Branch support was evaluated using 1000 bootstrap replicates. Brownell, Matt Leslie and one anonymous referee. The calls were long, broadband, AM in the 15–50 Hz bandwidth (figure 7a), and in each case uttered with a consistent rhythmic repetition every 2–3 min (figure 7b).

The discovery of this population also represents the first documentation of the species in the western Indian Ocean.

Spectrograms of recordings with calls attributed to Balaenoptera omurai showing (a) a stereotyped, amplitude-modulated pulsative call at 15–50 Hz, recorded on two separate days assumed to be from different individuals, (b) 10 min clip of a rhythmic series of calls with consistent 170–180 s repetition rate, interpreted as uttered by a single individual, and (c) 10 min clip of what appears to be a chorus of four individuals inferred from overlapping rhythmic series with different apparent received levels, including two animals in the foreground (labelled ‘1’, red and ‘2’, blue) and two animals in the background (labelled ‘3’, green and ‘4’, magenta); stereotyped, rhythmically repetitive vocalizations uttered in choruses of different individuals suggest song-like characteristics and function. Figure 3. Omura’s whales were at first mistaken for little Bryde’s whales when spotted in the wild as they are a very similar size and live in the same tropical seas. Calves were estimated at 3–5 m in length or about half the size of the boat. Exclusive range restriction to tropical waters is rare among baleen whale species, except for the various forms of Bryde’s whales and Omura’s whales. Species identification was confirmed through molecular phylogenetic analyses of biopsies collected from 18 adult animals. We consider this population of small rorquals off northwest Madagascar to be unequivocally B. omurai given: (i) the genetic distinctiveness of B. omurai relative to other balaenopterids [1,2]; (ii) the close similarity of the Madagascar sequences to B. omurai sequences from Japan, East China Sea, Solomon Islands and Cocos Islands; and (iii) the phylogenetic reconstruction that places the Madagascar sequences within the well-supported clade of other B. omurai sequences.

They sing at such a low frequency, Dr. Cerchio said, that when he was diving in their habitat, he felt rather than heard their distinct, rhythmic patterns of song, and typically had to speed up the recordings to actually hear them. Omura’s whales are long, thin and super-streamlined which gives them a distinctive snake-like appearance. If this hypothesis is accurate, then we predict that it is a male-limited trait, will display individual variation, and studies of breeding behaviour will reveal it is an inter-sexual and/or intra-sexual signal and integral part of the species mating system. Spatial and temporal distribution of Balaenoptera omurai sightings in 2014, showing clustered tendency of loose aggregations of individuals interspersed with periods without sightings despite consistent survey effort throughout the field season.Download figureOpen in new tabDownload powerPoint. BARSL Provides Panel of Experts. Topology is a maximum-likelihood tree inferred from partial mitochondrial control region sequences.

Bob Pitman, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was not involved in this research, said he was surprised to learn the scope of the species’ habitat. Images of Madagascar Balaenoptera omurai displaying details of pigmentation and external appearance. [1] and Sasaki et al. The charts were georeferenced before their features were digitized, and a bathymetric raster was then interpolated from those features using ArcGIS 10.2 Topo to Raster tool. Also, sightings across the field seasons were not consistent over time, so that whales would be encountered for a few days, and then seemingly absent from the study area for several days despite consistent survey effort. Between 2007 and 2014, cetacean populations were assessed on the northwest coast of Madagascar including the Nosy Be and Nosy Iranja/Ampasindava peninsula regions (figure 1). Figure 5. The taxonomy of Balaenopteridae, particularly involving what has been considered the ‘Bryde’s whale group’, is currently the focus of ongoing investigation and new discoveries [1–4]. During surfacing the dorsal fin typically emerges after the head and blowhole shield submerge, so that the two are not seen at the surface together, and the flukes were never observed to be lifted above the surface upon diving. On nine occasions, recordings were made in the presence of B. omurai, with recording generally starting within 50 m of the whale’s last known position.

Spectrograms (2048pt FFT, 75% overlap) were browsed in 150 s windows in the 0–350 Hz bandwidth for all boat-based recordings, and a portion of the SoundTrap recordings from each recording location. Diet of the southern Madagascar whales was also distinctively different from other southern African Bryde’s whales, being composed entirely of euphausiids with equal proportions of E. diomedeae and E. recurva [17,39], whereas the inshore whales taken off Durban (Donkergat station) fed almost exclusively on shoaling fishes [39]. The remaining 36 encounters were with single individuals. Boat surveys were conducted from an 8–10 m outboard boat with two to four observers for approximately one month each year, between July and December. In addition, their vocal nature and low frequency bandwidth of their vocalizations make them vulnerable to noise associated with anthropogenic activities, particularly seismic exploration associated with hydrocarbon exploration and production (E&P). “Little by little it became clear that there were a lot more out there that could be researched and tallied,” he said. Temporal distribution of sightings during the study period was also patchy, with long periods of days without seeing animals, while readily finding them during other periods. The most southern extent is the report of a stranding identified by skull morphology [21] in Gulf St Vincent, South Australia, at latitude 34°37.6′ S (electronic supplementary material, table S2, figure S4). Funding for fieldwork was provided by the International Whaling Commission Small Cetacean Conservation Fund, the US Marine Mammal Commission, and the Prince Albert II Conservation Fund. (edeni) brydei [15], but unknown for B. edeni edeni. All authors gave final approval for publication. There are reported sightings of live animals with photographic evidence from Thailand [16,22], New Caledonia [23,24] and the Lacepede Islands, northwest Australia (http://www.pbase.com/wildlifeimages/omuras_whale). Figure 3. A double asterisk indicates nodes with greater than 90% BS and greater than 0.95 PP. [1] described B. omurai as a distinct species, in part, based upon molecular phylogenetic evidence using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) complete control region sequences; their analysis grouped eight research whaling specimens (previously considered ‘pygmy Bryde’s whales’) taken near the Solomon Islands in 1976 and offshore of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (in the east Indian Ocean) in 1978, with a 1998 stranding in the Sea of Japan as distinct from all other Balaenoptera spp. Sasaki et al. The Board on Army RDT&E, Systems Acquisition, and Logistics (BARSL), managed by Bowhead Mission Solutions, LLC (BMS) team … The most northern extent reported remains the holotype specimen from the Sea of Japan (34°21′ N, 130°50′ E) [1]. For logistical support in the Nosy Be region, we thank Julien and Christian Tombozafy, Tanguy and Arthur Guillemain d’Echon and Les Baleines Rand’eau, Nosy Komba Aventure, the Zahir Hotel and Nosy Iranja Lodge. Size of these animals was smaller than other southern African Bryde’s whales, even in comparison to the inshore small-form found off South Africa; however, at modes of 12.2 m for males and 13.1 m for females, these whales were somewhat larger than reported for B. omurai in the eastern portion of the range (10–12 m [16]; 9.6–11.2 m [1]). migrate to colder waters where food abounds. collected field data and managed field logistics; T.R. Complete tracks of daily boat movements were logged on handheld GPS receivers, and precise records of effort were made throughout the day, so as to calculate standardized sighting per unit effort (SPUE) measures. Using allozymes, Wada & Numachi [10] first noted a phylogenetic placement of ‘pygmy Bryde’s whales’ from the Solomon Islands and Cocos Islands research whaling catches as basal to a clade formed by B. borealis and other Pacific and Indian Ocean B. edeni. Like their fellow rorqual baleen whales, Omura’s whales have throat pleats and are lunge feeders; they probably feed predominantly on schooling fish and krill which they filter from seawater. Notably, this represents to our knowledge, the first identified population tractable for field study.

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