Overview

• Researchers led by Alexandre Bernier-Graveline published the first drone-based estimates of migration energy cost for southern hemisphere humpbacks in Marine Mammal Science.
• Drone surveys tracked body condition of 103 adult humpbacks on feeding grounds in the Western Antarctic Peninsula and breeding waters off Colombia.
• Analysis showed whales lose an average 36% of their body condition per migration, equivalent to about 11,000 kg of blubber.
• That blubber loss corresponds to the energy obtained from approximately 57,000 kg of Antarctic krill per whale.
• By linking migration energy costs to krill biomass, the research establishes a benchmark for evaluating how sea-ice loss and krill fisheries may influence humpback populations.