Forecasting prey hotspots to prevent whale mortality from ship strikes

Ship strikes are a leading cause of mortality for endangered baleen whales. They tend to occur where shipping lanes intersect with whale foraging habitats. Although marine management agencies have protected many of the broad regions where whales tend to forage, these are static, fixed to geographical features. However, whales’ prey moves in time and space as it is transported by ocean currents, hence effective protection of whales will require responsive management that adjusts to variability in prey distributions. For this project, researchers will use animal-borne tags that integrate technology to track whale movement and feeding with a newly available salinity and temperature sensor for measuring signatures of ocean currents. The tags will be deployed for the first time on foraging baleen whales along the coast of California, an area poised for increased shipping and fishing, given the location of major ports and abundant fish stocks. Vessel-mounted acoustic sensors will map prey, linking whale behavior to prey distribution. Using whales as oceanographers, the team aims to fill in critical gaps in understanding the mechanisms that govern how, when, and where prey hotspots form in the ocean. Ultimately, the research will provide data to help forecast foraging hotspots using ocean circulation models and dynamically manage protected areas to prevent whale mortality and limit economic disruptions from collisions.