ABSTRACT The Gold Coast bay in eastern Australia has been hypothesised to be an important habitat, primarily for humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) mother-calf pairs. Here we investigated relative distribution, and temporal patterns from 2,305 humpback whales between 2011 to 2017. The data were collected from whale-watching vessels using citizen science. We analysed seasonal presence of mother-calf pairs, dive times, direction of movement and location to determine habitat use of the bay as aresting area. In average aquarter of all sighted whales were mother-calf pairs with peaks of sightings each October. The recorded average dive time of 3.20 minutes was short compared to that in migratory corridors. Mother-calf pairs were sighted more often closer to shore relative to other pods. We compared our results to recognised breeding and resting grounds and found similar results, indicating that the Gold Coast bay may serve as an important stop-over for humpback whale mother-calf pairs.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚黄金海岸座头鲸 (Megaptera novaeangliae) 母小牛的存在和运动

摘要 澳大利亚东部的黄金海岸海湾被认为是重要的栖息地，主要是座头鲸 (Megaptera novaeangliae) 母小牛对。在这里，我们调查了 2011 年至 2017 年间 2,305 头座头鲸的相对分布和时间模式。数据是使用公民科学从观鲸船收集的。我们分析了母犊对的季节性存在、潜水时间、运动方向和位置，以确定该海湾作为栖息地的栖息地用途。平均四分之一的有目击鲸鱼是母幼鲸，每年 10 月出现高峰。与迁徙走廊相比，记录的平均潜水时间为 3.20 分钟。相对于其他豆荚，母小牛对更靠近海岸。