Pygmy right whale Caperea marginata records from Namibia

All known records of pygmy right whales Caperea marginata in Namibia since 1978 are summarised for the first time, including 12 strandings (live and recently dead animals) and skeletal remains from at least eight more individuals. The majority of strandings and remains were located in the Walvis Bay...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:African journal of marine science Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 133 - 139
Main Authors: Leeney, RH, Post, K, Best, PB, Hazevoet, CJ, Elwen, SH
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Grahamstown Taylor & Francis Group 01.03.2013
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:
Aquatic mammals
Benguela Current
Caperea marginata
Cetacea
dead animals
Environmental protection
fauna
juveniles
Lagoons
Marine
Namibia
strandings
summer
topography
Walvis Bay
whales
Whales & whaling
PSW, Namibia, Walvis Bay
PSW, Namibia
Namibia
ISSN:1814-232X, 1814-2338, 1814-2338
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:All known records of pygmy right whales Caperea marginata in Namibia since 1978 are summarised for the first time, including 12 strandings (live and recently dead animals) and skeletal remains from at least eight more individuals. The majority of strandings and remains were located in the Walvis Bay region, where the coastal topography of the bay and lagoon may be a primary cause for the relatively high incidence of strandings in this area. Strandings appear to occur only during the austral summer, between November and March. All but two of the records for which age is available were juveniles, suggesting that the area offshore of Walvis Bay may function as a seasonal nursery ground and that the inexperience of younger animals may cause them to become 'entrapped' in the bay. These data contribute substantially to the limited information on pygmy right whale distribution worldwide and the cetacean fauna of Namibia.
Bibliography:SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 14
ObjectType-Article-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1814-232X
1814-2338
1814-2338
DOI:10.2989/1814232X.2013.769903