Bryde's whale: Difference between revisions

'''Bryde's whale''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|r|ʊ|d|ə|z}} {{respell|BRUU|dəz}}),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Bryde%27s+whale|title=Definition of BRYDE'S WHALE|website=www.merriam-webster.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite webnews| url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/hauraki-gulf-thar-she-blows/WBYQ6FV2WDCEVNNOTN47QIVKPY/| title=Hauraki Gulf: Thar she blows| author=Helen Van Berkel| date=13 December 2009| access-date=21 August 2021| website=[[nzherald.co.nz]]| quote=Bryde's (pronounced Brooder's)}}</ref> or the '''Bryde's whale complex''', putatively comprises three species of [[rorqual]] and maybe four. The "[[Species complex|complex]]" means the number and classification remains unclear because of a lack of definitive information and research. The common Bryde's whale ('''''Balaenoptera brydei''''', Olsen, 1913) is a larger form that occurs worldwide in warm temperate and tropical waters, and the '''Sittang''' or '''Eden's whale''' ('''''Balaenoptera edeni''''', Anderson, 1879) is a smaller form that may be restricted to the [[Indo-Pacific]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=The MarineBio.org|title=Bryde's Whales, ''Balaenoptera edeni''|url=http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=167|access-date=2015-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909021752/http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=167|archive-date=9 September 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Also, a smaller, coastal form of ''B. brydei'' is found off southern Africa, and perhaps another form in the Indo-Pacific differs in skull morphology, tentatively referred to as the '''Indo-Pacific Bryde's whale'''. The recently described [[Omura's whale]] (''B. omurai'', Wada et al. 2003), was formerly thought to be a pygmy form of Bryde's, but is now recognized as a distinct species. [[Rice's whale]] (''B. ricei''), which makes its home solely in the [[Gulf of Mexico]], was once considered a distinct population of Bryde's whale, but in 2021 it was described as a separate species.

Based on osteological features, a specimen from [[Taiwan]] was referred to ''B. brydei'', while several specimens from the [[Philippines]] and [[Indonesia]] differed slightly in skull morphology and were referred to the putative Indo-Pacific Bryde's whale.<ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=Cooke, J.G. |author2=Brownell Jr. |author3=R.L. |date=2018 |title=''Balaenoptera edeni'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T2476A50349178 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T2476A50349178.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="Yamada2006">Yamada, T. K., L.-S. Chou, S. Chantrapornsyl, K. Adulyanukosol, S. K. Chakravarti, M. Oishi, S. Wada, C.-J. Yao, T. Kakuda, Y. Tajima, K. Arai, A. Umetani & N. Kurihara (2006). "Middle sized balaenopterid whale specimens (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae) preserved at several institutions in Taiwan, Thailand and India". ''Memoirs of the National Science Museum'', Tokyo, 44:1–10.</ref><ref name=Yamada2008>Yamada, T. K., T. Kakuda & Y. Tajima (2008). "Middle-sized balaenopterid whale specimens in the Philippines and Indonesia". ''Memoirs of the National Science Museum.'' Tokyo, 45:75–83.</ref> Mitochondrial DNA analysis showed that Bryde's whales caught in the pelagic western North Pacific and [[Bonin Islands]] (resident population), as well as biopsy samples taken from whales off [[Hawaii]], the west coast of Baja California, and the southern Gulf of California, belonged to ''B. brydei''.<ref name=Goto2004>Goto, M., Kanda, N., & Pastene, L. A. (2004). "Analysis of mtDNA sequences in Bryde's whales from the central western North Pacific and Baja California Peninsula". SC/56/PF15. ''Unpublished report to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission''.</ref> Resident or semi-resident groups also exist off Hawaiian<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/sars/2013/po2013_brydeswhale-hi.pdf | title=Welcome to NOAA &#124; NOAA Fisheries}}</ref> and [[Northwestern Hawaiian Islands]],<ref name="CETACEAN ABUNDANCE IN HAWAIIAN WATERS DURING SUMMER/FALL OF 2002">{{cite journal |last1=Barlow |first1=Jay |title=Cetacean Abundance in Hawaiian Waters Estimated from a Summer/Fall Survey in 2002 |journal=Marine Mammal Science |date=April 2006 |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=446–464 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00032.x |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227636025 |access-date=21 January 2022}}</ref> and [[Northern Mariana Islands]].<ref name="FullingThorson2011">{{cite journal|last1=Fulling|first1=Gregory L.|last2=Thorson|first2=Philip H.|last3=Rivers|first3=Julie|title=Distribution and Abundance Estimates for Cetaceans in the Waters off Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands|journal=Pacific Science|volume=65|issue=3|year=2011|pages=321–343|issn=0030-8870|doi=10.2984/65.3.321|url=https://www.navymarinespeciesmonitoring.us/files/6313/8628/5792/Fulling_et_al_2011_Distribution_and_abundance_of_cetaceans_Guam_and_CNMI-MISTCS_Pacific_Science.pdf|hdl=10125/29732|s2cid=83766630|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

In the North Atlantic, they have been recorded as far north as [[Cape Hatteras]]. They occur throughout the wider [[Caribbean]]—two specimens from [[Aruba]] were found through mtDNA analysis to be firmly placed within ''B. brydei'' and to form a [[clade]] with a specimen from [[Madeira]] and individuals of the offshore form of South Africa. They were first recorded in the [[Azores]] in 2004 and showing mixed traits of offshore and inshore forms,<ref name=Steiner2007 /> but do not occur in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] (regarding the bones of a baleen whale found, Bryde's whale was listed as one of suggested species<ref>Small B. D.. 1995. [https://books.google.com/books?id=arV-lo3tW8UC&q=bryde%27s+&pg=PA257 Methods in the Mediterranean: Historical and Archaeological Views on Texts and Archaeology]. pp. 257. [[Brill Publishers]]. Retrieved on 9 September 2017</ref>). They appear to occur off Brazil year-round, such as around [[Rio de Janeiro]]—[[Cabo Frio|Cape Frio]],<ref name="Lodi et al 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Lodi |first1=Liliane |last2=Tardin |first2=Rodrigo H. |last3=Hetzel |first3=Bia |last4=Maciel |first4=Israel S. |last5=Figueiredo |first5=Luciana D. |last6=Simão |first6=Sheila M. |title=Bryde's whale (Cetartiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) occurrence and movements in coastal areas of southeastern Brazil |journal=Zoologia (Curitiba) |date=April 2015 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=171–175 |doi=10.1590/S1984-46702015000200009 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Armação dos Búzios]], entrance to [[Guanabara Bay]],<ref>Machado M.. 2014. [http://g1.globo.com/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2014/03/final-de-verao-do-rio-tem-rolezinho-de-baleias-em-busca-de-comida.html Final de verão do Rio tem 'rolezinho' de baleias em busca de comida]. Globo.com ([[:pt:Globo.com|pt]]). Retrieved on 18 September 2017</ref><ref>Lodi L.. 2016. [https://econserv.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/baleia-de-bryde-navegando-com-as-gigantes/ Baleia-de-bryde: Navegando com as gigantes]. Blog ECONSERV – Ecologia, Conservação e Serviços. Retrieved on 18 September 2017</ref><ref>Lima D. L.. 2016. [https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/frequentes-na-orla-do-rio-neste-verao-baleias-de-bryde-despertam-curiosidade-18587374 Frequentes na orla do Rio neste verão, baleias-de-bryde despertam curiosidade].Globo.com. Retrieved on 18 September 2017</ref><ref name="Lodi et al 2015"/> [[Ilha Anchieta State Park]], [[Ilha Grande]], and so on. Individuals of the inshore form off South Africa are also resident year-round, occurring mainly between Cape Recife and [[Saldanha Bay]], whereas the larger offshore form migrates to West African equatorial waters in the winter.<ref name=IUCN /><ref name=Steiner2007>{{cite journal |last1=Steiner |first1=Lisa |last2=Silva |first2=Monica A. |last3=Zereba |first3=Jasmine |last4=Leal |first4=Maria João |title=Bryde's whales, ''Balaenoptera edeni'', observed in the Azores: a new species record for the region |journal=Marine Biodiversity Records |date=January 2008 |volume=1 |pages=e66 |doi=10.1017/s1755267207007282 }}</ref><ref name=Luksenburg2012>Luksenburg, Jolanda A. and George Sangster. (2012). "Molecular identification of the first Bryde's whale (''Balaenoptera brydei'') for Aruba, southern Caribbean". ''The Cetaceans of Aruba: a Multidisciplinary Study'' 98.</ref> Regular occurrences have been noted around [[Cape Verde]] as well.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hazevoet |first1=Cornelis J. |last2=Monteiro |first2=Vanda |last3=López |first3=Pedro |last4=Varo |first4=Nuria |last5=Torda |first5=Gergely |last6=Berrow |first6=Simon |last7=Gravanita |first7=Barbara |title=Recent data on whales and dolphins (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Cape Verde Islands, including records of four taxa new to the archipelago |journal=Zoologia Caboverdiana |date=2010 |volume=1 |pages=75–99 |url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/16950/ }}</ref>

The population may include up to 90,000–100,000 animals worldwide, with two-thirds inhabiting the [[Northern Hemisphere]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Prior to 2006, only two confirmed sightings of Bryde's whale had been reported in the eastern North Pacific north of Baja California—one in January 1963, only a kilometer off [[La Jolla]] (originally misidentified as a fin whale), and another in October 1991 west of [[Monterey Bay]]. Between August 2006 and September 2010, six sightings were made by scientists in the [[Southern California Bight]]. Five were west of [[San Clemente Island]], and one between San Clemente Island and [[Santa Catalina Island (California)|Santa Catalina Island]]. All but one involved single individuals.<ref name="Smultea2012">{{cite journal |last1=Smultea |first1=Mari |title=Short Note: Bryde's Whale (''Balaenoptera brydei/edeni'') Sightings in the Southern California Bight |journal=Aquatic Mammals |date=1 March 2012 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=92–97 |doi=10.1578/am.38.1.2012.92 }}</ref> Another sighting was made off [[Dana Point, California]], on 19 September 2009, which was originally misidentified as a fin whale.

''Balaenoptera edeni'' is listed as least concern by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature|International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources]].<ref name=iucn1IUCN/>{{cite iucn | author = Cooke, J.G. |author2=Brownell Jr., R.L.