Marcia H.Engel

• MS
• CEO at Baleia Azul Consultoria

Anthropogenic stressors have cumulative environmental impacts that threaten marine ecosystems’ biodiversity. Establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) has emerged as a crucial tool to address these challenges. Our study identified priority areas for the conservation of Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera brydei) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops trunc...

The 20 th century commercial whaling industry severely reduced populations of great whales throughout the Southern Hemisphere. The effect of this exploitation on genetic diversity and population structure remains largely undescribed. Here, we compare pre- and post-whaling diversity of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences for three gre...

Most models of population structure for Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) assume that individuals feeding in the Scotia Sea region of Antarctic Area II migrate primarily to the breeding and calving area off Brazil. However the data to support this are few and mostly indirect, and alternative migratory destinations have be...

A história dos 30 anos do Projeto Baleia Jubarte e como as baleias jubarte saíram da lista de espécies ameaçadas de extinção.

Whales are difficult to study. These large marine mammals cannot be maintained in captivity so they have to be studied in nature, and observing their underwater behavior becomes a challenge. The extensive distribution, large size, and aquatic life style of these leviathans constrain efforts to observe and understand the scale of what is being studi...

At the breeding grounds of most baleen whales the patchiness and gaps in spatial distribution results from interactions between behavior patterns and environmental conditions. We evaluated the influence of environmental factors (bathymetry and distance from shore with quadratic terms, and wind speed), effort, and spatial autocorrelation effects to...

Southern Hemisphere humpback whales breed in tropical waters and migrate to Antarctica to forage. While the breeding grounds are well defined, the population structure on Antarctic feeding grounds is poorly described. The Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is of particular interest, where rapidly changing environmental conditions could alter prey di...

Genotypes of 10 microsatellite loci of 420 humpback whales from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean population were used to estimate for the first time its contemporary effective (Ne) and census (Nc) population sizes and to test the genetic effect of commercial whaling. The results are in agreement with our previous studies that found high genetic dive...

Humpback whales were hunted almost to extinction in the 20th century, providing an opportunity to measure their post-exploitation population growth rates. Variation in growth rates may be related to many factors, and little work has been done to understand the differences among populations. First, we provided an estimate of the growth rate for the...

The description of genetic population structure over a species’ geographic range can provide insights into its evolutionary history and also support effective management efforts. Assessments for globally distributed species are rare, however, requiring significant international coordination and collaboration. The global distribution of demographica...

Humpback whales wintering in tropical waters along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the South American continent are thought to represent distinct populations or “stocks.” Here we present the first analysis of genetic differentiation and estimates of gene flow between these breeding stocks, based on both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region s...

Elucidating patterns of population structure for species with complex life histories, and disentangling the processes driving such patterns, remains a significant analytical challenge. Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) populations display complex genetic structures that have not been fully resolved at all spatial scales. We generated a data s...

Here we review the published records of mtDNA control region sequences of southern hemisphere humpback whales as a first step in developing a validated register of haplotypes for future analyses of interest to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. We restricted our initial review to sequences submitted to GenBank as 'pop...

Paper SC/56/SH16 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, 2004 (unpublished)

Humpback whale populations of the Southern Hemisphere feed in Antarctic waters during austral summer before migrating to breeding grounds in the tropical waters in the winter. Of the seven Breeding Stocks recognized by the International Whaling Commission (A-G), the Western Antarctic Peninsula is known to be Breeding Stock G's feeding destination,...

No movement has previously been observed between humpback whales from Breeding Stock A on the Atlantic coast of South America and Breeding Stock G on the Pacific coast, nor have whales from these regions been seen to overlap in common feeding areas. A whale first observed in the waters off Ecuador in 1996 was subsequently identified off Brazil in 1...

Once hunted to the brink of extinction, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the North Atlantic have recently been increasing in numbers. However, uncertain information on past abundance makes it difficult to assess the extent of the recovery in this species. While estimates of pre-exploitation abundance based upon catch data suggest the pop...

The population of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering off the eastern coast of South America is referred to by the International Whaling Commission as ‘Breeding Stock A’ (BSA). This population was heavily exploited in 20th century modern commercial whaling operations. After more than 30 years of protection, its present status remains...

Humpback whales wintering off the eastern coast of Brazil were heavily exploited by commercial whaling in the Southern Hemisphere. During recent years, clear signs of recovery have been observed, but few estimates of population growth rate exist. In this study, quantitative estimates of rates of population increase are obtained from sighting per un...

Molecular analysis has become a powerful tool in cetacean ecology since it supports efficient conservation policies. Remote biopsy sampling is the most efficient method to obtain epithelial material for analysis purposes; however, as an intrusive technique it presents inherent costs, evidenced by behavioural reactions. Clarifying which factors infl...

The behavioural patterns of humpback whales are known to vary according to the social function of individuals in a group. To identify behavioural patterns related to specific group compositions, we observed events and behavioural states of humpback whales during research cruises in the Abrolhos Bank, Brazil, in the reproductive seasons from 1992 to...

Fidelity of individual animals to breeding sites is a primary determinant of population structure. The degree and scale of philopatry in a population reflect the fitness effects of social facilitation, ecological adaptation and optimal inbreeding. Patterns of breeding-site movement and fidelity are functions of social structure and are frequently s...

Site fidelity and movements were studied for humpback whales photo-identified from 1989 to 2006 in the Abrolhos Bank, southwestern Atlantic, Brazil. A total of 2,612 individuals were identified, 374 of which were observed on more than one occasion. The cumulative number of identified whales has increased since 1989. Recapture rate was low and varie...

The potential impact of increasing vessel traffic and coastal development has led to concerns regarding the future of the Brazilian humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae population. Our objective was to monitor humpback whale abundance in the Brazilian coastal breeding grounds in order to provide information to support future conservation strategie...

Population monitoring is crucial for defining the status of a species and its conservation strategies. In order to access the density and abundance of the breeding stock A of the humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), an aerial survey was done in 2008 covering the Brazilian coast until the 500m isobath, from 5º to 24ºS. Abundance and density wer...

The Southwestern Atlantic Ocean humpback whales wintering ground (breeding stock A) are distributed along the Brazilian coast (5–23°S), and their main mating and calving ground is in the Abrolhos Bank. We investigated genetic diversity, population structure, and relatedness of individuals sampled from the entire Southwest Atlantic humpback whale po...

Although humpback whales are among the best-studied of the large whales, population boundaries in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) have remained largely untested. We assess population structure of SH humpback whales using 1,527 samples collected from whales at fourteen sampling sites within the Southwestern and Southeastern Atlantic, the Southwestern I...

The breeding and feeding grounds of most humpback whale populations are well known. Their preference for shallow, subtropical waters in winter, where they calve and mate (Clapham 1996), often brings them close to coasts or ship traffic, and their blows are readily seen in such relatively calm seas. Summer feeding grounds are mainly known through th...

Behavior of humpback whales was observed during the reproductive period off the northern coast of the state of Bahia (NB, n = 378 groups) and at the Abrolhos Bank (AB, n = 919) to compare patterns and group composition between the two locations. Alone individuals and dyads were most often encountered in both areas, although mother-calf pairs were m...

The Abrolhos Bank off Brazil is considered the main breeding ground for the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Southwest Atlantic. However, owing to an increase in the occurrence of the species along the north coast of the State of Bahia, it has been suggested that the species is reoccupying that region, which was probably utilized by t...

In the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean, humpback whales migrate every winter to the Brazilian coast for breeding and calving in the Abrolhos Bank. This breeding stock represents the remnants of a larger population heavily exploited during the beginning of the 20th century. Despite its relevance to conservation efforts, the degree of current genetic var...

Marine fauna, especially cetaceans, rely on sound for a range of biological functions and are susceptible to the effects of marine noise pollution (e.g. Richardson et al., 1995). However noise, despite its implicit classification as a pollutant by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), is not subject to the same level of regu...

Conservación de especies y Áreas Marinas Protegidas: integrando el enfoque. Ampliando la protección: Redes de AMPs. Evolucionando de una red de AMPs para una Red hacia la conservación de cetáceos en América Latina y las AMPs correlacionadas.

A biologia e a conservação das baleias jubarte no Brasil.

The potential impact of increasing vessel traffic and shoreline development has made the conservationists concerned about the future of the Brazilian humpback population. Our objective was to monitor the humpback whale abundance in the Brazilian coastal breeding ground in order to provide information to support future strategies for species conserv...

In the Southern Hemisphere, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) were heavily exploited from both coastal stations and in pelagic waters in all major ocean basins. About 200,000 whales were taken after 1900, causing declines of populations to small percentages of their pre-exploitation levels. The study presented here aimed to investigate humpb...

Humpback whales behavior was observed to determine the existence of differences between observations occurring from research vessels vs. whale-watching vessels. A total of 256 groups were observed from research vessels and 122 groups from whale-watching vessels during the breeding seasons from 2001 through 2003 in the northern coast of the state of...

We provide a summary of interactions between humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) observed during a long-term study conducted at the Abrolhos Bank off Brazil, with additional notes on the behaviour of both cetacean species. One dolphin caught and likely preyed on a diskfish (Echeneidae) while inter...

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) aggregate at Abrolhos Bank, Bahia and Espírito Santo States, during spring-winter season for breeding and calving. The Instituto Baleia Jubarte/Humpback Whale Institute – Brazil maintains a permanent marine mammal rescue program along the coast adjacent to the Abrolhos Bank, aiming to register the strandings...

Considerable uncertainty exists regarding the migratory destinations of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from the Antarctic Peninsula region and the breeding grounds off the coasts of South America. Evidence is presented on the migratory patterns of Antarctic humpback whales based upon movements of individuals identified by natural markings...

Abundance estimates are presented for the humpback whales wintering off Brazil which ‘visit’ a surveyed area off Abrolhos Bank and display fluke-exposing behaviour. The study is based on photo-identification data collected between 1996 and 2000. Chapman-corrected Petersen estimates for all pairs of data result in estimates from 1,948 individuals up...

A bstract We describe a novel behavior, termed “tail‐up,” observed in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) on wintering grounds on Abrolhos Bank, Brazil. The behavior involves the whale positioned vertically in the water column with its tail in the air. With the exception of calves, tail‐up was observed in all social classes, and its frequenc...

The waters surrounding Abrolhos Archipelago, Brazil, serve as one of several winter grounds for southern-hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Development of tourism in this region has caused concern over disturbance effects to breeding and nursing whales. To document the chronology of humpback abundance around Abrolhos, three years...

Experiments were performed to evaluate the impact of boat approaches on the vocal behavior of humpback whales that breed around the Abrolhos archipelago off the Brazilian coast. Vocalizing whales were located by monitoring the amplitude of each individual’s sounds. Silent approaches to focal singers were performed using a small zodiac with an impro...

The Abrolhos Bank (off the State of Bahia, northeastern Brazil) is the most important breeding and calving ground for humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, in the western South Atlantic. The area is shallow with a mean depth of 30m and a group of five islands (the Abrolhos Archipelago) is located in the northern portion of the Bank. Data collect...

We report on the movement of an individual humpback whale from Brazil to Madagascar. This constitutes a displacement between non-adjacent breeding stocks (A and C3) that are separated by a continent, an ocean basin, 88.5 degrees of longitude and a minimum swimming distance of >9,800km. This is 4,000km longer than any previously reported movement be...

Population monitoring is crucial for defining the status of a species and its conservation strategies. In order to access the distribution, abundance and growth rates of the breeding stock A of the humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), an aerial survey was done in 2008 covering the Brazilian coast until the 500 m isobath, from 5º to 24ºS. Abund...

Growing worldwide navigation since the 20 th century has led to an increase in collisions and to behavior disturbances on cetaceans. The annual growth rate of the humpback whale population in Brazil was estimated to be 6.74% between 2001 and 2008. Recently, commercial ship traffic has also increased due to new investments in port infrastructure thr...