SYDNEY, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Australian southern right whales use a broader range of feeding habitats than New Zealand whales, a new research revealed Tuesday.
An international team of researchers used satellite tags to track 37 southern right whales from calving grounds off Australia and New Zealand, according to a statement released by the University of Western Australia (UWA).
New Zealand whales primarily feed south of Australia, while Australian whales forage there as well as migrate west to the Kerguelen and Crozet Islands and further south to the Antarctic ice edge, said the study led by New Zealand's University of Auckland with Australian collaborators.
"We wanted to understand where the whales' feeding grounds are and how they use them to help inform conservation efforts," said Kate Sprogis from UWA's Oceans Institute and School of Biological Sciences.
"The Australian whales visited a wider variety of habitats, including Antarctic waters, which may provide greater resilience in an increasingly unpredictable ocean environment," Sprogis said.
Both populations fed near major oceanic fronts where prey concentrates, with the main feeding area south of Australia, key for both New Zealand and Australian whales, falling outside current international conservation protections, said the study.
The whales showed both similar and different foraging strategies, with location differences potentially affecting population recovery amid climate change, making ongoing monitoring essential for understanding their recovery and resilience, Sprogis said. ■
