Frederick W. Wenzel

Current Knowledge on the Distribution and Relative Abundance of Humpback Whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) off the Cape Verde Islands, Eastern North Atlantic

During the winter/spring months from 1990 to 2009, 13 cetacean surveys were conducted around the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa. The main target species was the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). Study periods varied from 14 to 90 d in duration. Study platforms included a 5-m inflatable boat, a 12-m catamaran, and/or 15-m sailing or motor vessels. Collectively, we obtained 88 individual humpback fluke photographs from this region. These fluke photographs have been compared to over 6,500 individual fluke photographs maintained in the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalogue. Based on photoidentification, humpbacks in the Cape Verde Islands have a relatively high interannual resight rate (> 22%) compared to other studied breeding locations in the West Indies. While this is partly due to increased probability of detection in a small population, this result nonetheless suggests strong site fidelity to this breeding ground. Three photo-identified individuals from the Cape Verde Islands had been previously photographed on high-latitude feeding grounds off Bear Island, Norway, and Iceland. One Cape Verdean humpback was resighted in the Azores, possibly en route to the northern feeding grounds. These findings are consistent with the belief that the Cape Verde Islands represent a breeding ground for northeastern Atlantic humpback whales. Tourism activities in the Cape Verde Islands are rapidly increasing. A balance is needed whereby conservation, whale watching guidelines, habitat preservation, and enforcement are fully enacted in order to provide protection to both this species and its habitat. In addition, further research is required to clarify the importance of this small population and its breeding ground.

Observations of a Female North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) in Simultaneous Copulation with Two Males: Supporting Evidence for Sperm Competition

Given the huge size of their testes (approximately 1,000 kg), it has been hypothesized that North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) have a mating system that is based upon sperm competition. Herein, we report an observation which provides support for this hypothesis. On 11 August 2000 in the Bay of Fundy in Canada, a mature female right whale was observed copulating simultaneously with two mature males. The female made no attempt to resist copulation. For anatomical reasons, double copulation would be difficult or impossible in most mammals; however, it is quite feasible in right whales, and the fact that it actually occurs provides strong support for the belief that females of this species promote sperm competition as a mating strategy.

U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico marine mammal stock assessments, 2013

1National Marine Fisheries Service, 166 Water St., Woods Hole, MA 02543 2National Marine Fisheries Service, 75 Virginia Beach Dr., Miami, FL 33149 3National Marine Fisheries Service, 219 Ft. Johnson Rd., Charleston, SC 29412 4National Marine Fisheries Service, 3209 Frederic St., Pascagoula, MS 39567 5Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy., Sarasota, FL 34236 6Sea World, Inc., 7007 Sea World Dr., Orlando, FL 32821

Food habits of Sowerby’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon bidens) taken in the pelagic drift gillnet fishery of the western North Atlantic

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Fishery Bulletin 111 (2013): 381-389, doi:10.7755/FB.111.4.7.