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  • 1
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    Blubber thickness in right whales Eubalaena glacialis and Eubalaena australis related with reproduction, life history status and prey abundance (2011)
    Inter-Research
    Details
    Publication Date: 2022-05-25
    Description: Author Posting. © Inter-Research, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of Inter-Research for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Ecology Progress Series 438 (2011): 267-283, doi:10.3354/meps09174.
    Description: The high variability in reproductive performance of North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis compared to southern right whales Eubalaena australis may reflect differences in lipid reserves. Amplitude-mode ultrasound was used to measure the thickness of right whale integument (epidermis and blubber, herein referred to as blubber thickness) in E. glacialis in the Bay of Fundy, Canada for 5 summer seasons and in E. australis off the South African coast for 2 austral winter seasons. E. glacialis had significantly thinner blubber layers (mean ±1 SD = 12.23 ± 2.16 cm, n = 172) than E. australis (16.13 ± 3.88 cm, n = 117), suggesting differing levels of nutrition between the 2 species. Blubber was thickest in females measured 3 to 6 mo prior to the start of pregnancy (E. glacialis), thinner during ­lactation (E. glacialis, E. australis) and then thicker with time after weaning (E. glacialis). These results suggest that lipids in blubber are used as energetic support for reproduction in female right whales. Blubber thickness increased in calves during suckling (E. glacialis, E. australis) but sub­sequently decreased after weaning (E. glacialis). Juvenile and adult male E. glacialis blubber thicknesses were compared between years of differing prey Calanus finmarchicus abundances (data from Pershing et al. 2005; ICES J Mar Sci 62:1511–1523); during a year of low prey abundance whales had significantly thinner blubber than during years of greater prey abundance. Taken together, these results suggest that blubber thickness is indicative of right whale energy balance and that the marked fluctuations in North Atlantic right whale reproduction have a nutritional component.
    Description: This project was made possible with funds provided by Massachusetts Environmental Trust, Office of Naval Research, National Marine Fisheries Service– National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Northeast Consortium, Hussey Foundation, and National Research Foundation in South Africa.
    Keywords: Right whale ; Eubalaena ; Blubber thickness ; Body condition ; Reproduction ; Physiology ; Energy reserves
    Repository Name: Woods Hole Open Access Server
    Type: Article
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  • 2
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    Body shape changes associated with reproductive status, nutritive condition and growth in right whales Eubalaena glacialis and E. australis (2012)
    Inter-Research
    Details
    Publication Date: 2022-05-25
    Description: Author Posting. © Inter-Research, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of Inter-Research. The definitive version was published in Marine Ecology Progress Series 459 (2012): 135-156, doi:10.3354/meps09675.
    Description: Mammalian reproduction is metabolically regulated; therefore, the endangered status and high variability in reproduction of North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis necessitate accurate assessments at sea of the nutritional condition of living individuals. Aerial photogrammetry was used to measure dorsal body width at multiple locations along the bodies of free-swimming right whales at different stages of the female reproductive cycle (E. glacialis) and during the initial months of lactation (mother and calf Eubalaena australis) to quantify changes in nutritional condition during energetically demanding events. Principal components analyses indicated that body width was most variable at 60% of the body length from the snout. Thoracic, abdominal and caudal body width of E. australis thinned significantly during the initial months of lactation, especially at 60% of body length from the snout, while their calves’ widths and width-to-length ratios increased. The body shape of E. glacialis that had been lactating for 8 mo was significantly thinner than non-lactating, non-pregnant E. glacialis. Body shape of E. glacialis measured in the eighth month of lactation was significantly thinner than that of E. australis in the first month, but did not differ from that of E. australis in the third and fourth months. Body width was comparable with diameter calculated from girth of carcasses. These results indicate that mother right whales rely on endogenous nutrient reserves to support the considerable energy expenditure during the initial months of lactation; therefore, photogrammetric measurements of body width, particularly at 60% of body length from the snout, are an effective way to quantitatively and remotely assess nutritional condition of living right whales.
    Description: This project was made possible with funds provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service, the Northeast Consortium, and the Hussey Foundation through the Ocean Life Institute at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
    Keywords: Right whale ; Body shape ; Body condition ; Aerial photogrammetry ; Reproduction ; Energetics ; Eubalaena
    Repository Name: Woods Hole Open Access Server
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  • 3
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    Marine mammal skin microbiotas are influenced by host phylogeny (2020)
    The Royal Society
    Details
    Publication Date: 2022-10-26
    Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Apprill, A., Miller, C. A., Van Cise, A. M., U'Ren, J. M., Leslie, M. S., Weber, L., Baird, R. W., Robbins, J., Landry, S., Bogomolni, A., & Waring, G. Marine mammal skin microbiotas are influenced by host phylogeny. Royal Society Open Science, 7(5), (2020): 192046, doi:10.1098/rsos.192046.
    Description: Skin-associated microorganisms have been shown to play a role in immune function and disease of humans, but are understudied in marine mammals, a diverse animal group that serve as sentinels of ocean health. We examined the microbiota associated with 75 epidermal samples opportunistically collected from nine species within four marine mammal families, including: Balaenopteridae (sei and fin whales), Phocidae (harbour seal), Physeteridae (sperm whales) and Delphinidae (bottlenose dolphins, pantropical spotted dolphins, rough-toothed dolphins, short-finned pilot whales and melon-headed whales). The skin was sampled from free-ranging animals in Hawai‘i (Pacific Ocean) and off the east coast of the United States (Atlantic Ocean), and the composition of the bacterial community was examined using the sequencing of partial small subunit (SSU) ribosomal RNA genes. Skin microbiotas were significantly different among host species and taxonomic families, and microbial community distance was positively correlated with mitochondrial-based host genetic divergence. The oceanic location could play a role in skin microbiota variation, but skin from species sampled in both locations is necessary to determine this influence. These data suggest that a phylosymbiotic relationship may exist between microbiota and their marine mammal hosts, potentially providing specific health and immune-related functions that contribute to the success of these animals in diverse ocean ecosystems.
    Description: Funding provided by the Earth Microbiome Project, WHOI Marine Mammal Center, WHOI Ocean Life Institute and WHOI's Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowed Fund for Innovative Research to A.A. Hawai‘i sampling was undertaken during field projects funded by grants from ONR (N000141310648 to R.W.B, N000141110612 to T.A. Mooney and N00014101686 to R.D. Andrews) and NMFS (NA13OAR4540212 to R.W.B).
    Keywords: Bacteria ; SSU ribosomal RNA gene ; Phylogeny ; Microorganism ; Marine mammal
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  • 4
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    Population comparison of right whale body condition reveals poor state of the North Atlantic right whale (2020)
    Inter Research
    Details
    Publication Date: 2022-05-26
    Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Christiansen, F., Dawson, S. M., Durban, J. W., Fearnbach, H., Miller, C. A., Bejder, L., Uhart, M., Sironi, M., Corkeron, P., Rayment, W., Leunissen, E., Haria, E., Ward, R., Warick, H. A., Kerr, I., Lynn, M. S., Pettis, H. M., & Moore, M. J. Population comparison of right whale body condition reveals poor state of the North Atlantic right whale. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 640, (2020): 1-16, doi:10.3354/meps13299.
    Description: The North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis (NARW), currently numbering 〈410 individuals, is on a trajectory to extinction. Although direct mortality from ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements remain the major threats to the population, reproductive failure, resulting from poor body condition and sublethal chronic entanglement stress, is believed to play a crucial role in the population decline. Using photogrammetry from unmanned aerial vehicles, we conducted the largest population assessment of right whale body condition to date, to determine if the condition of NARWs was poorer than 3 seemingly healthy (i.e. growing) populations of southern right whales E. australis (SRWs) in Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. We found that NARW juveniles, adults and lactating females all had lower body condition scores compared to the SRW populations. While some of the difference could be the result of genetic isolation and adaptations to local environmental conditions, the magnitude suggests that NARWs are in poor condition, which could be suppressing their growth, survival, age of sexual maturation and calving rates. NARW calves were found to be in good condition. Their body length, however, was strongly determined by the body condition of their mothers, suggesting that the poor condition of lactating NARW females may cause a reduction in calf growth rates. This could potentially lead to a reduction in calf survival or an increase in female calving intervals. Hence, the poor body condition of individuals within the NARW population is of major concern for its future viability.
    Description: North Atlantic: NOAA NA14OAR4320158; Australia: US Office of Naval Research Marine Mammals Program (Award No. N00014-17-1-3018), the World Wildlife Fund for Nature Australia and a Murdoch University School of Veterinary and Life Sciences Small Grant Award; New Zealand: New Zealand Antarctic Research institute (NZARI 2016-1-4), Otago University and NZ Whale and Dolphin Trust; Argentina: National Geographic Society (Grant number: NGS-379R-18).
    Keywords: Baleen whale ; Bioenergetics ; Eubalaena ; Morphometrics ; Photogrammetry ; Unmanned aerial vehicles
    Repository Name: Woods Hole Open Access Server
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  • 5
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    Extensive core microbiome in drone-captured whale blow supports a framework for health monitoring (2017)
    American Society for Microbiology
    Details
    Publication Date: 2022-05-26
    Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in mSystems 2 (2017): e00119-17, doi:10.1128/mSystems.00119-17.
    Description: The pulmonary system is a common site for bacterial infections in cetaceans, but very little is known about their respiratory microbiome. We used a small, unmanned hexacopter to collect exhaled breath condensate (blow) from two geographically distinct populations of apparently healthy humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), sampled in the Massachusetts coastal waters off Cape Cod (n = 17) and coastal waters around Vancouver Island (n = 9). Bacterial and archaeal small-subunit rRNA genes were amplified and sequenced from blow samples, including many of sparse volume, as well as seawater and other controls, to characterize the associated microbial community. The blow microbiomes were distinct from the seawater microbiomes and included 25 phylogenetically diverse bacteria common to all sampled whales. This core assemblage comprised on average 36% of the microbiome, making it one of the more consistent animal microbiomes studied to date. The closest phylogenetic relatives of 20 of these core microbes were previously detected in marine mammals, suggesting that this core microbiome assemblage is specialized for marine mammals and may indicate a healthy, noninfected pulmonary system. Pathogen screening was conducted on the microbiomes at the genus level, which showed that all blow and few seawater microbiomes contained relatives of bacterial pathogens; no known cetacean respiratory pathogens were detected in the blow. Overall, the discovery of a shared large core microbiome in humpback whales is an important advancement for health and disease monitoring of this species and of other large whales.
    Description: Funding for sample analysis was provided through a grant to A.A., M.J.M., and J.W.D. from the Ocean Life Institute of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Attachments for collection surfaces on the hexacopter were constructed with funding support from NOAA’s UAS Program.
    Keywords: SSU rRNA ; Gene ; Bacteria ; Drone ; Humpback whale ; Microbiome
    Repository Name: Woods Hole Open Access Server
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