The role of environmental drivers on humpback whale breeding, feeding, resting and migration

Abstract

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have a highly migratory existence, encountering a range of environmental factors throughout their lifetimes. The spatial and temporal attributes of these factors profoundly shape the suitability of habitats for essential activities like breeding, feeding, and resting. We have synthesised insights from peer-reviewed literature spanning the past four decades. This comprehensive review identifies key environmental drivers and evaluates the methodologies employed to delineate their relationships with humpback whales. Our analysis incorporates findings from 148 studies derived through an online literature search. These studies, cumulatively spanning 105,000 humpback whale observations across 1216 study years investigating the connections between humpback whales and environmental drivers across both Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Research focusing on humpback whales in feeding areas underscores preferences for upwelling, elevated chlorophyll-a concentrations, and frontal areas marked by variations in temperature, depth, and currents—all indicative of potentially high prey concentrations. In calving grounds, shallow, warm environments with slow water movement are favored to facilitate the survival of calves. Available data migration suggests a preference for shallow waters near shorelines characterised by moderate temperature. The extraction of such information on environmental drivers has important implications for conservation efforts, particularly in a fast-changing climate.