[CINC] Fwd: Himpback whales

[whalebear at cs.com]

Hello All,
 
The link provided by Bernardo yesterday is indeed to an excellent paper.  The full reference is:  Fleming, Alyson and Jennifer Jackson.  (2011).  Global Review of Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).  NOAA Technical Memorandum 474.  La Jolla: Southwest Fisheries.  Copies can either be downloaded through the link, printed if desired (it runs to 209 pages), or a hard copy purchased through NOAA.  
 
There are a few caveats.  Although it is a superb monograph, it has not been subjected to the full peer review of a formally published paper (for those of you not familiar with the phrase "peer review," it refers to the pre-publication analysis that papers published in "refereed" journals must undergo with respect to appropriateness and thoroughnessof methodology, accuracy and appropriateness of data analysis, and appropriateness of conclusions, done by other professionals familiar with the area of research).  In this case, lack of rigorous peer review is not a problem.  This paper is a review article, and it is exemplary in its use of superb primary and review sources.  Work by John Calambokidis and Phil Clapham is liberally referenced; both researchers are synonymous with rigorous methodology, superb data analysis, and carefully drawn conclusions.  Where older whaling lliterature is referenced, it often draws on the work of researchers such as Mackinstosh and Chittleborough, who represent the best of an earlier era.
 
This paper is not a review of Megaptera biology, although it provides some excellent references that cover parts of the subject.  Rather, it describes "humpback whale population structure...by incorporating information on spatial distribution, migratory connections and genetic population differentiation.  Data on abundance and trends are presented relative to population structure.  Habitat conditions, threats and recovery status are discussed."  The scope is global, and the treatment is excellent.  The North Pacific portion does a great job of summarizing some of the SPLASH findings.  A review paper like this one takes a long time to write, so some of the data has been superseded by more recent papers (although this review is admirable in including references into 2010).  One such more recent paper (alluded to in a recent CINC posting) is by John Calambokidis in the most recent Marine Mammal Science (Barlow, Jay, J Calambokidis, E A Falcone, et al.  2011.  Humpback whale abundance in the North Pacific estimated by photographic capture-recapture with bias correction from simulation studies.  Marine Mammal Science 27 (4):  793-818.).  The Barlow/Calambokidis article estimates population numbers in the North Pacific through 2004-2006 (typical of the time lage between data collection, through analysis and peer review, to publication).  Although replete with large amounts of math/statistics (which can make for some rough going for the uninitiated), this represents a rigorous analysis of the data that goes into determining population numbers, with a corresponding rigorous analysis of potential sources of error.
 
In sum, I commend  both the Fleming monograph and the Barlow/Calambokidis article to all of you as the sort of references that you should be at least scanning.  All of you (at least at the time of my last lecture) have demonstrated to me the intelligence and inquisitiveness necessary to delve into some of the technical lieteraure.  I would also warn you about popular marine mammal web sites.  Many have utililty in formatting approaches to your audience of whale watchers, but be careful in accepting some of their technical data.  Unlike the peer reviewed literature (which is itself not perfect), the numbers you are seeing (maximum size, deepest depth, etc) in these web sites are not necessarily vetted and are often inaccurate.  Although the technical literature does yield some of these numbers, I much prefer to talk in generalities (despite the public's thirst for absolutes); the extremes are not representative of "typical" anatomy or physiologic response. 
 
In response to requests for more blue whale information, I'll also send an e-mail this afternoon with a revision of the blue whale portion of my marine mammal handout; it incorporates technical information about both feeding and diving, among other topics.
 
If there are questions about anytning above, please e-mail me.  
 
Chuck Rennie
Adjunct Curator, Marine Mammals
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
 
Medical Director
Channel Islands National Park
 
whalebear at cs.com

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