SANCOR’S CURRENCY AND STRENGTH IS INFORMATION Date: January 2014 ISSN 03700-9026 Issue #: 204 SANCORSANCOR NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER SouthSouth AfricanAfrican NetworkNetwork forfor CoastalCoastal andand OceanicOceanic ResearchResearch Inside this issue: Oceanographic data Out of the blue – acoustic monitoring from foreign vessels: 3 please help New SANCOR Steering of southern African blue whales Committee Chair & Vice 4 Chair By Fannie Shabangu1,2 and animals prior to whaling, but aer catches of some 360 000 animals last century, is esmated SANCOR International 2 Travel Student Award 4 Ken Findlay that about 1‐3% of the prisne biomass 1 Fisheries Branch, Department of remains. Despite protecon in 1966, this Gilchrist's hidden legacy 5 Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, species is sll Crically Endangered and the Cape Town populaon has only recently been shown to be 2 Mammal Research Institute, Recent loading of data in recovering at a rate of 7% per annum. While SADCO 7 Whale Unit, University of Pretoria blue whales generally have a cosmopolitan and Growing to 30 m long and weighing up to pelagic distribuon, occurring in the deep SeaKeys Project 9 163 tonnes, Antarcc blue whales, Indian, Pacific, Atlanc, and Antarcc, Antarcc Balaenoptera musculus intermedia, are the White sharks in Algoa blues (as one of three recognized sub‐species) 11 largest animal that ever lived on the planet; Bay are thought to feed in high latudes and yet despite their enormous size, they feed Building on the South migrate to lower latudes for calving and over‐ on small Antarcc krill (Euphausia superba). African Coelacanth 13 Legacy wintering. They get their name from the blue‐gray colour when underwater, but tend to be dull Recent dedicated research effort has been KZN Student Workshop 14 gray with blue‐gray splotches when above directed at Antarcc blue whales in the Nominations invited for water (Figure 1). Their abundance was Southern Ocean by the Internaonal Whaling 15 SANCOR Awards esmated to be in the region of 240 000 Commission’s Internaonal Decade of Cetacean MCEN Mini-conferences 16 Tools of marine scientists 17 SANCCOB Education centre celebrates 17 Penguin Month Take part in Ocean Sampling Day 2014 18 Figure 1. An Antarcc blue whale showing the disnct colouraon and splotches that al- lows researchers to recognise individual animals. Page 2 SANCOR NEWSLETTER #204 Research (IDCR) and Southern Ocean Whale levels of 189 dB re 1 µPa at 1m). The low and Ecosystem Research (SOWER) frequency sounds/calls categorized as moans Programmes that ran from 1979 to 2010. can travel hundreds to thousand or more These IWC research programmes included a kilometers via the sound fixing and ranging blue whale component from the late 1990s, (SOFAR) channel. Sonobuoys deployed and used photo idenficaon and genec during the IWC SOWER programme detected sampling to improve understanding of the low frequency (60‐100 Hz) D‐calls from species’ abundance, behavior and feeding blue whales; these calls are very distribuon. They idenfied the ice‐edge variable and not well understood. Very low region between 0° and 20° E, south of South frequency calls (Z‐calls ‐ Figure 3) produced Africa, as a summer hotspot for Antarcc when the animals are not feeding modulate blue whales. This and the fact that over from 28 Hz downsweeping to 19 Hz, and are 12,000 blue whales were caught from characterisc of Antarcc blue whales. southeastern Atlanc whaling staons in the Blue whales are consequently a potenal early tweneth century suggest that this candidate species for acousc monitoring of region is of high importance to the species. distribuon, seasonality and relave However, since the cessaon of whaling in abundance through indices of call rates. The SA in 1975, only 3 blue whales have been in main advantages of using acouscs observed in South African waters, largely compared to sighngs are that surveys can due to lack of search effort and monitoring be conducted even in bad weather in the offshore environment. condions and animals can be detected from Despite being difficult to survey in local greater distances with less effort at a low Figure 2. Autonomous Acousc Record- waters due to their low abundance, blue cost. Acousc monitoring is thus possible whales are great sound producers. It appears over a wider area and with greater efficiency er mooring system that the South Afri- that nine different vocalizaon paerns have than visual detecon, parcularly using can Blue Whale Project will be deploy- been recorded around the world’s oceans autonomous acousc recording (AAR) ing in the Southern Ocean and off the and Antarcc blue whales have one of the devices that can be deployed that can west coast of South Africa to monitor loudest calls in nature (reaching source sample the water column for a) extended migraons of Antarcc blue whales. Figure 3. Spectrogram of three Z-calls of a blue whale observed from the IWC 1997/98 SOWER cruise. Data courtesy of the In- ternaonal Whaling Commission. Page 3 SANCOR NEWSLETTER #204 periods of me when sighng surveys are which vocalize in similar low frequency are acknowledged for the funding of this not feasible and b) in regions that are oen bands, such as fin whales (B. physalus) which project through the South African Naonal inaccessible due to weather or ice cover or are an important component of the Antarcc Programme. vessel availability. These AAR devices sub‐ ecosystem. As an inial trial, the project is Further reading sample the acousc environment on a 24‐hr currently analyzing data from over 700 Branch, T.A., Stafford, K.M., Palacios, D.M., basis and provide data on the presence of acousc staons in the Southern Ocean Allison, C., et al. 2007. Past and present acouscally acve individuals (as individual circumpolar region carried out during the distribuon, densies and movements of calls and the energy within the background IWC SOWER cruises. blue whales Balaenoptera musculus in the noise spectra), while source levels detected Acknowledgements Southern Hemisphere and northern Indian by such instruments could possibly be used The Internaonal Whaling Commission is Ocean. Mammal Review 37(2): 116‐175. to derive esmates of the distance of thanked for the opportunity to analyze their incoming calls, and hence determine the SORP website: SOWER acousc data under this project. radial locaon of callers. Unknown factors www.marinemammals.gov.au/sorp include variaon in calling rates by season, The Department of Science and Technology sex, or behavioural state. Over longer spaal or temporal scales, studies of migraons, Oceanographic data from foreign vessels: please help peak relave abundance, and seasonality been lodged with DIRC), have been fruitless. may be parcularly facilitated through the Marten Gründlingh In at least one case the data was kindly re‐ use of AAR devices. Southern African Data Centre for supplied to SADCO by the USA Cruise Leader, Oceanography The Southern Ocean Research Partnership an embarrassing experience since SADCO In terms of the spulaons of the Exclusive (SORP, an Australian‐lead iniave of the had to admit that no trace could be found of Economic Zone (EEZ), foreign research IWC) is connuing to monitor blue whales the data previously submied via the official vessels operang in South African waters and other cetaceans in the Southern Ocean route. need to obtain permission from the through internaonal collaboraons. In line Department of Internaonal Relaons and In the light of the apparent failure of the with this programme, the South African Blue Cooperaon (DIRC). In the case of South “official” route, SADCO is now trying to Whale project of the University of Pretoria’s Africa, with a limited number of research establish another way to find out about Mammal Research Instute Whale Unit has vessels, data collected by other research impending or recent cruises. We believe that iniated a long term monitoring programme vessels is very useful. In the past, DIRC used South African sciensts are far beer suited on Antarcc blue whales, funded through to inform or consult with various other to know of a planned survey in our waters, the Department of Science and Technology. enes upon receiving such a request, e.g. and would have a greater interest in the data The acousc component of this programme the SA Navy and the Department of reaching SADCO. They probably know the PI, is based on deploying Autonomous Acousc Environmental Affairs. These organisaons some of them may even parcipate in the Recorders on moorings (Figure 2) in local relayed the informaon to the Southern cruise or collaborate in papers that emanate waters and in the Southern Ocean, while a African Data Centre for Oceanography from the survey. visual survey, photographic‐idenficaon (SADCO), and they alerted SADCO about the A call is therefore made on South African and biopsy component will include survey cruise as well as about the expected data sciensts to inform SADCO about imminent transects within the Southern Ocean hotspot that would be repatriated (also part of the cruises that they know about but also about to obtain informaon on local abundance EEZ spulaons). The data would obviously cruises that may have taken place in the last, and populaon relaonships. Although take a few years to process. say, 5‐10 years. The informaon can be Antarcc blue whales are the primary target Over the past years aempts by the Steering captured in a simple e‐mail, copied to Roy species of this study, the AAR devices will Commiee of SADCO to obtain copies of the van Ballegooyen ([email protected]), provide considerable opportunies for the data (in spite of evidence that such data had Marten Gründlingh monitoring of other baleen whale species Page 4 SANCOR NEWSLETTER #204 ([email protected]) and Ursula von St Ange ([email protected]).