ORCID Profile
0000-0003-3260-539X
Current Organisation
The University of Auckland
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Publisher: Pacific Science
Date: 10-2015
DOI: 10.2984/69.4.4
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S00300-022-03076-7
Abstract: Changes in habitat availability and prey abundance are predicted to adversely influence survival and reproduction of wildlife in the Southern Ocean. Some populations of southern right whale (SRW Eubalaena australis ) are showing dramatic changes in habitat use. Surveys were undertaken in the austral winters of 2020 and 2021 at the key nursery and socialising ground for New Zealand SRWs: Port Ross, Auckland Islands, with 548 encounters and 599 skin biopsy s les collected. Data from these two surveys spanned peak periods of use and were used to test the hypothesis there have been shifts in the phenology, demographic composition and behaviour of SRWs using the Auckland Islands over the past three decades. The behavioural phenology and demographic composition of SRW resembles that observed in the 1990s. In contrast, the proportion of groups containing cow-calf pairs increased from 20% in the 1998 survey to 50% in 2020/21. These changes are consistent with a growing population undergoing strong recruitment, not limited by food resources. Continued use of Port Ross by all SRW demographic classes confirms this as key habitat for SRW in New Zealand waters, and we support increased enforcement of existing management measures to reduce whale-vessel interactions in this remote subantarctic archipelago.
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 27-06-2011
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS09145
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-10-2021
Abstract: The deep sea has been described as the last major ecological frontier, as much of its bio ersity is yet to be discovered and described. Beaked whales (ziphiids) are among the most visible inhabitants of the deep sea, due to their large size and worldwide distribution, and their taxonomic ersity and much about their natural history remain poorly understood. We combine genomic and morphometric analyses to reveal a new Southern Hemisphere ziphiid species, Ramari's beaked whale, Mesoplodon eueu , whose name is linked to the Indigenous peoples of the lands from which the species holotype and paratypes were recovered. Mitogenome and ddRAD-derived phylogenies demonstrate reciprocally monophyletic ergence between M. eueu and True's beaked whale ( M. mirus ) from the North Atlantic, with which it was previously subsumed. Morphometric analyses of skulls also distinguish the two species. A time-calibrated mitogenome phylogeny and analysis of two nuclear genomes indicate ergence began circa 2 million years ago (Ma), with geneflow ceasing 0.35–0.55 Ma. This is an ex le of how deep sea bio ersity can be unravelled through increasing international collaboration and genome sequencing of archival specimens. Our consultation and involvement with Indigenous peoples offers a model for broadening the cultural scope of the scientific naming process.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-09-2021
DOI: 10.1111/MMS.12876
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 03-2023
Abstract: Genome sequences can reveal the extent of inbreeding in small populations. Here, we present the first genomic characterization of type D killer whales, a distinctive eco/morphotype with a circumpolar, subantarctic distribution. Effective population size is the lowest estimated from any killer whale genome and indicates a severe population bottleneck. Consequently, type D genomes show among the highest level of inbreeding reported for any mammalian species (FROH ≥ 0.65). Detected recombination cross-over events of different haplotypes are up to an order of magnitude rarer than in other killer whale genomes studied to date. Comparison of genomic data from a museum specimen of a type D killer whale that stranded in New Zealand in 1955, with 3 modern genomes from the Cape Horn area, reveals high covariance and identity-by-state of alleles, suggesting these genomic characteristics and demographic history are shared among geographically dispersed social groups within this morphotype. Limitations to the insights gained in this study stem from the nonindependence of the 3 closely related modern genomes, the recent coalescence time of most variation within the genomes, and the nonequilibrium population history which violates the assumptions of many model-based methods. Long-range linkage disequilibrium and extensive runs of homozygosity found in type D genomes provide the potential basis for both the distinctive morphology, and the coupling of genetic barriers to gene flow with other killer whale populations.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-2020
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.201084
Abstract: The migration routes of wide-ranging species can be difficult to study, particularly at sea. In the western South Pacific, migratory routes of humpback whales between breeding and feeding areas are unclear. Male humpback whales sing a population-specific song, which can be used to match singers on migration to a breeding population. To investigate migratory routes and breeding area connections, passive acoustic recorders were deployed in the central New Zealand migratory corridor (2016) recorded humpback whale song was compared to song from the closest breeding populations of East Australia and New Caledonia (2015–2017). Singing northbound whales migrated past New Zealand from June to August via the east coast of the South Island and Cook Strait. Few song detections were made along the east coast of the North Island. New Zealand song matched New Caledonia song, suggesting a migratory destination, but connectivity to East Australia could not be ruled out. Two song types were present in New Zealand, illustrating the potential for easterly song transmission from East Australia to New Caledonia in this shared migratory corridor. This study enhances our understanding of western South Pacific humpback whale breeding population connectivity, and provides novel insights into the dynamic transmission of song culture.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2016
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 27-02-2023
Abstract: Assessing environmental changes in Southern Ocean ecosystems is difficult due to its remoteness and data sparsity. Monitoring marine predators that respond rapidly to environmental variation may enable us to track anthropogenic effects on ecosystems. Yet, many long-term datasets of marine predators are incomplete because they are spatially constrained and/or track ecosystems already modified by industrial fishing and whaling in the latter half of the 20th century. Here, we assess the contemporary offshore distribution of a wide-ranging marine predator, the southern right whale (SRW, Eubalaena australis ), that forages on copepods and krill from ~30°S to the Antarctic ice edge ( °S). We analyzed carbon and nitrogen isotope values of 1,002 skin s les from six genetically distinct SRW populations using a customized assignment approach that accounts for temporal and spatial variation in the Southern Ocean phytoplankton isoscape. Over the past three decades, SRWs increased their use of mid-latitude foraging grounds in the south Atlantic and southwest (SW) Indian oceans in the late austral summer and autumn and slightly increased their use of high-latitude ( °S) foraging grounds in the SW Pacific, coincident with observed changes in prey distribution and abundance on a circumpolar scale. Comparing foraging assignments with whaling records since the 18th century showed remarkable stability in use of mid-latitude foraging areas. We attribute this consistency across four centuries to the physical stability of ocean fronts and resulting productivity in mid-latitude ecosystems of the Southern Ocean compared with polar regions that may be more influenced by recent climate change.
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 07-05-2012
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS09613
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-02-2014
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1071/PC19035
Abstract: Whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, are found circumglobally in tropical and warm temperate seas, exhibiting a range of residency and movement patterns. To determine spatio-temporal habitat use by juvenile male whale sharks in Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia, we collected data from June 2015 to November 2016 using 16 fin-mounted satellite tags that provided exceptionally long track durations. Fifteen tags transmitted for 48–534 days (mean=321±33, s.e.), with 13 tags transmitting for ≥220 days. Four sharks remained within the bay for the duration of the study, while of the 11 sharks that travelled outside the bay, eight left between March and May 2016. They ranged throughout coastal and offshore waters, travelling up to 5144km away from Cenderawasih Bay, with a mean horizontal speed of only 3.3km day−1±0.70, s.e. A switching state space model was fitted to satellite fix data to identify behavioural states. It revealed that sharks spent an average of 81% of their time in foraging-related behaviours, mostly in shallow waters (median depth=35m), with travelling observed mainly over deeper waters (median depth=1284m). The movement patterns reveal variable periods of residency, with in idual patterns of horizontal movement most likely in response to different abiotic and biotic factors, including food availability, which may trigger seasonal dispersal.
No related grants have been discovered for Rochelle Constantine.