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Unexplained recurring high mortality of southern right whale Eubalaena australis calves at Península Valdés, Argentina

2013; Inter-Research; Volume: 493; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/meps10506

1616-1599

VJ Rowntree, MM Uhart, Mariano Sironi, Andrea D. Chirife, M. Di Martino, Luciano La Sala, Luciana Raquel Musmeci, Nabilaa Mohamed, J Andrejuk, Denise McAloose, Juan Emilio Sala, Alejandro Carribero, Heather Rally, Marcelo Franco, F. R. Adler, RL Brownell, Jon Seger, TK Rowles,

Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 493:275-289 (2013) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10506 Unexplained recurring high mortality of southern right whale Eubalaena australis calves at Penïnsula Valdïs, Argentina Victoria J. Rowntree1,2,3,4,*, Marcela M. Uhart1,5, Mariano Sironi1,4, Andrea Chirife1, Matias Di Martino1, Luciano La Sala1, Luciana Musmeci1,6,7, Nadia Mohamed1, Julian Andrejuk1, Denise McAloose8, Juan Emilio Sala1,6, Alejandro Carribero9, Heather Rally10, Marcelo Franco11, Frederick R. Adler2, Robert. L. Brownell Jr.12, Jon Seger2, Teri Rowles13 1Southern Right Whale Health Monitoring Program, (1920) Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina 2Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA 3Whale Conservation Institute/Ocean Alliance, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930, USA 4Instituto de Conservaciön de Ballenas, Ing.Maschwitz, (1623), Prov. De Buenos Aires, Argentina 5One Health Institute, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA 6CONICET, Centro Nacional Patagönico, Chubut, Argentina 7Fundacion Patagonia Natural, (9120), Puerto Madryn, Argentina 8Global Health Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York 10460, USA 9Ecocentro, (9120), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina 10Western University of Health Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Pomona, California 91766, USA 11Cuerpo de Guardafaunas, Subsecretarïa de Turismo y Äreas Protegidas, Rawson (9103) Chubut, Argentina 12Southwest Fisheries Center, NMFS, NOAA, Pacific Grove, California 93950, USA 13NMFS, Office of Protected Resources, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, USA *Email: rowntree@biology.utah.edu ABSTRACT: Hundreds of southern right whale calves Eubalaena australis died on their calving ground at Penïnsula Valdïs, Argentina from 2003 through 2011. During this period, the number of dead calves increased at a much greater rate than that of living calves over the preceding 32 yr, and with greater inter-annual variation. High mortality events occurred late in the calving seasons of 2005 and 2007, early in the seasons of 2008 and 2009, and were equally divided between early and late in 2010 and 2011. Calves that died late in the seasons of 2005 and 2007 were at least a meter longer (mean 7.3 m) than newborns, indicating that they had grown and presumably were healthy before dying. An unusual number of large calves (>6 m) died early in the seasons of 2008 and 2009, suggesting that a population-wide process (e.g. nutritional stress) affected many mothers including older, larger mothers that tend to give birth to larger calves early in the season. Many tissue samples have been collected and analyzed, but no consistent lesions, pathologic processes or elevated levels of algal biotoxins have been identified to explain these recent mortality events. Here, we document the high mortality events, place them in historical context and describe ongoing efforts to identify their causes. As of 2010, the southern right whale sub-population that calves off Penïnsula Valdïs was estimated to be less than 20% of its initial size before whaling; the ongoing high mortality of calves will significantly affect its recovery. KEY WORDS: Right whale · Mortality · Eubalaena australis · Strandings · Patagonia Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Rowntree VJ, Uhart MM, Sironi M, Chirife A and others (2013) Unexplained recurring high mortality of southern right whale Eubalaena australis calves at Penïnsula Valdïs, Argentina. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 493:275-289. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10506 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 493. Online publication date: November 20, 2013 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2013 Inter-Research.