Abstract
Bryde's whales, Balaenoptera edeni Anderson, 1879, were observed on 17 occasions (N = 21 surveys) in the coastal waters off Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil during austral summer through autumn 2014. Five whales were individually identified using photo-identification techniques. The mean interval between resightings for all individuals was 12.8 days, with a minimum of one day and a maximum of 48 days. The comparison between the catalogs of Bryde's whales off Rio de Janeiro and the Cabo Frio region revealed matches for three individuals. The resightings show movements of up to 149.6 km along the coastal waters off the state of Rio de Janeiro. Most of the observations consisted of solitary individuals (82.3% of sightings). Feeding was the predominant behavior observed (47%), followed by milling (35.3%) and travelling (17.6%) in waters up to 48 m deep. Direct observations resulted in the addition of new prey, such as snubnose anchovy, Anchoviella brevirostris (Gunther, 1868) and white snake mackerel, Thyrsitops lepidopoides (Cuvier, 1832), to the known diet of the Bryde's whale. A long time series of photo-identification efforts in the Rio de Janeiro, the Cabo Frio region and other areas can elucidate fundamental aspects of spatial and temporal site fidelity knowledge of Bryde's whales in southeastern Brazil.
Highlights
The sighting and stranding data suggest that Bryde’s whales, Balaenoptera edeni Anderson, 1879 occur regularly along the coast off the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil (ZERBINI et al 1997, SICILIANO et al 2004, GONÇALVES & ANDRIOLO 2006, MOURA & SICILIANO 2012, FIGUEIREDO et al 2014). Sightings of this species are recorded mainly in austral summer and autumn, but strandings are recorded throughout the year (ZERBINI et al 1997, SICILIANO et al 2004, MOURA & SICILIANO 2012), supporting the idea that B. edeni is common in southeastern Brazil
The use of natural markings to identify individuals to be monitored in photographic sighting and resighting is the standard approach for addressing questions of movements and site fidelity, among others (WÜRSIG & JEFFERSON 1990)
The information presented in this study provides baseline data for the establishment of a management plan of the Monumento Natural do Arquipélago das Ilhas Cagarras – MoNa Cagarras (Federal Law #12229, April 13, 2010) – a marine protected area that includes the Cagarras, Palmas, Comprida, and Redonda islands
Summary
(1) Study area is delimitated by 2 x 2 km grids and shows the number of routes. (2) Bryde’s whale, Balaenoptera edeni, encounter rates in the coastal waters off Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil.
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