Young humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae feeding in Santa Catarina coastal waters, Southern Brazil, and a ship strike report

Abstract

Background: Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are cosmopolitan and highly migratory animals that rarely feed in low latitude waters during their breeding seasons. The western South Atlantic humpback whale population breeds off the Brazilian coast, from Natal (4°S) to Cabo Frio (23°S) and migration to their feeding grounds is known to be undertaken through offshore waters.
Results: Here we report on an unusual stranding of a young humpback whale that was feeding in the coastal
waters of Santa Catarina state (27°S), in October 2014. Evidence of a ship strike and that the animal had fed in no more than a few hours before death are also presented. Additionally, it is the first time that Peisos petrunkevitchi, a sergestid shrimp species, is described as prey for large whales.
Conclusions: Although more information is required before we can further discuss whether the area could provide an important source of food for young humpback whales, the present ship strike highlights a possibly important threat in case this ecological feature is confirmed in the future.

Full text

M A R I N E R E C O R D Open Access
Young humpback whale Megaptera
novaeangliae feeding in Santa Catarina
coastal waters, Southern Brazil, and a ship
strike report
Guilherme Augusto Bortolotto
1,2*
, Cristiane Kiyomi Miyaji Kolesnikovas
1
, Andrea Santarosa Freire
3
and Paulo César Simões-Lopes
4
Abstract
Background: Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae are cosmopolitan and highly migratory animals that rarely
feed in low latitude waters during their breeding seasons. The western South Atlantic humpback whale population
breeds off the Brazilian coast, from Natal (4°S) to Cabo Frio (23°S) and migration to their feeding grounds is known
to be undertaken through offshore waters.
Results: Here we report on an unusual stranding of a young humpback whale that was feeding in the coastal
waters of Santa Catarina state (27°S), in October 2014. Evidence of a ship strike and that the animal had fed in no
more than a few hours before death are also presented. Additionally, it is the first time that Peisos petrunkevitchi,a
sergestid shrimp species, is described as prey for large whales.
Conclusions: Although more information is required before we can further discuss whether the area could provide
an important source of food for young humpback whales, the present ship strike highlights a possibly important
threat in case this ecological feature is confirmed in the future.
Keywords: Large whale, Migration, Peisos petrunkevitchi, Prey, Distribution, Western South Atlantic
Background
Cosmopolitan and highly migratory animals, humpback
whales Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski 1781) are
rarely observed feeding in low latitude waters during their
annual breeding season (Clapham 2000). An exception is
the population inhabiting the Arabian Sea that does not
migrate (Pomilla et al. 2014). At-sea observations and data
from stranded animals indicate that they normally feed in
high-latitude regions during summer and autumn months
(Mackintosh 1942; Chittleborough 1965; Dawbin 1966;
Clapham 2000). Although this seems to remain a general
pattern for humpback whale populations around the
world, increasing records in recent years have reported
animals feeding beyond their usual feeding grounds and
seasons, and during migration (e.g. Stone et al. 1987;
Baraff et al. 1991; Gendron and Urbán 1993; Swingle et al.
1993; Best et al. 1995). In Brazil, Alves et al. (2009) reported
humpback whales lunge-feeding near an oil platform, and
Danilewicz et al. (2009) presented evidence of feeding in
coastal waters from a young female that stranded in the
coast of Rio Grande do Sul state (~29°).
Humpback whales of the western South Atlantic (WSA)
population breed in the Brazilian coast during winter
and spring months, and their main concentration site is
the Abrolhos Bank (16°40’–19°30’S) (Martins et al. 2001;
Andriolo et al. 2010), a wide portion of the Brazilian
continental shelf. According to satellite-tagging studies
(Zerbini et al. 2006), during this period their range of
occurrence comprises the continental shelf, i.e. from
the shore to the shelf-break, with a latitudinal distribu-
tion from Cabo Frio (~23°S), in Rio de Janeiro state, to
* Correspondence: bortolotto.vet@gmail.com
1
Associação R3 Animal, Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, Barra da Lagoa,
Florianópolis, SC 88061-500, Brasil
2
Sea Mammal Research Unit –SMRU, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of
St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
© 2016 Bortolotto et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Bortolotto et al. Marine Biodiversity Records (2016) 9:29
DOI 10.1186/s41200-016-0043-4

Natal (~4°S), in Rio Grande do Norte state (Fig. 1).
That study also indicates that these whales use offshore
waters for migration, when they travel to feeding
grounds off South Georgia and South Sandwich islands.
The coast of Rio de Janeiro state therefore represents
their southern limit of departure. Coastal occurrence of
animals further south is to be considered unusual for
Brazil. There are few records of humpback whales in
the southern coast of the country (e.g. Danilewicz et al.
2009), and although they have been observed in the
coast of Santa Catarina (Cherem et al. 2004), their pres-
ence remains rare (personal observation C.K.M.K and
P.C.S.L.). Here we report on an unusual stranding of a
young humpback whale in Santa Catarina state, the
presence of food items in its stomach and a ship strike
as the cause of death.
Fig. 1 The Brazilian coast and the usual occurrence range of humpback whales in the area, from Cabo Frio to Natal. A black triangle indicates the
stranding site of a humpback whale at Ingleses beach, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina state
Bortolotto et al. Marine Biodiversity Records (2016) 9:29 Page 2 of 6

Methods and results
A dead female humpback whale was found stranded on
16
th
October 2014, at Ingleses beach (27°26'27.6"S, 048°
22'26.4"W) in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, southern
Brazil (Fig. 1). The 8.36 m long carcass (total length)
was in good condition and did not show any clear exter-
nal signs of interaction with human activities (e.g. fishing
gear marks). Cookie-cutter shark wounds, live whale lice
and live barnacles were present on the body’s surface.
Necropsy revealed an evident hematoma (Fig. 2) on the
right side of the body, extending from the thoracic to
the abdominal muscular layers. When the abdominal
cavity was accessed from its caudal edge, far from large
veins or arteries, a large amount of blood flowed indi-
cating internal haemorrhage. Examination of stomach
contents revealed a great amount of undigested small
shrimp-like crustaceans. The whale’s biological samples
are deposited in the collection of mammals of the Uni-
versidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Federal University
of Santa Catarina) under number UFSC1422.
Discussion
Although stranding sites can be at considerable distance
from where death occurred, as a consequence of ocean
currents and wind drift (Peltier et al. 2012), the fresh
condition of the carcass strongly indicates that the animal
died within a few hours of when it was found. Moreover,
the approach of Víkingsson (1997) on the “mean time of
passage of food from the fore-stomach to the fundic
chamber”for fin whales, as adopted by Danilewicz et al.
(2009), supports the contention that the animal was alive
and also feeding in no more than about 10 hours prior to
death. Additionally, the presence of live whale lice indi-
cates that the stranding occurred in less than three days
(Leung 1976), and the general aspect of skin was compat-
ible with the previous conclusions. Furthermore, the site
of stranding is in a residential area and there is no doubt
that the carcass had beached on the day it was recorded.
The prey items were identified as Peisos petrunkevitchi
(Fig. 3) (Burkenroad 1945) (Decapoda: Sergestidae) by
A.S.F. at the Crustacean and Plankton Laboratory and are
deposited in the biological collection of the Universidade
Federal de Santa Catarina (number LCP/ECZ/UFSC101).
This small shrimp species occurs from Rio de Janeiro
state to Península Valdés (44°S), in Argentina (Ruiz and
Fondacaro, 1997; D’Incao and Martins 2000). Danilewicz
et al. (2009) described another sergestid species, Acetes
americanus (Ortmann 1893) as the main prey item for the
stranded humpback whale reported for Rio Grande do
Sul, 250 km further south. Both species are small pelagic
shrimps that occur in coastal waters up to 50 m deep and
their distributions overlap in the southern coast of Brazil
(D’Incao and Martins 2000). Dense patches of P. petrunke-
vitchi are likely to be ideal for large planktivore whales to
feed (Nicol 2006) since sergestid shrimps are already
known to support the energetic demands of other large
planktivorous animals such as whale sharks (Rohner et al.
2015). Because A. americanus and P. petrunkevitchi
inhabit the pelagic realm, they probably present
equivalent potential to be preyed on by whales in the
coastal waters of southern Brazil. Besides the inclusion
of P. petrunkevitchi in the list of recorded species
preyed on by humpback whales, the current report
suggests a new contribution of the shrimp as prey in
Brazilian waters, being already described as an import-
ant food source for sciaenid fishes (Pombo et al. 2013)
and wasp jellyfish (Nogueira Jr and Haddad 2008) in
the area.
Fig. 2 Hematoma on the right side of a humpback whale carcass, in the thoracic/abdominal muscular layers. The whale carcass is facing right.
(Picture: R3 Animal)
Bortolotto et al. Marine Biodiversity Records (2016) 9:29 Page 3 of 6

The total length of the stranded animal (8.63 m) sug-
gests that it was a juvenile, since this size corresponds to
a one year old humpback whale (Clapham et al. 1999).
Humpback whales at this age are usually approaching in-
dependence from their mother (Clapham et al. 1999) and
this young animal could be starting to prey on crustacean
after being recently weaned. The feeding may therefore
have been opportunistic as a result of a large patch of prey
being encountered. Also, large amounts of P. petrunke-
vitchi were found beached near the stranding site in the
previous and following years (personal observation A.S.F.)
so it is likely that the shrimp was abundant in the area in
the year of the stranding.
Regarding the presence of this young whale in the
coast of Santa Catarina, an important point to consider
is that migration between breeding and feeding grounds
for this population is known to be undertaken through
offshore waters (Zerbini et al. 2006). Since the present
stranding occurred after the usual peak of humpback
whales occurrence along the Brazilian coast (Martins et al.
2001; Andriolo et al. 2010), most animals would have
departed or were about to depart to their feeding area.
Therefore the present animal could have started its mi-
gration but using a coastal route when travelling south-
wards instead. Because younger animals are less capable
of accumulating energy reserves due to their smaller
bodies, they also have a reduced capacity for spending
long periods without feeding (Craig et al. 2003). For
that reason, a coastal route that permits the animals to
feed before travelling through areas where they are more
unlikely to find food (i.e. offshore migratory regions) could
be very profitable, if not essential, for a young whale.
Another possibility is that this young and sexually imma-
ture (i.e. incapable of reproducing) whale did not go to the
population’s usual breeding area on that season, but to an
alternative habitat where it could feed during winter and
spring (Swingle et al. 1993). Little is known, however,
about specific feeding habitats for young animals of this
population and more information is needed before we can
determine if the present area may provide them with an
important source of food.
The humpback whale population that inhabits the coast
of Brazil has been showing clear signs of recovery since
being severely depleted by commercial whaling in the
mid-1900s (e.g. Ward et al. 2011; Zerbini et al. 2011;
Bortolotto 2014). A proportional increase in their inter-
actions with human activities is therefore expected, and
ship strikes are recognized as an important threat to
marine mammals in the Southern Hemisphere (Van
Waerebeek et al. 2007) and around the world (Laist et al.
2001; Carrillo and Ritter 2010; Martins et al. 2013). In a
recent study, the potential risk of ship strikes on hump-
back whales at the Abrolhos Bank was estimated (Bezamat
et al. 2014) and the authors indicated that, depending on
the vessels speed for example, the risk of whales being im-
pacted by vessels in that area was very high. Although the
density of whales in the present area is much lower than
in the Abrolhos Bank, individual whales are subject to the
risk of being struck when in areas of shipping traffic as
the coastal regions of Santa Catarina. The characteristic
haematoma in the body region most likely to be hit
when the animal was alive (Laist et al. 2001), together
with signs of internal haemorrhage strongly indicate
that the present animal suffered a very strong impact
Fig. 3 Peisos petrunkevitchi collected from the stomach of a stranded humpback whale. The horizontal bar represents 1 cm. (Picture: Thais Peixoto
Macedo, LCP/UFSC)
Bortolotto et al. Marine Biodiversity Records (2016) 9:29 Page 4 of 6

that caused its death. Only a ship strike would explain
such an impact.
Conclusions
This is the northernmost record of food items for a
stranded humpback whale ever found in Brazil, and it
constitutes strong evidence of feeding in the coastal wa-
ters of Santa Catarina (27°S), far beyond the usual feed-
ing grounds of the western South Atlantic population.
The evidence of a fatal ship strike indicates a potential
threat, particularly if future observations confirm that
the area is regularly used by at least a portion of these
animals (e.g. young individuals). It is also the first time
Peisos petrunkevitchi is described as prey for large whales,
expanding the current knowledge on the possible trophic
roles of this crustacean species. Although more informa-
tion is needed before we can make robust inferences con-
cerning the ecological importance of the coastal waters of
southern Brazil for humpback whales, the findings pre-
sented here highlight important conservation concerns.
Abbreviations
cm, centimetre; km, kilometre; LCP/UFSC, Laboratório de Crustáceos e
Plâncton (Crustacean and Plankton Laboratory), Universidade Federal de
Santa Catarina; m, metre; WSA, Western South Atlantic
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the staff of the Aquatic Mammals Laboratory of
the Federal University of Santa Catarina (LAMAQ) and the R3 Animal Association
for their help during necropsy procedures. The municipality of Florianópolis
provided logistical support. Two anonymous reviewers and Dr Matt Frost
provided important comments on the final version of this manuscript.
Funding
This study was a collaborative work between the Universidade Federal de
Santa Catarina and R3 Animal Association, and all the costs were covered by
both institutions.
Availability of supporting data
The dataset supporting the conclusions of this article is included within the
article as photographs.
Authors' contributions
CKMK and GAB conducted the necropsy, took photographs and collected
samples. ASF identified the prey item. ASF, CKMK, GAB and PCSL wrote the
manuscript together. All authors have read and approved the final version of
the manuscript.
Authors' information
CKMK and GAB have degrees in veterinary medicine.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
This work was conducted under the permission number 24110–4 (SISBIO –
ICMBio).
Author details
1
Associação R3 Animal, Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, Barra da Lagoa,
Florianópolis, SC 88061-500, Brasil.
2
Sea Mammal Research Unit –SMRU,
Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife KY16
8LB, UK.
3
Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Laboratório de Crustáceos e
Plâncton, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC
88040-900, Brasil.
4
Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Laboratório de
Mamíferos Aquáticos –LAMAQ, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, CP
5102, Florianópolis, SC 88040-970, Brasil.
Received: 24 May 2016 Accepted: 3 June 2016
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