Others Associated with Work: Claire Evers, Hilary Moors-Murphy, Bruce Martin, Julien Delarue, Emily Maxner.
Organizations: JASCO Applied Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Theme: Science
Format: Oral presentation
Knowledge of humpback whales in eastern Canadian waters was once limited to summer months, when weather and light conditions allow for visual surveys. The implementation of long-term, year-round passive acoustic monitoring has provided an opportunity to understand humpback whale acoustic occurrence, even in remote offshore waters including the Gully Marine Protected Area (MPA), a submarine canyon offshore of Sable Island. From October 2012 to September 2014, acoustic recorders collected data from the MPA and adjacent slope areas. In addition, from 2015 to 2017 acoustic recordings were collected from the MPA and 24 other offshore locations that ranged from Newfoundland and Labrador to the Scotian Shelf. Humpback whales, once thought to occur only seasonally in Canadian waters, were acoustically detected in all months of the year. At the MPA, where the species was thought to be rare, vocalizations peaked in December and January. In summer at the MPA, humpback whales were rarely acoustically detected from 2012 to 2015 but were more common in 2017 (no recordings in summer 2016). These findings indicate that the Gully region is regularly used by the species and may be a migratory corridor for humpback whales. The seasonal presence of songs may be indicative of social development and/or mating activities. Vocalizations often occurred more at sunset and during hours of darkness than during daylight. This research improves our understanding of humpback whale occurrence off eastern Canada and, more specifically, their use of an offshore protected area.
