Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) growth and feeding as estimated by δ13C techniques

  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Tissue δ13C of bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, varies seasonally in response to geographic variations in the δ13C of prey organisms consumed along the annual migratory route between the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Seasonal changes in body δ13C of whales taken in 1986 from Alaskan waters provide a means of estimating energy intake from the different habitats in which the whales feed. Adult bowheads do not show significant seasonal shifts in the δ13C of muscle and visceral fat. Their enrichment in 13C relative to subadult whales suggests that they acquire most of their food from fall and winter feeding or from unsampled parts of the summer range where zooplankton are enriched in 13C. Young individuals however, undergo marked seasonal shifts indicating that they feed heavily both in the summer and autumn or winter. Oscillations in δ13C along the length of the baleen also provide a measure of age. Baleen growth rates decline as the whales age and provide a means of correcting for wear loss and allow aging of individuals less than ∼ 12 yr old. Although body length is a poor indicator of age in young bowhead whales, baleen length is closely correlated. Growth rates of bowheads after Year 1 are slow (∼ 0.4m yr-1) and up to 20 yr are required to reach the assumed length of sexual maturity at 13 to 14m.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature cited

  • Boutton, T. W., Tyrell, H. F., Patterson, B. W., Varga, G. A., Klein, P. D. (1988). Carbon kinetics of milk formation in Holstein cows in late lactation. J. Anim. Sci. 66: 2636–2645

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradstreet, M. S. W., Thomson, D. H., Fissel, D. B. (1987). Zooplankton and bowhead whale feeding in the Canadian Beaufort Sea, 1986. In: Bowhead whale food availability characteristics in the southern Beaufort Sea: 1985 and 1986. (Envir. Stud. 50: 1–204; available from Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa, Canada: Catalogue No. R71-19/50-1988E)

  • Cubbage, J. C., Calambokidis, J. (1987). Size-class segregation of the bowhead whales discerned through aerial stereophotogrammetry. Mar. Mammal. Sci. 3: 179–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, R. A., Koski, W. R., Miller, G. W. (1986a). Experimental use of aerial photogrammetry to assess the long-term responses of bowhead whales to offshore industrial activities in the Canadian Beaufort Sea, 1984. Envir. Stud. 44: 1–157. (Available from Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa, Canada: Catalogue No. R71-19/44-1987E)

  • Davis, R. A., Koski, W. R., Miller, G. W., McLaren, P. L., Evans, C. R. (1986b). Reproduction in the bowhead whale, summer 1985. Report from LGL Ltd., King City, Ontario, for Standard Alaska Production Co. (Manager) et al., Anchorage, Alaska, p. 1–176 (Copies available from BP Exploration Co., Anchorage, Alaska)

  • DeNiro, M. J., Epstein, S. (1978). Influence of diet on the distribution of carbon isotopes in animals. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 42: 495–506

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowgiallo, A. (1975). Chemical composition of an animal's body and of its food. In: Grodzinski, W., Klekowski, R. Z., Duncan, A. (eds.) Methods for ecological energetics. Blackwell, London p. 160–169 (I.B.P. Handbk No. 24)

    Google Scholar 

  • Durham, F. (1978). The aging of bowhead whales based on length of animal, bone layering, ovary scars, and baleen. Unpulished MS presented at Conference on Aging of Odontocetes, 7 September 1978, La Jolla, California. (Copies available from Los Angeles County Museum, 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA)

  • Durham, F. E. (1980). External morphology of bowhead fetuses and calves. Mar. Fish. Rev. 42: 72–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Fry, B., Sherr, E. (1984). δ13C measurements as indicators of carbon flow in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Contr. mar. Sci. Univ. Tex. 27: 13–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, M. S. (1968). Animal function: principles and adaptations. MacMillan Co., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, W. B., Thomson, D. H., Johnson, S. G. E. (1987). Zooplankton and hydroacoustics. In: Richardson, W. J. (ed.) Importance of the eastern Alaskan Beaufort Sea to feeding bowhead whales, 1985–86. Report from LGL Ecological Research Associates, Inc., Bryan, Texas, for U.S. Minerals Management Service, Reston, Virginia, p. 135–256 (Rep. MMS87-0037; NTIS PB88-150271/AF; limited distribution)

  • Hazard, K. W., Lowry, L. F. (1984). Benthic prey in a bowhead whale from the northern Bering Sea. Arctic 37: 166–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, R. J., Ludlow, M. M., Troughton, J. H., Blunt, C. G. (1981). Changes in the natural carbon isotope ratios of the hair from steers fed diets of C4, C3 and C4 species in sequence. Search, Sydney 12: 85–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockyer, C. (1981). Growth and energy budgets of large baleen whales from the southern hemisphere. In: Mammals in the seas, F.A.O. Fish. Ser. No. 5. 3: 379–487 (F.A.O., Rome)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowry, L. F., Frost, K. J. (1984). Foods and feeding of bowhead whales in western and northern Alaska. Scient. Rep. Whales Res. Inst., Tokyo 35: 1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowry, L. F., Frost, K. J., George, J. C., Coyle, K. (1987) Feeding ecology of bowhead whales: prey spectrum and seasonal and regional feeding patterns. Extended abstract. In: Fourth conference on the biology of the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus. 4–6 March 1987, Anchorage, Alaska p. 6–18. (Copies available from Department of Wildlife Management, North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska)

  • McConnaughey, T., McRoy, C. P. (1979). Food-web structure and the fractionation of carbon isotopes in the Bering Sea. Mar. Biol 53: 257–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Mizutani, H., Wada, E. (1988). Nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios in seabird rookeries and their ecological implications. Ecology 69: 340–349

    Google Scholar 

  • Nerini, M. K. (1983). Age determination techniques applied to mysticete whales. M.Sc. thesis. School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Nerini, M. K., Braham, H. W., Marquette, W. R., Rugh, D. J. (1984). Life history of the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus (Mammalia: Cetacea). J. Zool., London. 204: 443–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishiwaki, M. (1950). Age characteristics in baleen plates. Scient. Rep. Whales Res. Inst., Tokyo 4: 160–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, P. L. (1964). The biogeochemistry of the stable isotopes of carbon in a marine bay. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 41: 811–814

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, B. J., Fry, B. (1987). Stable isotopes in ecosystem studies. A. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 18: 293–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, W. J., Davis, R. A. Evans, C. R., Ljungblad, D. K., Norton, P. (1987). Summer distribution of bowhead whales, Balaena mysticetus, relative to oil industry activities in the Canadian Beaufort Sea, 1980–84. Arctic 40: 93–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Roether, W., Münnich, K. O., Schoch, H. (1980). On the 13C to tritium relationship in the Atlantic Ocean. Radiocarbon 22: 636–646

    Google Scholar 

  • Saupe, S. M., Schell, D. M., Griffiths, W. B. (1989). Carbon-isotope ratio gradients in western arctic zooplankton. Mar. Biol. 13: 427–432

    Google Scholar 

  • Schell, D. M. (1986). Primary production and carbon isotope abundances in relation to bowhead whale feeding. In: Richardson, W. J. (ed.) Importance of the eastern Alaskan Beaufort Sea to feeding bowhead whales, 1985. Report from LGL Ecological Research Associates, Inc., Bryan, Texas, for U.S. Minerals Management Service Reston, Virginia, p. 289–308 (Outer Continental Shelf Study MMS 86-0026, NTIS PB87-124350; limited distribution)

  • Schell, D. M., Saupe, S. M. Haubenstock, N. (1987). Bowhead whale feeding: allocation of regional habitat importance based on stable isotope techniques. In: Richardson, W. J. (ed.) Importance of the eastern Alaskan Beaufort Sea to feeding bowhead whales, 1985–86. Report from LGL Ecological Research Associates, Inc., Bryan, Texas, for U.S. Minerals Management Service Reston, Virginia, p. 369–415 (Report MMS87-0037, NTIS PB88-150271/AF; limited distribution)

  • Schell, D. M., Saupe, S. M., Haubenstock, N. (1989). Natural isotope abundances in bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) baleen: markers of aging and habitat usage. Ecol. Stud. 68: 260–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Schell, D. M., Ziemann, P. J., Parrish, D. M., Dunton, K. H., Brown, E. J. (1984). Food web and nutrient dynamics in nearshore Alaskan Beaufort Sea waters. In: Outer Continental Shelf Enivronmental Assessment Program. Environmental Assessment Final Reports of Principal Investigators, U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Anchorage, Alaska, p. 327–499 (OCSEAP Final Rep. No. 25)

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoresby, W. (1820). An account of the arctic regions with a history and description of the northern whale-fishery [Reprint of the 1820 edition by Redwood Press, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, U.K. 1969]

    Google Scholar 

  • Tieszen, L. L., Boutton, T. W., Tesdahl K. G., Slade, N. A. (1983). Fractionation and turnover of stable carbon isotopes in animal tissues: implications for del 13C analysis of diet. Oecologia 57: 32–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, H., Payne, R. (1981). New techniques for assessing populations of right whales without killing them. In: Manmals in the seas. F.A.O. Fish. Ser. No. 5. 3: 189–208 (F.A.O., Rome)

    Google Scholar 

  • Würsig, B., Dorsey, E. M., Fraker, M. A., Payne, R. S., Richardson, W. J. (1985). Behavior of bowhead whales, Balaena mysticetus, summering in the Beaufort Sea: a description. Fish. Bull. U.S. 83: 357–377

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 99775, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

    D. M. Schell & S. M. Saupe

  2. Water Research Center, Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 99775, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

    N. Haubenstock

Authors
  1. D. M. Schell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. M. Saupe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. N. Haubenstock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Communicated by M. G. Hadfield, Honolulu

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schell, D.M., Saupe, S.M. & Haubenstock, N. Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) growth and feeding as estimated by δ13C techniques. Mar. Biol. 103, 433–443 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00399575

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00399575

Keywords

Search

Navigation