USAP-DC

The Antarctic Peninsula is warming and one of the consequences is a decrease in sea ice cover. Antarctic minke whales are the largest ice-obligate krill predator in the region, yet- little is known about their foraging behavior and ecology. The goals of the project are to use a suite of new technological tools to measure the underwater behavior of the whales and better understand how they exploit the sea ice habitat. Using video-recording motion-sensing tags, the underwater movements of the whales can be reconstructed and it can be determine where and when they feed. UAS (unmanned aerial systems) will be used to generate real-time images of sea ice cover that will be linked with tag data to determine how much time whales spend in sea ice versus open water, and how the behavior of the whales changes between these two habitats. Lastly, scientific echosounders will be used to characterize the prey field that the whales are exploiting and differences in krill availability inside and out of the ice will be investigated. All of this information is critical to understand the ecological role of Antarctic minke whales so that better predictions can be made regarding impacts of climate change not only on these animals, but on the structure and function of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. The project will promote the progress of science by elucidating the ecological role of a poorly known Antarctic predator and using this information to better understand the impact of changes that are occurring in Polar Regions. The educational and outreach program will increase awareness and understanding of minke whales, Antarctic marine ecosystems, sea ice, and the dynamics of climate change through the use of film, social media, and curriculum development for formal STEM educators. To understand how changes in sea ice will manifest in the demography of predators that rely on sea ice habitat requires knowledge of their behavior and ecology. The largest ice-dependent krill predator and most abundant cetacean in the Southern Ocean is the Antarctic minke whale (AMW)- yet, virtually nothing is known of its foraging behavior or ecological role. Thus, the knowledge to understand how climate-driven changes will affect these animals and therefore the dynamics of the ecosystem as a whole is lacking. The project will use multi-sensor and video recording tags, fisheries acoustics, and unmanned aerial systems to study the foraging behavior and ecological role of minke whales in the waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. The following research questions will be posed: 1. What is the feeding performance of AMWs? 2. How important is sea ice to the foraging behavior of AMW? 3. How do AMWs feed directly under sea ice? Proven tagging and analytical approaches to characterize the underwater feeding behavior and kinematics of minke whales will be used. Combined with quantitative measurements of the prey field, the energetic costs of feeding will be measured and it will be determined how minke whales optimize energy gain. Using animal-borne video recording tags and UAS technology it will also be determined how much feeding occurs directly under sea ice and how this mode differs from open water feeding. This knowledge will: (1) significantly enhance knowledge of the least-studied Antarctic krill predator; and (2) be made directly available to international, long-term efforts to understand how climate-driven changes will affect the structure and function of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. The educational and outreach efforts aim to increase awareness and understanding of: (i) the ecological role of minke whales around the Antarctic Peninsula; (ii) the effects of environmental change on an abundant but largely unstudied marine predator; (iii) the advanced methods and technologies used by whale researchers to study these cryptic animals and their prey; and (iv) the variety of careers in the ocean sciences by sharing the experiences of scientists and students. These educational aims will be achieved by delivering continuous near-real-time delivery of project events and data to informal audiences through social media channels as well as curricula and professional development programs that will provide formal STEM educators with specific standards-compliant lesson plans.

Person	Role
Friedlaender, Ari	Investigator and contact

Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems

Award # 1643877

USAP-1643877_1

None in the Database

Repository	Title (link)	Format(s)	Status
USAP-DC	Motion-sensing biologging data from Antarctic minke whales, West Antarctic Peninsula	Excel	exists

1. Savoca, M., Friedlaender, A.S…Goldbogen, J.A. et al. 2021. High-resolution foraging measurements reveal baleen whales as global climate engineers. Nature. (doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03991-5)
2. Friedlaender, AS, Joyce, T., Johnston, DW, Read, AJ, Nowacek, DP, Goldbogen, JA, Gales, N, and JW Durban. 2021. Sympatry and resource partitioning between the largest krill consumers around the Antarctic Peninsula. Marine Ecology Progress Series. (doi:10.3354/meps13771)
3. Bierlich, K., Schick, R., Hewitt, J., Dale, J. Goldbogen, J., Friedlaender A.S., Read, A., and D.W. Johnston. 2021. Comparing uncertainty associated with 1-,2-, and 3D aerial photogrammetry-based body condition measurements of baleen whales. Frontiers in Marine Science. (doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.749943)
4. Bierlich, K.C., Schick, R.S., Hewitt, J., Dale, J., Goldbogen, J.A., Friedlaender, A.S., and D.W. Johnston. 2021. Bayesian approach for predicting photogrammetric uncertainty in morphometric measurements derived from drones. Marine Ecology Progress Series. (doi:10.3354/meps13814)
5. Kahane-Rapport, S.R., M.S. Savoca, D.E. Cade, P.S. Segre, KC Bierlich, J.A. Calambokidis, J. Dale, A.S. Friedlaender, D.W. Johnston, A.J. Werth, and J.A. Goldbogen. 2020. Lunge filter feeding biomechanics constrain rorqual foraging ecology across scale. Journal of Experimental Biology (doi:10.1242/jeb.224196)
6. Segre, P. et al. Accepted. Scaling of Maneuvering performance in baleen whales. Journal of Experimental Biology.
7. Casey, C.B., Weindorf, S., Levy, E., Linsky, J.M.J., Cade, D.E., Goldbogen, J.A., Nowacek, D.P., and A.S. Friedlaender. Accepted. Acoustic signaling in associated behavior of Antarctic minke whales. Royal Society Open Science.
8. Cade, D…A.S. Friedlaender. Submitted. Minimum body size constraints of intermittent engulfment filtration feeding. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
9. Nazario, E., Cade, D., Beirlich, K., Czapanskiy, M., Goldbogen, J., Kahane-Rapport, S., Van der Hoop, J., and A.S. Friedlaender. Accepted. Baleen whale inhalation variability revealed using animal-borne video tags. Peerj.
10. Bamford, C. C. G., Kelly, N., Dalla Rosa, L., Cade, D. E., Fretwell, P. T., Trathan, P. N., … Jackson, J. A. (2020). A comparison of baleen whale density estimates derived from overlapping satellite imagery and a shipborne survey. Scientific Reports, 10(1). (doi:10.1038/s41598-020-69887-y)
11. Pallin, L. J., Kellar, N. M., Steel, D., Botero‐Acosta, N., Baker, C. S., Conroy, J. A., Costa, D. P., Johnson, C. M., Johnston, D. W., Nichols, R. C., Nowacek, D. P., Read, A. J., Savenko, O., Schofield, O. M., Stammerjohn, S. E., Steinberg, D. K., & Friedlaender, A. S. (2023). A surplus no more? Variation in krill availability impacts reproductive rates of Antarctic baleen whales. Global Change Biology. Portico. (doi:10.1111/gcb.16559)
12. Cade, D. E., Kahane-Rapport, S. R., Gough, W. T., Bierlich, K. C., Linsky, J. M. J., Calambokidis, J., Johnston, D. W., Goldbogen, J. A., & Friedlaender, A. S. (2023). Minke whale feeding rate limitations suggest constraints on the minimum body size for engulfment filtration feeding. Nature Ecology & Evolution. (doi:10.1038/s41559-023-01993-2)
13. Marcondes, M. C. C., Cheeseman, T., Jackson, J. A., Friedlaender, A. S., Pallin, L., Olio, M., … Sousa-Lima, R. S. (2021). The Southern Ocean Exchange: porous boundaries between humpback whale breeding populations in southern polar waters. Scientific Reports, 11(1). (doi:10.1038/s41598-021-02612-5)
14. Nazario, E. C., Cade, D. E., Bierlich, K. C., Czapanskiy, M. F., Goldbogen, J. A., Kahane-Rapport, S. R., van der Hoop, J. M., San Luis, M. T., & Friedlaender, A. S. (2022). Baleen whale inhalation variability revealed using animal-borne video tags. PeerJ, 10, e13724. Portico. (doi:10.7717/peerj.13724)
15. Reichmuth, C., Casey, C., & Friedlaender, A. (2021). In‐situ observations of the sensory hairs of Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). The Anatomical Record, 305(3), 568–576. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24720 (doi:10.1002/ar.24720)
16. Linsky, J. M. J., Wilson, N., Cade, D. E., Goldbogen, J. A., Johnston, D. W., & Friedlaender, A. S. (2020). The scale of the whale: using video-tag data to evaluate sea-surface ice concentration from the perspective of individual Antarctic minke whales. Animal Biotelemetry, 8(1). (doi:10.1186/s40317-020-00218-8)
17. Goldbogen, J. A., Cade, D. E., Wisniewska, D. M., Potvin, J., Segre, P. S., Savoca, M. S., … Pyenson, N. D. (2019). Why whales are big but not bigger: Physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants. Science, 366(6471), 1367–1372. (doi:10.1126/science.aax9044)
18. Cade, D. E., Gough, W. T., Czapanskiy, M. F., Fahlbusch, J. A., Kahane-Rapport, S. R., Linsky, J. M. J., … Goldbogen, J. A. (2021). Tools for integrating inertial sensor data with video bio-loggers, including estimation of animal orientation, motion, and position. Animal Biotelemetry, 9(1). (doi:10.1186/s40317-021-00256-w)
19. Casey, C. B., Weindorf, S., Levy, E., Linsky, J. M. J., Cade, D. E., Goldbogen, J. A., Nowacek, D. P., & Friedlaender, A. S. (2022). Acoustic signalling and behaviour of Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). Royal Society Open Science, 9(7). (doi:10.1098/rsos.211557)
20. Allen, J. A., Cade, D. E., Casey, C. B., Weindorf, S., Johnston, D. W., Linsky, J. M. J., Goldbogen, J. A., Nowacek, D. P., & Friedlaender, A. S. (2024). Evidence of sociality and group foraging in Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 78(5). (doi:10.1007/s00265-024-03481-4)