Stable isotopes (δ15N, δ13C, δ34S) in skin reveal diverse food sources used by southern right whales (Eubalaena australis)

VALENZUELA, LUCIANO O.; ROWNTREE, VICTORIA; SIRONI, MARIANO; SEGER, JON

MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES

INTER-RESEARCH

Lugar: Oldendorf/Luhe; Año: 2018 vol. 603 p. 243 - 255

0171-8630

Skin samples collected from living southernright whales (SRWs) off Península Valdés, Argentina, show a wide range ofstable isotope values (δ15N, δ13C, δ34S). Thesewere compared to the isotopic signatures of euphausiids and copepods fromdifferent areas across the southwestern South Atlantic and the Atlantic sectorof the Southern Ocean. Our results suggest thatthat this population of SRWs uses at least three distinct food sources. Eachfood source may represent a single feeding ground or a combination of feedinggrounds with different prey species distributions. Individual whales pursue foragingstrategies that vary substantially in the amounts of time they spend indifferent feeding grounds along their migratory paths. The three grounds thatappear to contribute most to the diets of Península Valdés SRWs correspond toareas previously documented in the log books of whaling ships: the Patagonian Shelf,South Georgia and the waters of the Polar Front. It is possible that additionalfeeding areas are also currently being used in the South Atlantic. Age and sexclasses differ isotopically, but these differences could be caused by biomechanicalor physiological characteristics rather than by age- and sex-specific specializationon different feeding areas..<!-- /* Style Definitions */p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;mso-hyphenate:none;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-size:10.0pt;mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;}@page WordSection1{size:8.5in 11.0in;margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;mso-header-margin:.5in;mso-footer-margin:.5in;mso-paper-source:0;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}-->