Behavioral responses of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae), to satellite transmitter deployment procedures
Tagging whales with implantable satellite transmitters creates the possibility of disturbing the animals. Between 2003 and 2005, behavioral observations of humpback whales during tag deployment operations were conducted off the coast of Brazil from the flying bridge of a speedboat. The speed achieve...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia
2010-02-01
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| Series: | Zoologia (Curitiba) |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-46702010000100001 |
| _version_ | 1797968642929852416 |
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| author | Luiz Cláudio P. de S. Alves Sérgio Moreira Paulo C. Simões-Lopes Artur Andriolo |
| author_facet | Luiz Cláudio P. de S. Alves Sérgio Moreira Paulo C. Simões-Lopes Artur Andriolo |
| author_sort | Luiz Cláudio P. de S. Alves |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tagging whales with implantable satellite transmitters creates the possibility of disturbing the animals. Between 2003 and 2005, behavioral observations of humpback whales during tag deployment operations were conducted off the coast of Brazil from the flying bridge of a speedboat. The speed achieved by each whale during pursuit was registered by GPS receivers onboard two inflatable zodiac boats. Respiratory frequencies were significantly lower (n = 15, p < 0.05) before (mean = 0.89 ± 0.06 blows/min) compared with after (1.39 ± 0.15) tagging. The same effect was observed for the speed of each animal (mean = 10.96 ± 0.44 km/h and 12.54 ± 0.57 km/h; n = 13, p < 0.05). Both variables were positively correlated with the duration of the pursuit (n = 21, r = 0.88, p < 0.05; n = 13, r = 0.94, p < 0.01) and with each other (n = 26, r = 0.65, p < 0.01). Acute responses were observed in 50% of the 28 tag deployments. Pursuits were shown to generate a longer effect than tagging. We suggest that the behavioral changes presented here are short-term disturbances because the tagging operation ends quickly and is not a repeated procedure. However, protocols must be developed to guarantee the maintenance of the animals' welfare during operations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:49:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9412083f6c354bc18d750e2437b910be |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1984-4670 1984-4689 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:49:55Z |
| publishDate | 2010-02-01 |
| publisher | Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Zoologia (Curitiba) |
| spelling | doaj.art-9412083f6c354bc18d750e2437b910be2023-01-02T16:39:45ZengSociedade Brasileira de ZoologiaZoologia (Curitiba)1984-46701984-46892010-02-01271010610.1590/S1984-46702010000100001Behavioral responses of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae), to satellite transmitter deployment proceduresLuiz Cláudio P. de S. AlvesSérgio MoreiraPaulo C. Simões-LopesArtur AndrioloTagging whales with implantable satellite transmitters creates the possibility of disturbing the animals. Between 2003 and 2005, behavioral observations of humpback whales during tag deployment operations were conducted off the coast of Brazil from the flying bridge of a speedboat. The speed achieved by each whale during pursuit was registered by GPS receivers onboard two inflatable zodiac boats. Respiratory frequencies were significantly lower (n = 15, p < 0.05) before (mean = 0.89 ± 0.06 blows/min) compared with after (1.39 ± 0.15) tagging. The same effect was observed for the speed of each animal (mean = 10.96 ± 0.44 km/h and 12.54 ± 0.57 km/h; n = 13, p < 0.05). Both variables were positively correlated with the duration of the pursuit (n = 21, r = 0.88, p < 0.05; n = 13, r = 0.94, p < 0.01) and with each other (n = 26, r = 0.65, p < 0.01). Acute responses were observed in 50% of the 28 tag deployments. Pursuits were shown to generate a longer effect than tagging. We suggest that the behavioral changes presented here are short-term disturbances because the tagging operation ends quickly and is not a repeated procedure. However, protocols must be developed to guarantee the maintenance of the animals' welfare during operations.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-46702010000100001Behaviorrespiratory frequencysatellite telemetry |
| spellingShingle | Luiz Cláudio P. de S. Alves Sérgio Moreira Paulo C. Simões-Lopes Artur Andriolo Behavioral responses of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae), to satellite transmitter deployment procedures Zoologia (Curitiba) Behavior respiratory frequency satellite telemetry |
| title | Behavioral responses of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae), to satellite transmitter deployment procedures |
| title_full | Behavioral responses of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae), to satellite transmitter deployment procedures |
| title_fullStr | Behavioral responses of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae), to satellite transmitter deployment procedures |
| title_full_unstemmed | Behavioral responses of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae), to satellite transmitter deployment procedures |
| title_short | Behavioral responses of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae), to satellite transmitter deployment procedures |
| title_sort | behavioral responses of humpback whales megaptera novaeangliae cetacea balaenopteridae to satellite transmitter deployment procedures |
| topic | Behavior respiratory frequency satellite telemetry |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-46702010000100001 |
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