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. 2006 Jun 22;2(2):289-92.
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0431.

Global climate drives southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) population dynamics

Russell Leaper  1 , Justin Cooke, Phil Trathan, Keith Reid, Victoria Rowntree, Roger Payne
Affiliations

Global climate drives southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) population dynamics

Russell Leaper et al. Biol Lett. .

Abstract

Sea surface temperature (SST) time-series from the southwest Atlantic and the El Niño 4 region in the western Pacific were compared to an index of annual calving success of the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) breeding in Argentina. There was a strong relationship between right whale calving output and SST anomalies at South Georgia in the autumn of the previous year and also with mean El Niño 4 SST anomalies delayed by 6 years. These results extend similar observations from other krill predators and show clear linkages between global climate signals and the biological processes affecting whale population dynamics.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Deviation from expected calf output against sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies at South Georgia in April of previous year for calving years 1983–2000.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between deviation from expected calf output and lagged, mean June–May, El Niño SST anomalies, calving years 1971–2000.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Timeline of events. X denotes timing of SST anomaly at South Georgia resulting in the strongest relationship with breeding success.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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