Prey items of baleen whale species off the coast of Chile from fecal plume analysis.

The coast of Chile hosts several baleen whale species, among others blue, fin, sei, and humpback whales. Globally, blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and sei whales (B. borealis) are classified as Endangered; fin whales (B. physalus) are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (https://www.iucnredlist.org) as Vulnerable and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) of Least Concern. Off the coast of Chile, the population trends for all these species are unknown and it is therefore unclear how well these species are recovering following commercial whaling. Basic biological information, like diet, on all four species is still needed to understand food web dynamics, fisheries interactions (Gerber et al., 2009; Hooker & Gerber, 2004; Libralato et al., 2006; Pauly, 1998), and the response of these species to changing ocean productivity under global climate change scenarios (Moore & Huntington, 2008; Simmonds & Isaac, 2007).