Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T01:04:19.998Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Severe mutilation of a baleen whale in a longline fishery off the Brazilian coast

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2015

Flavia C.F. Pinheiro ,
Salvatore Siciliano ,
Jailson F. de Moura  and
Davi C. Tavares
Flavia C.F. Pinheiro*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, 29075-910 Vitória, ES, Brazil Associação Ambiental Voz da Natureza, 29050-780 Vitória, ES, Brazil
Salvatore Siciliano
Affiliation:
Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, 21040-360 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Instituto Megafauna Marinha (IMMAR)/Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos (GEMM-Lagos), Cabo Frio, RJ, Brazil
Jailson F. de Moura
Affiliation:
Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, 21040-360 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Instituto Megafauna Marinha (IMMAR)/Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos (GEMM-Lagos), Cabo Frio, RJ, Brazil
Davi C. Tavares
Affiliation:
Instituto Megafauna Marinha (IMMAR)/Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos (GEMM-Lagos), Cabo Frio, RJ, Brazil Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, 28013-602 Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: F.C.F. Pinheiro, Associação Ambiental Voz da Natureza, 29050-780 VitóriaES, Brazil email: flaviacarnelli@hotmail.com
Get access

Abstract

The interaction between baleen whales and longline fisheries is poorly known worldwide and likely underestimated. This article presents one of the most severe scenarios of this interaction; an incident that resulted in the severe mutilation of the entire fluke of a whale and probably lead to its death. Considering the characteristic of the fluke, we strongly suggest that the fluke belonged to a small balaenopterid, most likely a dwarf minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). The episode reported here seems to be the first in its nature involving a baleen whale entangled in longline fishing gear off the Brazilian coast, and so, it represents, at the very least, the need for further investigation into the magnitude of such interactions in the south-west Atlantic Ocean.

Keywords

cetaceanentanglementfishing gearsouth-west Atlantic
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 8 , 2015 , e129
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baird, R.W., Langelier, K.M. and Stacey, P.J. (1989) First records of false killer whales, Pseudorca crassidens, in Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist 103, 368–371.Google Scholar
Cassoff, R.M., Moore, K.M., McLellan, W.A., Barco, S.G., Rotstein, D.S. and Moore, M.J. (2011) Lethal entanglement in baleen whales. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 96, 175–185.Google Scholar
Croxall, J.P., Butchart, S.H.M., Laslecelles, B., Stattersfield, A.J., Sullivan, B., Symes, A. and Taylor, P. (2012) Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment. Bird Conservation International 22, 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalla Rosa, L. and Secchi, E.R. (2007) Killer whale (Orcinus orca) interactions with the tuna longline fishery off southern and south-eastern Brazil: a comparison with shark interactions. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 8, 135–140.Google Scholar
Garrison, L.P. (2007) Interactions between marine mammals and pelagic longline fishing gear in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean between 1992 and 2004. Fishery Bulletin 105, 408–417.Google Scholar
Gilman, E., Boggs, C. and Brothers, N. (2003) Performance assessment of an underwater setting chute to mitigate seabird bycatch in the Hawaii pelagic longline tuna fishery. Ocean and Coastal Management 46, 985–1010.Google Scholar
Gilman, E., Brothers, N., McPherson, G. and Dalzell, P. (2006) A review of cetacean interactions with longline gear. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 8, 215–223.Google Scholar
Hamer, D.J., Childerhouse, S.J. and Gales, N.J. (2012) Odontocete bycatch and depredation in longline fisheries: a review of available literature and of potential solutions. Marine Mammal Science 28, 345–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kastelein, R.A., Mosterd, J., Schooneman, N.M. and Wiepkema, P.R. (2000) Food consumption, growth, body dimensions, and respiration rates of captive false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens). Aquatic Mammals 26, 33–44.Google Scholar
Martins, A.S., Olavo, G. and Costa, P.A.S. (2005) A pesca de linha de alto mar realizada por frotas sediadas no Espírito Santo, Brasil. In Costa, P.A.S., Martins, A.S. and Olavo, G. (eds) Pesca e potenciais de exploração de recursos vivos na região central da Zona Econômica Exclusiva brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Museu Nacional, pp. 35–55.Google Scholar
Qian, Z., Xiang, L., Mu, M. and Yumiao, S. (2008) Some measurements of the rare false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens). Acta Theriologica Sinica 28, 105–108.Google Scholar
Robbins, J. and Mattila, D. (2004) Estimating humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) entanglement rates on the basis of scar evidence. Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, report no. 43EANF030121.Google Scholar
Santos, M.C.O., Siciliano, S., Pacheco de Souza, S. and Pizzorno, J.L.A. (2001) Occurrence of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) along southeastern Brazil. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management (Special Issue) 2, 153–156.Google Scholar
Souza, S.P. and Begossi, A. (2007) Whales, dolphins or fishes? The ethnotaxonomy of cetaceans in São Sebastião, Brazil. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 3, 9.Google Scholar
Zerbini, A.N., Secchi, E.R., Siciliano, S. and Simões-Lopes, P.C. (1997) A review of the occurrence and distribution of whales of the Genus Balaenoptera along the Brazilian coast. International Whaling Commission 47, 407–417.Google Scholar
Zylber, M.I., Failla, G. and Le Bas, A. (2002) Stenurus globicephalae Baylis et Daubney, 1925 (Nematoda: Pseudaliidae) from a false killer whale, Pseudorca crassidens (Cetacea: Delphinidae), stranded on the coast of Uruguay. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 97, 221–225.Google Scholar