What do fin whales do during the day? And at night?
It is essential that we have a better understanding of how fin whales, occupy their time
in order to ensure their harmonious co-existence with the whale watching
industry. What is important for them?
To go through the looking glass
Scientists followed a total of 25 fin whales with the help of VHF transmitters. They studied the movements of
these animals in three dimensions and followed them day and night.
In short: 
Tracking fin whales allowed us to define three types of activity: deep
dives, intermediate dives and shallow dives. Deep dives appear to be
linked to feeding; intermediate dives to exploration. Shallow dives could
be tied to either surface feeding or resting. Fin whales generally feed
during the day, especially at high tide, while at night they remain near
the surface. Behaviour varies depending on their location.
Project collaborators:
Robert Michaud and Janie Giard, of GREMM
Partners:
The Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, Parks Canada,
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, ministère de
l'Environnement et de la Faune du Québec and Croisière AML
Cruises.
Other research
projects
| 