Underwater Behavior of Blue Whales Using a Suction-cup Attached CRITTERCAM
Abstract
We deployed an instrument package developed by National Geographic (CRITTERCAM) on blue whales at three locations and time periods to examine their underwater behavior. Deployments were conducted in Monterey Bay, southern California Bight, and Sea of Cortez, Mexico. In total, 17 deployments were made, with 8 deployments and recoveries of 15 min to over 6 h. We have developed more effective approaches resulting in an increased success rate in attaching tags, and improved the performance of the Crittercams themselves. Deployments have revealed that: 1) whales were feeding by conducting multiple upward lunges into prey, 2) whales were coming into the krill layer from below and then inverting, 3) lunges brought the whales to near stand-still within dense layers of krill, 4) blue whales were diving deeper (300 m) than had previously been reported, 5) most animals were not vocalizing during feeding, and 6) there did not appear to be close spacing or coordination between pairs of whales.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA592026
Entities
People
- Don Croll
- Greg Marshall
- John Calambokidis
- John Francis
- Mark Mcdonald
- Terrie M. Williams
Organizations
- Cascadia Research