ArticleScientific reports2021
Individual and population dietary specialization decline in fin whales during a period of ecosystem shift.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Opportunistic Feeding and Parasite Assemblages in Sei Whales (Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Fin Whale (Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Characterising the gut microbiomes of two baleen whales with different feeding and migratory strategies.Animal microbiome · 2026Article
- Stable isotopic composition of Antarctic and Patagonian marine mammals collected before and during industrial-scale whaling: assessing the baseline for long-term changes in the marine ecosystem.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Individual Specialization in a Generalist Apex Predator: The Leopard Seal.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The complex structure of aquatic food webs emerges from a few assembly rules.Nature ecology & evolution · 2025Article
- Changing ecosystems promote generalism and enhanced heterogeneity in diet composition in the endangered St. Lawrence Estuary beluga.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Environmental heterogeneity plays a bigger role than diet quality in driving divergent California sea lion population trends.PloS one · 2025Article
- Historical baleen plates indicate that once abundant Antarctic blue and fin whales demonstrated distinct migratory and foraging strategies.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Long-term evolution of the structure of the St. Lawrence (Canada) marine ecosystem in the context of climate change and anthropogenic activities: An isotopic perceptive.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Validation of quantitative fatty acid signature analysis for estimating the diet composition of free-ranging killer whales.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Living at depth: ecophysiological condition ofJournal of plankton researchArticle
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study sought to estimate the effect of an anthropogenic and climate-driven change in prey availability on the degree of individual and population specialization of a large marine predator, the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). We examined skin biopsies from 99 fin whales sampled in the St. Lawrence Estuary (Canada) over a nine year period (1998-2006) during which environmental change was documented. We analyzed stable isotope ratios in skin and fatty acid signatures in blubber samples of whales, as well as in seven potential prey species, and diet was quantitatively assessed using Bayesian isotopic models. An abrupt change in fin whale dietary niche coincided with a decrease in biomass of their predominant prey, Arctic krill (Thysanoessa spp.). This dietary niche widening toward generalist diets occurred in nearly 60% of sampled individuals. The fin whale population, typically composed of specialists of either krill or lipid-rich pelagic fishes, shifted toward one composed either of krill specialists or true generalists feeding on various zooplankton and fish prey. This change likely reduced intraspecific competition. In the context of the current "Atlantification" of northern water masses, our findings emphasize the importance of considering individual-specific foraging tactics and not only population or group average responses when assessing population resilience or when implementing conservation measures.
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