New publication highlights the poor body condition of endangered North Atlantic right whales

SR3 collaborated with colleagues from 12 institutes in five countries in a recently published a manuscript titled “Population comparison of right whale body condition reveals poor state of the North Atlantic right whale” in Marine Ecology Progress Series (https://www.int-res.com/articles/feature/m640p001.pdf). The international research team used drones to collect high-resolution aerial images that were analyzed to provide quantitative measures of size and body condition of right whales from North America, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. The study revealed that individual North Atlantic right whales were generally in leaner body condition compared to individual whales from three populations of Southern right whales. The North Atlantic right whale population is endangered and declining, with 410 individuals remaining, and the leading causes of mortality are vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. These anthropogenic impacts, coupled with changes in environmental conditions impacting prey availability, are thought to be the primary cause of the documented poor body condition and low reproductive output, further contributing to the continued decline of the population. “Drones have enabled us to non-invasively and inexpensively measure the whales in several sites around the world – essentially giving them a health check without them even knowing we were there” said coauthor Holly Fearnbach, SR3’s marine mammal research director.

Healthy southern right whales from three populations (left three photographs) next to a much leaner North Atlantic right whale (right) in visibly poorer body condition. Photos: Fredrik Christiansen (left & center-left), Stephen M. Dawson (center-right), John W. Durban and Holly Fearnbach (right)

Sounder gray whales are fattening up!

Our new project assessing the body condition of the “Sounder” gray whales is progressing well. SR3’s Dr. Holly Fearnbach is collaborating with Dr. John Durban (Southall Environmental Associates) and John Calambokidis (Cascadia Research Collective) to monitor changes in body condition of this group of whales that stopover during migration to feed in North Puget Sound. We are using a remotely controlled drone to collect high resolution aerial images to measure size and body condition to assess health changes, and also collecting blow samples to assess respiratory health. By collaborating with Cascadia Research Collective, we are able to link our measurements to track changes in condition of known individuals. So far, we have imaged 9 different whales, with repeat images of 4 of these whales between March and April. It is clear in the photos below that some of these whales markedly improved in body condition since first arriving to feed. This rapid improvement highlights the importance of Puget Sound as a stopover location where the “Sounder” gray whales fatten up on ghost shrimp (more information). We will continue to assess their nutritional health until early summer when the whales resume their northbound migration to Arctic feeding grounds. Results from this study will provide important information on the body condition and health of gray whales during the current Unusual Mortality Event. This research was conducted by two scientists from the same household, such that social distancing and isolation requirements were safely met.

Aerial images of two “Sounder” gray whales (CRC-49, “Patch”; CRC-21, “Shackleton”) taken on March 19th and April 6th, 2020. Changes in body condition are already evident, with both whales appearing fatter in April. Images were collected non-invasively using a remotely-controlled hexacopter drone flown at >150ft over the whales under NMFS research permit 19091. Photo by Holly Fearnbach (SR3) and John Durban (SEA).

Winter health monitoring update!

SR3’s Dr. Holly Fearnbach and colleagues Dr. John Durban (Southall Environmental Associates, SEA) and Jessica Farrer (SR3) have collected valuable winter data on the health of killer whales in the Salish Sea. So far, the team has used a remotely-controlled multicopter drone to non-invasively collect aerial images of all 22 members of J-pod from the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population and almost 40 Bigg’s transient killer whales. These are the first aerial images of killer whales collected by the team during winter months, providing important data on seasonal changes in body condition. Quantitative photogrammetry analyses of these images is underway, but J-pod whales appear to be in relatively decent body condition at present, at least compared to some previous May and September sampling periods, but not as robust as the Bigg’s killer whales. The team will continue collecting comparative data on killer whale condition throughout the year, to help guide conservation measures to maintain adequate year-round prey availability. Next week the team is beginning a new project to assess the health of gray whales that stopover in Puget Sound to feed each spring, in collaboration with Cascadia Research Collective. More updates to come!

Aerial images of Southern Resident killer whales: (Left) an adult female (J31) and her newborn calf (J56). J56 was the most recent addition last year to this endangered population, and mom appears to be in robust condition despite the high energetic cost of lactation. (Right) an adult male (J27), the largest whale in J-pod. Images obtained using an unmanned hexacopter that was flown non-invasively >100ft above the whales under NMFS permit #19091.

How often do whales get caught in fishing gear?

The number is growing, but you can help.

Reports of entangled humpback and gray whales on the West Coast have increased from an average of 10 reports per year from 1982 to 2013 to 50 reports per year from 2014 to 2017. (1) In the Pacific Northwest, the highest percentage of reports are received in May, with steady reports until September. 

A new report released by NOAA Fisheries credits the recent spike in reports to a variety of factors. Not only have there been increases in the population of humpback whales in particular, but changing ocean conditions have shifted where their prey concentrates, and may bring them more frequently into areas with concentrations of fishing gear. On the bright side, part of the increase in reports is due to greater public awareness of the problem and how to report sightings of entangled whales (see our tips below). 

This past August, SR3 and our network partners responded to an entangled humpback whale off the tip of the Olympic Peninsula (pictured above). The team, led by SR3 and Cascadia Research, arrived on scene to find the whale wrapped up so that swimming was impossible. Together we were able to free the whale within hours. Other entangled whales who go unseen or unreported may suffer for up to two years before they die from the entanglement. (2) 

Whales can be caught in any type of rope or line in the water column, but active fishing gear is what most commonly entangles whales. (3) Although abandoned, lost, or derelict fishing gear can entangle whales, these account for a very small percentage of large whale entanglements. (1,4,5)  

Along the West Coast, there is a network of organizations authorized by NOAA Fisheries that is working to solve the problem – not only by disentangling these whales but collecting information during the response, including:

• The whale’s individual ID, injuries, and overall health

• The kind of gear and how it is entangling the whale

It is through this kind of documentation that we will be able to understand when, where, and how the whale became entangled, whether the whale survives, and the impact to populations of whales. This information is critical to our work with fishermen and government agencies to prevent entanglements in the future, including through new state laws like this, which will reduce the potential for humpback whale entanglements on Washington's coast.

Each year, well-meaning mariners attempt to disentangle whales on their own. This is not only extremely dangerous for the untrained and unauthorized would-be rescuers, but inevitably life-threatening gear is left on the whale, and none of the documentation that we collect to prevent the problem is collected.

How you can help:

1. LOOK for entangled whales (whales swimming oddly, gear trailing behind the whale, whales covered in lice, or very skinny whales)

2. REPORT the entanglement immediately (Don’t wait to get back to the dock!)

   -Call the NOAA Fisheries entanglement reporting hotline at 1-877-767-9425 (1-877-SOS-WHALe)

   -Call the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF Ch 16

3. STAY with the whale. An entangled whale is rarely found again if someone doesn’t stay with them, but we have a growing network of responders who will be able to take over monitoring from you until entanglement specialists arrive.

   -Stay back 100 meters from the whale. Stay alongside – never cross in front or behind the whale.

   -Be careful and vigilant to avoid any entangling gear.

   -Move slowly, change direction gradually – if the whale becomes agitated it will make it more difficult for responders to disentangle the whale.

4. DOCUMENT the whale and entangling gear. The pictures you take may be the only ones we have if the whale is lost.

Thank you for helping us find and free more entangled whales in the Pacific Northwest!

Interested in learning more about how to properly assess, document, and report critical entanglement information? You can now take a Level 1 U.S. Whale Entanglement Course online. Please note this course will not prepare or qualify you to perform or assist in the actual process of disentangling a whale.

Responding to entangled whales is a dangerous job that requires a team of highly-trained and certified responders, and SR3 regularly conducts specialized trainings to expand our region’s response capacity. A robust entanglement network is critical to successfully helping entangled whales, and we are grateful to our current partners: Cascadia Research Collective, the Makah Tribe, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and Oregon State University. 

REFERENCES

1 Saez, L., D. Lawson, and M. DeAngelis. 2020. Large whale entanglements off the U.S. West Coast, from 1982-2017. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-OPR-63, 48 p.

2 Moore M, Bogomolni A, Bowman R, Hamilton P, Harry C, Knowlton A, Landry S, Rotstein D, Touhey K. 2006. Fatally entangled right whales can die extremely slowly. Oceans'06 MTS/IEEE-Boston, Massachusetts September 18-21, 2006 - ISBN: 1-4244-0115-1, 3 pp.

3 Richardson K, Asmutis-Silvia R, Drinkwin J,Gilardi KVK, Giskes I, Jones G,O'Brien K, Pragnell-Raasch H, Ludwig L, Antonelis K ,S Barco, Henry A, Knowlton A, Landry S, Mattila D,  MacDonald K, Moore M, Morgan J, Robbins J, vanderHoop J, Hogan E. 2019. Building evidence around ghost gear: Global trends and analysis for sustainable solutions at scale. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 138:222-229.

4 Lyman, E., 2014. 2013–2014 Hawai'i Large Whale Entanglements and Response Efforts Around the Main Hawaiian Islands Season-end Report. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Accessed May 4, 2018. https://nmshawaiihumpbackwhale.blob.core.windows.net/hawaiihumpbackwhale-prod/media/archive/res/pdfs/ss2014disentangle.pdf

5 Asmutis-Silvia, R, Barco, S, Cole, T, Henry, A, Johnson, A, Knowlton, A, Landry, S, Mattila, D, Moore, M, Robbins, J, Van der Hoop, J. 2016. Rebuttal to published article “A review of ghost gear entanglement amongst marine mammals, reptiles and elasmobranchs” by M. Stelfox, J. Hudgins, and M. Sweet. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 117. 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.11.052.

Monitoring whale health in Antarctica

Dr. Holly Fearnbach, SR3’s Marine Mammal Research Director, and her colleagues Dr. John Durban (Southall Environmental Associates) and Jessica Farrer (SR3) recently completed their month-long annual health assessment of top predators (killer whales) and top consumers (humpback and minke whales) in the rapidly warming waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. Hosted onboard Lindblad Expedition’s National Geographic Explorer, the study was supported by the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Conservation Fund. The team was able to collect photo-identification and aerial photogrammetry images of more than more than 150 individual killer whales, extending a fifteen-year time-series of population monitoring and five-year time series of monitoring body condition. They also continued to monitor the health status of large consumers in this system by successfully collecting aerial photogrammetry images of 31 individual humpback whales and three Antarctic minke whales, 12 of these with matching blow samples to assess respiratory microbiome and its relation to body condition. As part of a new, more comprehensive study of the diet of Antarctic killer whales, 6 free-floating fecal samples were collected from Type B2 killer whales- the first-ever fecal samples collected from killer whales in Antarctica, which will be analyzed for dietary composition using genetic techniques. The team is now back home starting the data analysis.

Aerial photograph of adult female Type B2 killer whale with her young, dependent calf swimming below her in echelon. Images like this will be analyzed to estimate size, monitor growth and evaluate body condition. Image was collected from >100ft above the whales using a small hexacopter drone. Research conducted under NMFS Permit No. 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Permit ACA 2017-029.

Collage of aerial photographs of 31 individual humpback whale images in the productive coastal waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. Images like these will be analyzed to estimate size and evaluate body condition, and were collected non-invasively from >140ft above the whales using a small hexacopter drone. Research conducted under NMFS Permit No. 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Permit ACA 2017-029.

Image showing a small unmanned hexacopter drone about to fly through the blow of a humpback whale in the Antarctic Peninsula. Blow samples are collected to describe the respiratory microbiome of individual whales; respiratory health is then related to estimates of body condition from photogrammetric measures. Research conducted under NMFS Permit No. 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Permit ACA 2017-029.

The Antarctic field season is off to a great start!

Dr. Holly Fearnbach, SR3’s Marine Mammal Research Director, and her colleagues Dr. John Durban (Southall Environmental Associates) and Jessica Farrer (SR3) just finished a successful first trip of the year to Antarctica on board Lindblad Expedition’s National Geographic Explorer. The team is assessing the health of top predators (killer whales) and top consumers (humpback and minke whales) around the Antarctic Peninsula to understand how these populations are impacted by the rapid warming of this marine ecosystem. Photo-identification images are being collected to monitor the population trends of three ecotypes of Antarctic killer whales (Types A, B1 and B2) and a small hexacopter drone is being flown to collect aerial images of killer, humpback and minke whales to measure growth and assess body condition to infer nutritional status. The hexacopter is also being flown through exhaled “blow” samples from humpback and minke whales to identify respiratory pathogens linking respiratory health and body condition. Similarly, small skin and blubber samples are being collected to describe the relationship between body condition and blubber hormones. The team has two more trips to go over the next month to go, but they have already collected photo-identification images of ~45 Type B2 killer whales and aerial images of ~ 12 Type B2 killer whales, 14 humpback and 3 minke whales. To complete the health “check-up”, six blow samples and 11 skin and blubber samples were collected. This study is supported by the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Conservation Fund (LEX-NG).  

Aerial photograph of a group of Type B2 killer whales in the coastal waters of the Antarctic Peninsula; note the young calf swimming beside its mother and the white color of the whales, the result of a recent rapid migration to warm waters to maintain skin health. Images were collected from >100ft above the whales using a small hexacopter drone. Research conducted under NMFS Permit No. 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Permit ACA 2017-029.

Aerial photograph of two humpback whales lunge feeding in the Antarctic Peninsula. These humpback whales migrate from tropical calving grounds off the coast of central and South America to the productive waters of Antarctica to feed on abundant krill. Images were collected non-invasively >100ft above the whales using a small hexacopter drone. Research conducted under NMFS Permit No. 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Permit ACA 2017-029.

Antarctic killer whale research update

SR3’s Dr. Fearnbach and colleagues from NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Tethys Research Institute and ISPRA recently published a paper on the movement patterns of Antarctic killer whales. The paper titled “Skin in the game: Epidermal molt as a driver of long-distance migration in whales” was published in Marine Mammal Science (https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12661) and presents results from eight years of satellite tag tracking on four ecotypes of killer whales (Types A, B1. B2 and C) in the Southern Ocean, extending upon the previously published research Antarctic killer whales make rapid, round-trip movements to subtropical waters: evidence for physiological maintenance migrations? (https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.0875). These papers describe rapid and long-distance movements away from Antarctica by all four ecotypes, hypothesized to facilitate skin regeneration in warmer waters. As such, these “skin molt migrations” are thought to represent an adaptation to allow foraging in productive, but frigid polar waters that are challenging for mammalian physiology.

Dr. Fearnbach and colleagues Dr. John Durban (Southall Environmental Associates) and Jessica Farrer (SR3) are currently en route to Antarctica onboard the M/V National Geographic Explorer to resume annual research monitoring the health of top consumers (humpback and minke whales) and top predators (killer whales) in the rapidly changing ecosystem of the Antarctic Peninsula. This project is supported by the Lindblad Expeditions – National Geographic Conservation Fund. 

Photograph of an adult female Type B2 killer whale with her newborn calf in the coastal waters of the Antarctic Peninsula; note the yellow color due to accumulation of planktonic diatoms. This accumulation indicates that skin regeneration is not occurring in frigid Antarctic waters, requiring long-distance movements to warm tropical waters that are thermally advantageous. Photograph by Leigh Hickmott (SR3) collected under NMFS Research Permit 19091 and Antarctic Conservation Act Permit 2017-029.

Winter Killer Whale Health Assessement

SR3’s Dr. Holly Fearnbach and colleagues Dr. John Durban (Southall Environmental Associates, SEA) and Jessica Farrer (SR3) are extending killer whale health monitoring into the winter months. They will continue to use an unmanned multi-copter drone to non-invasively collect high-resolution aerial images of individual Southern Resident and Bigg’s transient killer whales to monitor growth and evaluate body condition. The team has already had an incredible encounter with more than 30 Bigg’s killer whales, allowing them to collect thousands of images that will be analyzed during the next few months as part of this long-term study to compare the health of killer whale populations in the Salish Sea.

Aerial image of a group of Bigg’s Transient killer whales taken in December 2019. Note the young calf (T46B1B) on the left side of the image with anomalously pale coloration. Despite this condition, this whale appears to be in robust condition. Image obtained using an unmanned hexacopter that was flown non-invasively >100ft above the whales under NMFS permit #19091.

Support for health assessments of Southern Resident Killer Whales

Dr. Fearnbach and colleagues recently received funding to continue their project Monitoring the Nutritional Health of Southern Resident Killer Whales from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and partners. This study will continue using unmanned multi-copter drones to measure the body condition, growth and pregnancy rates of endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Results will be relayed to management agencies in both the U.S. and Canada to help support management solutions for maintaining an adequate food supply for this endangered population.

Aerial image of the J31 and her young calf J56 from the Southern Resident killer whale population. Image was collected by SR3 and NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in September 2019 using an unmanned octocopter flown non-invasively >100ft above the whales under NMFS permit #19091.

New publication on Northern Resident Killer Whales!

SR3’s Dr. Fearnbach and colleagues from NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Vancouver Aquarium’s Coastal Ocean Research Institute and Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Ocean and recently published a paper in Endangered Species Research (https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2019/40/n040p183.pdf) on their aerial photogrammetry study of Northern Resident killer whales (NRKWs). Based on four years of drone imagery off northern Vancouver Island, this study documented growth to smaller adult sizes of NRKWs in recent decades, mirroring the growth trends Fearnbach and colleagues previously reported for endangered Southern Resident killer whales (https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr_oa/n013p173.pdf) and providing further evidence of correlated prey limitation in both populations. This evidence of constrained growth suggests that the effects of nutritional stress are not only lethal at times, but also have long-term consequences for the condition of whales in both populations.

Vertical aerial image of Northern Resident killer whales. Such images are being used to compare their growth and body condition to that of endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Image collected using an unmanned hexacopter at altitude of >100ft above the whales, permitted in Canada under the Species at Risk Act and flight authorizations from Transport Canada.