North Atlantic Humpback Whale Migratory Corridor IMMA
Size in Square Kilometres
11 818 614 km2
Qualifying Species and Criteria
Humpback whale – Megaptera novaeangliae
Criterion C (3)
Download fact sheet
Summary
The North Atlantic Humpback Whale Migratory Corridor IMMA represents the central migratory corridor, which splits into two distinct branches, used by humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) during their annual seasonal migrations between feeding grounds in the northern Atlantic and breeding grounds in the Caribbean. It originates along the Antillean islands in the Caribbean, extending northward and branching into two corridors at around 29°N with one extending northwest into the Gulf of Maine and Labrador Sea as far as the west coast of Greenland while the other extends northeast toward Iceland and the Norwegian and Barents Seas. This IMMA overlaps with 12 Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs), various Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) as described by the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) and the Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), and over 15 protected areas (PAs), including one Important Bird Area (IBA), several marine Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), and seven marine PAs within Bermudian jurisdiction.
Description of Qualifying Criteria
Criterion C: Key Life Cycle Activities
Sub-criterion C3: Migration Routes
The North Atlantic Humpback Whale Migratory Corridor encompasses the two primary migration routes used by the largest breeding aggregation of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the north Atlantic, connecting breeding grounds in the Caribbean to two distinct foraging areas, one of which occurs in the Gulf of Maine and eastern Canada (including waters off Newfoundland and Labrador), and the other in West Greenland, Iceland, the northern Norwegian coast and the Barents Sea (IWC, 2002; Stevick et al. 2006). Every winter, the majority of the North Atlantic humpback population mates and calves in the Caribbean, congregating throughout the shallow banks that buffer the Antillean islands (Winn et al. 1975, Whitehead & Moore 1982, Mattila & Clapham 1989, Katona & Beard 1990, Smith et al. 1999). The Springtime northern migration back to feeding grounds occurs sometime between December and May, during which individuals have been recorded using Bermuda as a stopover feeding site during the long migration (Martin et al. 1984 19, Stone et al. 1987, Kennedy et al. 2014, Johnson et al. 2022, Grove et al. 2023). The southbound migration back to calving grounds, during which individuals generally follow a similar route to northbound migration (Kettemer, 2023), begins around late September.
Migratory connectivity between breeding and feeding sites has been established using photographic identification (photo-ID) methods and genetic analyses (e.g. Katona & Beard 1990, Baker et al. 1990, Stevick et al. 2003, 2016, Wenzel et al. 2003, 2020, Rizzo & Schulte 2009), sightings data (OBIS, 2023), and telemetry tagging (e.g. Fossette et al. 2014, Kennedy et al. 2014, Robbins 2023, Kettemer et al. 2022). Data from 22 tagged whales presented in Kennedy et al. (2014) and 200 tagged whales presented in Kettemer (2023) indicate two distinct pathways to discrete foraging sites in the Northwest Atlantic and the Northeast Atlantic (Katona & Beard 1990, Stevick et al. 1998, Kettemer et al. 2022, Robbins 2023). The North Atlantic Humpback Whale Migratory Corridor IMMA connects these feeding grounds to recognized breeding areas in the Greater Antilles islands of the Caribbean and encompasses critical migratory habitat in the Somers Isles of Bermuda.
Supporting Information
Baker, C.S., Palumbi, S.R., Lambertsen, R.H., Weinrich, M.T., Calambokidis, J., O’Brien, S.J. 1990. ‘Influence of seasonal migration on geographic distribution of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in humpback whales’. Nature, 344:238–240.
Fossette, S., Vely, M., Heide-Jorgensen, M.P., Maslach, N. 2014. ‘Satellite tagging and biopsy sampling campaign, MEGASAT reproduction area – North West Indies (N.W.I)’. Terminal Mission Internal Report, MEGARA Project, North West Indies (oneline). Available at: https://www.car-spaw-rac.org/IMG/pdf/Final_ report_MEGARA.pdf. (Accessed July 6, 2023. Reserve Naturelle Nationale de Saint Martin, St. Martin.)
Grove T, King R, Stevenson A, Henry L-A. 2023 ‘A decade of humpback whale abundance estimates at Bermuda, an oceanic migratory stopover site’. Front Mar Sci 9:971801.
International Whaling Commission (IWC). 2002. ‘Report of the Scientific Committee. Annex H. Report of the Sub-committee on the Comprehensive Assessment of North Atlantic humpback whales’. J. Cetacean Res. Manage, 4(Suppl.): 230–260.
Johnson C, Reisinger R, Palacios D, Friedlander A, Zerbini A, Willson A, Lancaster M, Battle J, Graham A, Cosandey-Godin A, Jacob T, Felix F, Grilly E, Shahid U, Houtman N, Alberini A, Montecinos Y, Najera E, Kelez S (2022) Protecting blue corridors, challenges and solutions for migratory whales navigating international and national seas. WWF, Oregon State University, University of California, Santa Cruz. World Wildlife Fund International, Gland, Switzerland.
Katona, S.K., Beard, J.A. 1990. ‘Population size, migrations and feeding aggregations of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the western North Atlantic Ocean’. Rep Int Whal Commn, Special Issue, 12:295–305.
Kennedy, A.S., Zerbini, A.N., Vásquez, O.V., Gandilhon, N., Clapham, P.J., Adam, O. 2014. ‘Local and migratory movements of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) satellite-tracked in the North Atlantic Ocean’. Can J Zool, 92:9–18.
Kettemer, L.E. 2023. Forthcoming. ‘Migration Ecology of North Atlantic Humpback Whales: Mapping Movements throughout the Annual Cycle’. Doctoral thesis, UiT The Arctic University of Norway.
Kettemer, L.E., Rikardsen, A.H., Biuw, M., Broms, F., Mul, E., Blanchet, M-A. 2022. ‘Round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the Northeast Atlantic’. PLoS ONE, 17:e0268355.
Laffoley, D. d’A., Roe, H. S. J., Angel, M. V., Ardron, J., Bates, N. R., Boyd, I. L., Brooke, S., Buck, K. N., Carlson, C. A., Causey, B., Conte, M. H., Christiansen, S., Cleary, J., Donnelly, J., Earle, S.A., Edwards, R., Gjerde, K.M., Giovannoni, S. J., Gulick, S., Gollock, M., Hallett, J., Halpin, P., Hanel, R., Hemphill, A., Johnson, R. J., Knap, A. H., Lomas, M. W., McKenna, S. A., Miller, M. J., Miller, P. I., Ming, F. W., Moffitt, R., Nelson, N. B., Parson, L., Peters, A. J., Pitt, J., Rouja, P., Roberts, J., Roberts, J., Seigel, D.A., Siuda, A. N. S., Steinberg, D. K., Stevenson, A., Sumaila, V. R., Swartz, W., Thorrold, S., Trott, T. M., Vats, V. 2011 ‘The protection and management of the Sargasso Sea: The golden floating rainforest of the Atlantic Ocean. Summary Science and Supporting Evidence Case.’ Sargasso Sea Alliance, Washington, DC.
Martin AR, Katona SK, Matilla D, Hembree D, Waters TD (1984) Migration of humpback whales between the Caribbean and Iceland. J Mammal 65:330–333.
Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean. 2023. ‘Highly migratory marine species nodes and corridors, developed with data contributed to the Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO)’. MiCO System Version 1.0 (online). Available at: https://mico.eco. (Accessed March 13, 2023. Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab and University of Queensland, Durham, NC and Brisbane, Australia.)
OBIS. 2023. ‘Ocean Biodiversity Information System. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO’. Full OBIS export 2023-02-08 version (oneline). Available at: https://obis.org/data/access. (Accessed March 1, 2023. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Ostend, Belgium.)
Riede, K. 2000. ‘Conservation and modern information technologies: The global register of migratory species (GROMS)’. J Int Wildl Law Policy, 3:152–165.
Riede, K. 2004. ‘Global register of migratory species – from global to regional scales. Final Report of the R&D Projekt 808 05 081’. Federal Agency for Nature Conservation in Germany, Bonn, Germany.
Rizzo, L.Y., Schulte, D. 2009. ‘A review of humpback whales’ migration patterns worldwide and their consequences to gene flow’. J Mar Biol, Assoc 89:995–1002.
Robbins, J. 2023. ‘Data from: Gulf of Maine humpback whales’ (oneline). Available at: https://www.movebank.org/cms/webapp?gwt_fragment=page=studies,path=study540299766. (Accessed July 20, 2023. Movebank Data Repository. Unpublished dataset.)
Stevick, P.T., Allen, J., Clapham, P.J., Friday, N., Katona, S.K., Larsen, F., Lien, J., Mattila, D.K., Palsboll, P.J., Sigurjonsson, J., Smith, T.D., Oien, N., Hammond, P.S. 2003. ‘North Atlantic humpback whale abundance and rate of increase four decades after protection from whaling’. Mar Ecol Prog, 258:263–273
Stevick, P.T,. Allen, J., Clapham, P.J., Katona, S.K., Larsen, F., Lien, J., Mattila, D.K., Palsbøll, P.J., Sears, R., Sigurjónsson, J., Smith, T.D., Vikingsson, G., Øien, N., Hammond, P.S. 2006. ‘Population spatial structuring on the feeding grounds in North Atlantic humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)’. Journal of Zoology, 270:244–255.
Stevick, P.T., Berrow, S.D., Berube, M., Bouveret, L., Broms, F., Jann, B., Kennedy, A., Suarez, P.L., Meunier, M., Ryan, C., Wenzel, F. 2016. ‘There and back again: multiple and return exchange of humpback whales between breeding habitats separated by an ocean basin’. J Mar Biol Assoc, 96:885–890.
Stevick, P.T., ØIen, N., Mattila, D.K. 1998. ‘Migration of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) between Norway and the West Indies’. Mar Mamm Sci, 14:162–166.
Stone GS, Katona SK, Tucker EB (1987) History, migration and present status of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae at Bermuda. Biol Conserv 42:133–145.
Wenzel, F.W., Broms, F., López-Suárez, P., Lopes, K., Veiga, N., Yeoman, K., Simão, M., Rodrigues, D., Allen, J., Fernald, T.W., Stevick, P.T., Jones, L., Jann, B., Bouveret, L., Ryan, C., Berrow, S., Corkeron, P. 2020. ‘Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Cape Verde Islands: migratory patterns, resightings, and abundance’. Aquat Mamm, 46:21–31.
Wenzel, F.W., Jann, B., Allen, J., Carrillo, M., Hanquet, S., Katona, S.K., Martin, A.R., Reeves, R.R., Seton, R., Stevick, P.T. 2003. ‘Migration of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) between the Cape Verde Islands and Iceland’. J Cetacean Res Manage, 5:125–129.
Downloads
Download the full account of the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Migratory Corridor IMMA using the Fact Sheet button below:
To make a request to download the GIS Layer (shapefile) for the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Migratory Corridor IMMA please complete the following Contact Form:
