This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Despite protections, blue whales remain endangered, primarily because of the risk of collisions with ships. MBARI's Blue Whale Observatory uses a suite of technologies to study these animals and their primary food source, krill, in the Monterey Bay region.
The findings from this body of research can help resource managers protect these majestic animals. Through the observatory, MBARI scientists and a network of collaborators integrate a variety of sensing methods to collect data about whale behavioral ecology, including: A new paper published in Current Biology highlights findings from the team's latest study in this ongoing body of work to understand whale ecology. MBARI sat down with John Ryan, a biological oceanographer at MBARI and the lead author of this study, to learn more.
Blue whales must take in an enormous amount of calories to sustain their massive bodies and long-distance migrations. We know that they need very dense swarms of krill to make the intensive effort of feeding worthwhile, but krill swarms can be difficult to find in the vast ocean. Our team wanted to learn more about how these giant animals locate krill swarms.
Do whales sense krill swarms directly, or do they sense specific conditions in the ocean environment that guide them to krill swarms? The key data for this study came from two perspectives: the whales themselves and satellites that view Earth from space. Our collaborators at Cascadia Research Collective and Stanford University deployed temporary, small electronic tags on whales in a process referred to as biologging to record whale movement, activity levels and feeding habits, as well as conditions in the immediate surrounding ocean environment.
The feeding behavior of the whales also helped us interpret the density of the krill swarms, based on previous research. Orbiting satellites carrying radar altimeters and NOAA infrared thermal sensors provided detailed descriptions of the physical environment around the whales. The altimeters defined the ocean surface topography that determined ocean circulation patterns, and the infrared sensors identified the thermal fronts targeted by the foraging whales.
We were able to carefully piece together this large body of data to look at the relationship between environmental dynamics in the ocean and the whales' foraging behavior. Think of it as working on a jigsaw puzzle with pieces of all shapes and sizes. Combining these puzzle pieces provided valuable insights into the phenomenal sensory capabilities of blue whales.
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