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Interspecific cetacean interactions during the breeding season of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) on the north coast of Bahia State, Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2009

Marcos R. Rossi-Santos ,
Elitieri Santos-Neto  and
Clarêncio G. Baracho
Marcos R. Rossi-Santos*
Affiliation:
Instituto Baleia Jubarte, Avenida do Farol, s/n, Praia do Forte, Bahia, Brazil, 48280-000
Elitieri Santos-Neto
Affiliation:
Instituto Baleia Jubarte, Avenida do Farol, s/n, Praia do Forte, Bahia, Brazil, 48280-000
Clarêncio G. Baracho
Affiliation:
Instituto Baleia Jubarte, Avenida do Farol, s/n, Praia do Forte, Bahia, Brazil, 48280-000
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M.R. Rossi-Santos, Instituto Baleia Jubarte, Avenida do Farol, s/n, Praia do Forte, Bahia, Brazil, 48280-000 email: marcos.rossi@baleiajubarte.org.br
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Abstract

The large majority of cetacean interspecific studies report only on dolphin interactions, while studies on interactions between odontocete and mysticete are less common. The present work aims to report on sightings of cetacean interactions, during the breeding season of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), along 370 km of the Bahia State, north-eastern Brazil, addressing aspects of cetacean distribution and behaviour. During 7 seasons (2000–2006), a total of 230 research cruises were performed, in which 38 events of interactions among humpback whales and other cetaceans (Tursiops truncatus, Steno bredanensis, Peponocephala electra and Balaenoptera acutorostrata) were observed, plus another 5 encounters without the whale's presence, including T. truncatus, S. bredanensis, P. electra, Stenella clymene and Stenella attenuata. Our results confirm the occurrence of multiple cetacean species in the Bahia State, being the first study in the world to report on a large range of interactions involving another 4 cetacean species, grouped with up to 3 mixed species per sighting, with humpback whales in their annual breeding ground.

Keywords

Megaptera novaeangliaecetacean interactionsBahiaBrazil
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Special Issue 5: Cetaceans , August 2009 , pp. 961 - 966
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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