The University of Otago-led research is the first to examine the impact of a large earthquake on a population of marine mammals and offers new insight into how top predators such as sperm whales react and adapt to a large-scale natural disturbance.
Changes in habitat use by a deep-diving predator in response to a coastal earthquake has recently been published in Deep-Sea Research Part I.
Earthquakes and aftershocks can affect sperm whales in several ways, the study explains.
Animal Ethics Project 