Putative historical occurrence of North Atlantic right whales in mid-latitude offshore waters: 'Maury's Smear' is likely apocryphal
Putative historical occurrence of North Atlantic right whales in mid-latitude offshore waters: 'Maury's Smear' is likely apocryphal
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DOI：
10.3354/meps282295
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发表时间：
2004-01-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Smith, TD
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Reeves, RR;Josephson, E;Smith, TD
北大西洋露脊鲸Eubalaena glacialis的季节性分布在沿海地区是众所周知的，但在该物种的近海部分却知之甚少。根据19世纪世纪美国捕鲸日志中的证据，已知或怀疑有两个主要的近海海域：格陵兰岛南端以东和东南的告别角海域，以及以北纬35至43度、西经25至48度为界的中纬度地区“莫里斯梅尔”。虽然现代的鲸鱼出现在旧的告别角地面已经证明了最近的目击，这不是莫里的小鲸鱼的情况。此外，通过对原始资料的研究，我们提供了直接证据，证明莫里在1852年和1853年所描述的离岸分布至少部分甚至可能完全是错误的，这是基于错误的数据提取和转录程序。我们的研究结果对莫里关于19世纪世纪鲸鱼分布的图表产生了更普遍的怀疑，这使我们特别质疑他关于露脊鲸在其他海洋盆地近海部分出现的解释的可靠性。
The seasonal distribution of North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis is generally well known in coastal areas but poorly known in offshore portions of the species' range. Two main areas of offshore occurrence have been known or suspected, based largely on evidence from 19th century American whaling logbooks: the Cape Farewell Ground east and south-east of the southern tip of Greenland, and 'Maury's Smear', a mid-latitude area bounded by 35 to 43degreesN and 25 to 48degreesW. While the modern occurrence of whales on the old Cape Farewell Ground has been demonstrated by recent sightings, this is not the case for Maury's Smear. Moreover, by examination of original sources we provide direct evidence that the offshore distribution illustrated by Maury in 1852 and 1853 was at least partly and possibly entirely erroneous, based on faulty data extraction and transcription procedures. Our results cast doubt on Maury's charts of 19th century whale distribution more generally, leading us specifically to question the reliability of his depictions of right whale occurrence in offshore portions of other ocean basins.