Research Document 2020/034

A mechanistic approach to predicting suitable foraging habitat for reproductively mature North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

By Gavrilchuk, K., Lesage, V., Fortune, S., Trites, A.W., and Plourde, S.

Abstract

The North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis, NARW) is an endangered cetacean which faces population decline from anthropogenic activities. Climate change may also be adding pressure on population recovery by shifting distribution of their preferred prey, Calanus copepods. The Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL) in eastern Canada has been used as a foraging ground by a large proportion of the NARW population in recent years (at least from 2015 to present). Given the motivation to better understand NARW contemporary habitat use patterns and propose recovery measures for this population, we used a mechanistic modeling approach to predict areas that hold foraging potential in the GSL. We first assessed the overall annual energetic costs incurred by an adult female NARW in one of three reproductive states, and determined the theoretical prey densities required to sustain energy demand. We used a 12-year data set describing the abundance and three-dimensional distribution of late-stage Calanus copepods in the GSL coupled to a foraging bioenergetics model to identify potentially suitable foraging areas for NARW. Results show interannual variations in the spatial distribution and quantity of suitable habitat, with a decreasing amount of habitat available for resting, pregnant and lactating females, respectively. Suitable prey densities for foraging NARW were found in nearly all areas of the GSL that were surveyed for copepods, in one year or another, with a greater frequency of suitable prey densities identified in the southern GSL. Yearly maps of suitable foraging habitat for NARW were superimposed to identify areas that showed temporal persistence; the southern GSL (from Shediac Valley east to the Magdalen Islands) had suitable prey densities for all three reproductive states in most (≥ 6) years of the study period. For resting and pregnant females, other potential areas of foraging importance included offshore of Chaleurs Bay as well as the southern slope of the Laurentian Channel north of the Magdalen Islands. These findings highlight areas where NARWs may occur based on habitat modelled foraging value, and emphasize the need to survey offshore, under-studied regions in the GSL to better characterize NARW occurrence and habitat use patterns.

Research Document 2020/034 (PDF, 7.64 MB)

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