Hungry humpbacks: measuring seasonal foraging intensity at South Georgia
Key Facts
FUNDING SCHEME Darwin Plus
VALUE £346,812
WHERE South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
Summary
Whales are the largest krill-predators at South Georgia (SG), yet their impacts on krill stocks are poorly understood. Recently, whale surveys revealed high summer abundance and extended use of SG waters into winter, coincident with a krill fishery. This project measures how whale foraging intensity varies across the feeding season in SG, using UAV-based measurements of body condition and satellite-tracking of diving rates to measure season-specific krill consumption, and inform krill quota-setting for the Subarea 48.3 CCAMLR krill risk assessment.
Friends of South Georgia Island, South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT), Instituto Baleia Jubarte, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, University of California Santa Cruz, Aarhus University, Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
