Why whales are big but not bigger: physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants

J. A. Goldbogen; D. E. Cade; D. M. Wisniewska; J. Potvin; P. S. Segre; M. S. Savoca; E. L. Hazen; M. F. Czapanskiy; S. R. Kahane-Rapport; S. L. DeRuiter; S. Gero; P. Tønnesen; W. T. Gough; M. B. Hanson; M. M. Holt; F. H. Jensen; M. Simon; A. K. Stimpert; P. Arranz; D. W. Johnston; D. P. Nowacek; S. E. Parks; F. Visser; A. S. Friedlaender; P. L. Tyack; P. T. Madsen; N. D. Pyenson

doi:10.1126/science.aax9044

Why whales are big but not bigger: physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants

J. A. Goldbogen^*, D. E. Cade, D. M. Wisniewska, J. Potvin, P. S. Segre, M. S. Savoca, E. L. Hazen, M. F. Czapanskiy, S. R. Kahane-Rapport, S. L. DeRuiter, S. Gero, P. Tønnesen, W. T. Gough, M. B. Hanson, M. M. Holt, F. H. Jensen, M. Simon, A. K. Stimpert, P. Arranz, D. W. JohnstonD. P. Nowacek, S. E. Parks, F. Visser, A. S. Friedlaender, P. L. Tyack, P. T. Madsen, N. D. Pyenson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

106 Citations (Scopus)

2 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The largest animals are marine filter feeders, but the underlying mechanism of their large size remains unexplained. We measured feeding performance and prey quality to demonstrate how whale gigantism is driven by the interplay of prey abundance and harvesting mechanisms that increase prey capture rates and energy intake. The foraging efficiency of toothed whales that feed on single prey is constrained by the abundance of large prey, whereas filter-feeding baleen whales seasonally exploit vast swarms of small prey at high efficiencies. Given temporally and spatially aggregated prey, filter feeding provides an evolutionary pathway to extremes in body size that are not available to lineages that must feed on one prey at a time. Maximum size in filter feeders is likely constrained by prey availability across space and time.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1367-1372
Number of pages	6
Journal	Science
Volume	366
Issue number	6471
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax9044
Publication status	Published - 13 Dec 2019

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1126/science.aax9044

Scaling ms Science vS30 to Tyack
Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax9044
Accepted author manuscript, 10.2 MB

Peter Lloyd Tyack
- pltst-andrews.acuk
- School of Biology - Professor (Research Focused) (Re-engaged)
- Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences
- Scottish Oceans Institute
- Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
Person: Academic, Academic - Research

Cite this

Goldbogen, J. A., Cade, D. E., Wisniewska, D. M., Potvin, J., Segre, P. S., Savoca, M. S., Hazen, E. L., Czapanskiy, M. F., Kahane-Rapport, S. R., DeRuiter, S. L., Gero, S., Tønnesen, P., Gough, W. T., Hanson, M. B., Holt, M. M., Jensen, F. H., Simon, M., Stimpert, A. K., Arranz, P., ... Pyenson, N. D. (2019). Why whales are big but not bigger: physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants. Science, 366(6471), 1367-1372. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax9044

@article{3b2571b28b3d404f87c1f755c4b5fd42,

title = "Why whales are big but not bigger: physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants",

abstract = "The largest animals are marine filter feeders, but the underlying mechanism of their large size remains unexplained. We measured feeding performance and prey quality to demonstrate how whale gigantism is driven by the interplay of prey abundance and harvesting mechanisms that increase prey capture rates and energy intake. The foraging efficiency of toothed whales that feed on single prey is constrained by the abundance of large prey, whereas filter-feeding baleen whales seasonally exploit vast swarms of small prey at high efficiencies. Given temporally and spatially aggregated prey, filter feeding provides an evolutionary pathway to extremes in body size that are not available to lineages that must feed on one prey at a time. Maximum size in filter feeders is likely constrained by prey availability across space and time.",

author = "Goldbogen, {J. A.} and Cade, {D. E.} and Wisniewska, {D. M.} and J. Potvin and Segre, {P. S.} and Savoca, {M. S.} and Hazen, {E. L.} and Czapanskiy, {M. F.} and Kahane-Rapport, {S. R.} and DeRuiter, {S. L.} and S. Gero and P. T{\o}nnesen and Gough, {W. T.} and Hanson, {M. B.} and Holt, {M. M.} and Jensen, {F. H.} and M. Simon and Stimpert, {A. K.} and P. Arranz and Johnston, {D. W.} and Nowacek, {D. P.} and Parks, {S. E.} and F. Visser and Friedlaender, {A. S.} and Tyack, {P. L.} and Madsen, {P. T.} and Pyenson, {N. D.}",

note = "This research was funded in part by grants from the National Science Foundation (IOS-1656676, IOS-1656656; OPP-1644209 and 07-39483), the Office of Naval Research (N000141612477), and a Terman Fellowship from Stanford University. All procedures in USA were conducted under approval of the National Marine Fisheries Service (Permits 781-1824, 16163, 14809, 16111, 19116, 15271, 20430), Canada DFO SARA/MML 2010-01/SARA-106B, National Marine Sanctuaries (MULTI-2017-007), Antarctic Conservation Act (2009-014, 2015-011) and institutional IACUC committee protocols. Fieldwork, data collection and data processing for M. densirostris were funded by the Office of Naval Research grants N00014-07-10988, N00014-07-11023, N00014-08-10990, N00014-18-1-2062, and 00014-15-1-2553, and the U.S. Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program Grant SI-1539. PLT gratefully acknowledges funding from funding the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland). MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (HR09011) and contributing institutions.",

year = "2019",

month = dec,

day = "13",

doi = "10.1126/science.aax9044",

language = "English",

volume = "366",

pages = "1367--1372",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6471",

}

Goldbogen, JA, Cade, DE, Wisniewska, DM, Potvin, J, Segre, PS, Savoca, MS, Hazen, EL, Czapanskiy, MF, Kahane-Rapport, SR, DeRuiter, SL, Gero, S, Tønnesen, P, Gough, WT, Hanson, MB, Holt, MM, Jensen, FH, Simon, M, Stimpert, AK, Arranz, P, Johnston, DW, Nowacek, DP, Parks, SE, Visser, F, Friedlaender, AS, Tyack, PL, Madsen, PT & Pyenson, ND 2019, 'Why whales are big but not bigger: physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants', Science, vol. 366, no. 6471, pp. 1367-1372. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax9044

TY - JOUR

T1 - Why whales are big but not bigger

T2 - physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants

AU - Goldbogen, J. A.

AU - Cade, D. E.

AU - Wisniewska, D. M.

AU - Potvin, J.

AU - Segre, P. S.

AU - Savoca, M. S.

AU - Hazen, E. L.

AU - Czapanskiy, M. F.

AU - Kahane-Rapport, S. R.

AU - DeRuiter, S. L.

AU - Gero, S.

AU - Tønnesen, P.

AU - Gough, W. T.

AU - Hanson, M. B.

AU - Holt, M. M.

AU - Jensen, F. H.

AU - Simon, M.

AU - Stimpert, A. K.

AU - Arranz, P.

AU - Johnston, D. W.

AU - Nowacek, D. P.

AU - Parks, S. E.

AU - Visser, F.

AU - Friedlaender, A. S.

AU - Tyack, P. L.

AU - Madsen, P. T.

AU - Pyenson, N. D.

N1 - This research was funded in part by grants from the National Science Foundation (IOS-1656676, IOS-1656656; OPP-1644209 and 07-39483), the Office of Naval Research (N000141612477), and a Terman Fellowship from Stanford University. All procedures in USA were conducted under approval of the National Marine Fisheries Service (Permits 781-1824, 16163, 14809, 16111, 19116, 15271, 20430), Canada DFO SARA/MML 2010-01/SARA-106B, National Marine Sanctuaries (MULTI-2017-007), Antarctic Conservation Act (2009-014, 2015-011) and institutional IACUC committee protocols. Fieldwork, data collection and data processing for M. densirostris were funded by the Office of Naval Research grants N00014-07-10988, N00014-07-11023, N00014-08-10990, N00014-18-1-2062, and 00014-15-1-2553, and the U.S. Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program Grant SI-1539. PLT gratefully acknowledges funding from funding the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland). MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (HR09011) and contributing institutions.

PY - 2019/12/13

Y1 - 2019/12/13

N2 - The largest animals are marine filter feeders, but the underlying mechanism of their large size remains unexplained. We measured feeding performance and prey quality to demonstrate how whale gigantism is driven by the interplay of prey abundance and harvesting mechanisms that increase prey capture rates and energy intake. The foraging efficiency of toothed whales that feed on single prey is constrained by the abundance of large prey, whereas filter-feeding baleen whales seasonally exploit vast swarms of small prey at high efficiencies. Given temporally and spatially aggregated prey, filter feeding provides an evolutionary pathway to extremes in body size that are not available to lineages that must feed on one prey at a time. Maximum size in filter feeders is likely constrained by prey availability across space and time.

AB - The largest animals are marine filter feeders, but the underlying mechanism of their large size remains unexplained. We measured feeding performance and prey quality to demonstrate how whale gigantism is driven by the interplay of prey abundance and harvesting mechanisms that increase prey capture rates and energy intake. The foraging efficiency of toothed whales that feed on single prey is constrained by the abundance of large prey, whereas filter-feeding baleen whales seasonally exploit vast swarms of small prey at high efficiencies. Given temporally and spatially aggregated prey, filter feeding provides an evolutionary pathway to extremes in body size that are not available to lineages that must feed on one prey at a time. Maximum size in filter feeders is likely constrained by prey availability across space and time.

U2 - 10.1126/science.aax9044

DO - 10.1126/science.aax9044

M3 - Article

C2 - 31831666

AN - SCOPUS:85076403226

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 366

SP - 1367

EP - 1372

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6471

ER -

Why whales are big but not bigger: physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants

Abstract

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Profiles

Peter Lloyd Tyack

Cite this