (CRC), Marineland, 306 avenue Mozart, Antibes, France Laboratoire d'Océanologie, Université de Liège, B6C, Allée de la Chimie 3, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
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Abstract

The relative distribution of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and sea surface temperature (SST) fronts have been studied in summer in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. We used passive acoustic data (778 samples) obtained offshore during dedicated surveys between 1999 and 2004 and Pathfinder/Modis remote sensing data to compute front maps and to calculate mean distances from sperm whale detections (N=132) to SST-fronts. Mean distances from sperm whale acoustic detections to SST-fronts were significantly lower (10.4 km) than from other acoustic samples to those fronts (17.0 km). The same result was obtained when calculating distances from sperm whales to the North Balearic Front surface signature. If sperm whales are commonly observed along the continental slope, we showed that offshore individuals were located close to SST-fronts. This bimodal distribution in the north-western Mediterranean is linked to sperm whale feeding strategy, demonstrating ecological opportunistic behaviour in this high level predator.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 87 , Issue 1 , February 2007 , pp. 187 - 193
Copyright
2007 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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