Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1992, Qupperneq 22

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THEINTERNATIONAL RESEARCH .. .
tor in reference to prey availability and to
assess more closely the impact of pilot
whales on the Faroese marine ecosystem.
Desportes, G. and Mouritsen, R. 1988. Diet of the Pilot
Whale, Globicephala melas, around the Faroe Islands.
ICESC.M. 1988/N:12 (unpublished). 1-12.
Desportes, G. and Mouritsen, R. 1989. Diet of the pilot
whale, Globicephala melas, around the Faroe Islands.
Preliminary results. Paper SC/41/SM13 presented to the
IWC Scientific Committee, May 1989 (unpublished). 1-
13.
Desportes, G. and Mouritsen, R. In press. Preliminary
results on the điet of long-finned pilot whales off the
Faroe Islands. Rep.int.Whal.Commn (Special Issue 14).
Desportes, G. in prep. Evidence for differences in feeding
pattems according to age and sexual status in long-
finned pilot whales off the Faroe Islands.
Desportes, G. et al. in prep. Further data on the feeding ecol-
ogy of long-fmned pilot whales off the Faroe Islands.
Desportes, G. et al. in prep. Analysis of the feeding behav-
iour of long-fmned pilot whales off the Faroe Islands in
relation to local resources.
Bioenergetics
The body fat condition showed an annual
cycle, the energy reserves increased from
November onwards, peaking in late winter
before most mating activities take place,
and were depleted by the summer. The sea-
sonal pattem in fat deposits was similar in
all groups of whales regardless of repro-
ductive status or age, thus food availability
is thought to be the more likely driving fac-
tor. The energy reserve built up by spring in
adult females was less than, but close to,
the estimated annual cost of lactation and
greater than the estimated cost of pregnan-
cy. Since energy reserves also increased in
juveniles, it is not certain that the fat
reserves in pilot whales are primarily
devoted to reproduction. The timing of
reproductive events suggests, however, an
important association.
An in-depth study of lipid class and type
from blubber, muscle and body organ fats is
planned, in order to gain a better under-
standing of the dynamics of fat storage and
utilisation. This will be based on currently
available lipid extracts from Faroese pilot
whales, collected from drives in 1986 and
1987 (Lockyer, pers. comm.).
Lockyer, C. and Waters, T. D. 1987. Preliminary studies of
pilot whales from Faroese waters since 1986: Body
weight and tissue lipid content. Paper SC/41/SM17 pre-
sented to the IWC Scientific Committee, May 1987
(unpublished). 1-8.
Lockyer, C. 1989. Seasonal changes in body fat condition
of Northeast Atlantic pilot whales. and the biological
significance. Paper SC/41/SM5 presented to the IWC
Scientific Committee, May 1989 (unpublished). 1-29.
Lockyer, C. In press. Seasonal changes in body fat condi-
tion of Northeast Atlantic pilot whales, and the biologi-
cal significance. Rep.int.Whal.Commn (Special Issue
14).
Conclusion
This intemational research programme rep-
resents to date the most comprehensive
study, with the largest sample size, of an
odontocetes species. Unlike most other
studies on cetaceans taken in fisheries, the
Faroese drive fishery operates throughout
the year without any selectivity, probably
representing a random sample of the popu-
lation. It provides, thus, a unique opportu-
nity to estimate population parameters.
As has been emphasized, analysis is still
continuing in most fields of research
involved in this programme, new laborato-
ry methods and new analytical techniques
are currently developed, and the overall
picture presented in this paper is likely to