Impacts of Whale-Watching on the Short-Term Behavior of Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in a Marine Protected Area in the Southeastern Pacific

Frontiers in Marine Science

Héctor Araya¹  Cristobal Anguita²  Claudia Cerda³  Maritza Sepúlveda⁴  Macarena Santos-Carvallo⁵  Laura Gutiérrez⁶  Guido Pavez⁸  María José Pérez-Alvarez^1,10  Fernanda Barilari^1,11 

[1] 0Instituto de Estadística, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile;1Laboratorio de Ecología de Vida Silvestre, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y de la Conservación de la Naturaleza, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile;2Departamento de Gestión Forestal y su Medio Ambiente, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y de la Conservación de la Naturaleza, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile;3Núcleo Milenio de Salmónidos Invasores (INVASAL), Concepción, Chile;Centro de Investigación Eutropia, Santiago, Chile;Centro de Investigación Oceanográfica COPAS Sur-Austral, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile;Centro de Investigación y Gestión de Recursos Naturales (CIGREN), Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile;Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile;Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile;Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile;Programa de Magister en Ciencias mención Biodiversidad y Conservación, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile;Programa de Magister en Áreas Silvestres y Conservación de la Naturaleza, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y de la Conservación de la Naturaleza, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile;Programa de Postgrado en Oceanografía, Departamento de Oceanografía, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile;

关键词: traveling;    resting;    movement pattern analysis;    land-based tracking;    tourism effects;    Chile;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmars.2021.623954

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Whale-watching (WW) is an activity which has been increasing worldwide due to the great interest of tourists and the economic benefits it provides to local communities. However, it has been reported that this activity affects the behavioral patterns of some cetaceans, although for some species such as the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) this has not been extensively studied. To identify the effects of WW on the behavioral patterns of this species, we studied its traveling and resting behaviors in a locality of north-central Chile from 2015 to 2018. Using a theodolite, we calculated the response variables of swim speed, directness index, and reorientation for each behavior. We used the number of WW boats and the WW scenarios of “before”, “during”, and “after” the presence of boats as possible factors to explain the differences in the response variables of the whales, along with the factors of year, month, group size, and distance from the observation point. Reorientation increased significantly and the directness index decreased significantly for both traveling and resting behaviors from “before” to “during” WW scenarios, indicating more erratic and sinuous movements in the presence of boats. These changes in movement patterns are a commonly reported evasion response of cetaceans to the presence of WW boats. For traveling behavior, the swimming speed significantly increased, and trends showed increased reorientation and a decrease in the directness index in the “after” WW scenario, which suggests perturbation of the whales potentially associated with the speed and the direction in which the boats left. During resting behavior, the trajectories of the fin whales became straighter (decrease in reorientation) as the number of boats increased, thus evasion (more erratic and sinuous movements) is a behavior used less by fin whales as the number of boats increases. Notwithstanding the fact that tourism development in the study area is small in scale, we found that WW generates adverse effects that are reflected in changes in the whales’ movement patterns. This kind of information is valuable to the adjustment and/or design of management strategies for the species, which is fundamental for WW to continue to be a sustainable activity.

【 授权许可】

Unknown