Rice’s Whales in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico: Call Variation and Occurrence Beyond the Known Core Habitat
January 06, 2023
We used long-term passive acoustic recordings from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico shelf break to explore the extent of Rice’s whale distribution in the northern Gulf of Mexico and to evaluate whether they exhibit seasonal movements throughout this range.
The endangered Rice’s whale is only known to reside in the Gulf of Mexico. They occur primarily along the shelf break in the northeastern Gulf. Historical records and modeling suggest these whales could occur more broadly throughout the Gulf. We used long-term passive acoustic recordings of Rice’s whale calls in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico to study the whales’ distribution in this region. We also evaluated whether they exhibit seasonal movements throughout this range. The results indicate that some whales persistently occur over a broader range in the Gulf than previously thought.
Soldevilla MS, Debich AJ, Garrison LP, Hildebrand JA, Wiggins SM (2022) Rice’s whales in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico: call variation and occurrence beyond the known core habitat. Endang Species Res 48:155-174. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01196