Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| legacy and emerging organic pollutants in liver and plasma of long-finned pilot whales (globicephala melas) from waters surrounding the faroe islands. | concentrations of pcbs, organochlorine pesticides (ocps), brominated flame retardants and a suite of relevant metabolites of these pops, in all 175 different compounds, were determined in liver and plasma of traditionally hunted pilot whales (n=14 males and n=13 females of different age groups) from the faroe islands. the main objectives of this study were to determine differences in the presence and concentrations of the compounds in the liver and plasma, how they depend on developmental stage ... | 2015 | 25817764 |
| bioaccumulation and biomagnification of classical flame retardants, related halogenated natural compounds and alternative flame retardants in three delphinids from southern european waters. | occurrence and behaviour of classical (pbdes) and alternative (hns, hbb, pbeb, dbdpe and hbcd) flame retardants, together with naturally produced meo-pbdes, were studied in short-beaked common dolphin (delphinus delphis), bottlenose dolphin (tursiops truncatus) and long-finned pilot whale (globicephala melas) in two sampling locations from southern european waters. pbdes, dec 602, dec 603, dp, α-hbcd and two meo-pbdes were detected in all three species. ∑pbdes were between 17 and 2680 ng/g lw; ∑ ... | 2015 | 25875161 |
| pops in free-ranging pilot whales, sperm whales and fin whales from the mediterranean sea: influence of biological and ecological factors. | the pilot whale globicephala melas, the sperm whale physeter macrocephalus, and the fin whale balaenoptera physalus are large cetaceans permanently inhabiting the mediterranean sea. these species are subjected to numerous anthropogenic threats such as exposure to high levels of contaminants. therefore, selected persistent organic pollutants pops (29 pcbs, 15 organochlorine compounds, 9 pbdes and 17 pcdd/fs) were analysed in blubber biopsies of 49 long-finned pilot whales, 61 sperm whales and 70 ... | 2015 | 26162962 |
| retrospective seroepidemiological investigations against morbillivirus, toxoplasma gondii and brucella spp. in cetaceans stranded along the italian coastline (1998-2014). | this study reports the results of seroepidemiological investigations carried out against morbillivirus, toxoplasma gondii and brucella spp. on blood serum samples collected from 70 cetacean specimens found stranded along the italian coastline between 1998 and 2014. a total number of 23 serum samples (32.8%) obtained from stenella coeruleoalba, tursiops truncatus, balaenoptera physalus and globicephala melas harboured anti-morbillivirus neutralizing antibodies. ten sera (16%) collected from s. co ... | 2015 | 26267096 |
| isolation of brucella ceti from a long-finned pilot whale (globicephala melas) and a sowerby's beaked whale (mesoploden bidens). | brucella ceti is an emerging zoonotic pathogen that has been recovered from several species of cetaceans in the world's oceans over the past 20 yr. we report the recovery of b. ceti from a sowerby's beaked whale (mesoploden bidens) and a long-finned pilot whale (globicehala melas). recovery from the testis of a long-finned pilot whale provides further evidence of potential for b. ceti infection to impact the reproductive success of cetaceans, many of which are threatened species. the addition of ... | 2015 | 26285099 |
| first report of brucella ceti-associated meningoencephalitis in a long-finned pilot whale globicephala melas. | fatal brucella ceti infection with histological lesions specific to the central nervous system has been described in only 3 species of cetaceans: striped dolphins stenella coeruleoalba, atlantic white-sided dolphins lagenorhynchus acutus and short-beaked common dolphins delphinus delphis. this paper describes the first report of a b. ceti-associated meningoencephalitis in a long-finned pilot whale globicephala melas, showing the increasing range of species susceptibility. brucella was recovered ... | 2015 | 26503778 |
| fatal asphyxiation in two long-finned pilot whales (globicephala melas) caused by common soles (solea solea). | long-finned pilot whales (globicephala melas) are rare visitors to the southern north sea, but recently two individual strandings occurred on the dutch coast. both animals shared the same, unusual cause of death: asphyxiation from a common sole (solea solea) stuck in their nasal cavity. this is a rare cause of death in cetaceans. whilst asphyxiation has been reported in smaller odontocetes, there are no recent records of this occurring in globicephala species. here we report the stranding, necro ... | 2015 | 26580786 |
| possible link between hg and cd accumulation in the brain of long-finned pilot whales (globicephala melas). | the bioaccumulation of metals was investigated by analysis of liver, kidney, muscle and brain tissue of a pod of 21 long-finned pilot whales (globicephala melas) of all ages stranded in scotland, uk. the results are the first to report cadmium (cd) passage through the blood-brain barrier of pilot whales and provide a comprehensive study of the long-term (up to 35 years) mammalian exposure to the environmental pollutants. additionally, linear accumulation of mercury (hg) was observed in all studi ... | 2016 | 26748005 |
| assessing disease and mortality among small cetaceans stranded at a world heritage site in southern brazil. | cetaceans are considered environmental sentinels and their health often reflects either anthropogenic or natural spatio-temporal disturbances. this study investigated the pathological findings and mortality of small cetaceans with the aim of detecting hazards and monitoring health trends in a high-biodiversity area. between 2007 and 2012, 218 stranded cetaceans were recorded on the paraná coast, southern brazil. fifty-seven (26.1%) of these animals, including 50 sotalia guianensis, 2 pontoporia ... | 2016 | 26871703 |
| cetacean morbillivirus-associated pathology: knowns and unknowns. | the present minireview deals with the pathology of cetacean morbillivirus (cemv) infection in free-ranging cetaceans. in this respect, while "classical" cemv-associated lesions were observed in the lung, brain, and lymphoid tissues from striped dolphins (stenella coeruleoalba) and pilot whales (globicephala melas) which were victims of the 1990-1992 and 2006-2008 epidemics in the western mediterranean, an apparent reduction in cemv neurovirulence, along with a different viral antigen's tissue an ... | 2016 | 26903991 |
| quantifying group specificity of animal vocalizations without specific sender information. | recordings of animal vocalization can lack information about sender and context. this is often the case in studies on marine mammals or in the increasing number of automated bioacoustics monitorings. here, we develop a framework to estimate group specificity without specific sender information. we introduce and apply a bag-of-calls-and-coefficients approach (bocca) to study ensembles of cepstral coefficients calculated from vocalization signals recorded from a given animal group. comparing distr ... | 2016 | 26986319 |
| comparative chromosome map and heterochromatin features of the gray whale karyotype (cetacea). | cetacean karyotypes possess exceptionally stable diploid numbers and highly conserved chromosomes. to date, only toothed whales (odontoceti) have been analyzed by comparative chromosome painting. here, we studied the karyotype of a representative of baleen whales, the gray whale (eschrichtius robustus, mysticeti), by zoo-fish with dromedary camel and human chromosome-specific probes. we confirmed a high degree of karyotype conservation and found an identical order of syntenic segments in both br ... | 2016 | 27088853 |
| relationships between concentrations of selected organohalogen contaminants and thyroid hormones and vitamins a, e and d in faroese pilot whales. | pilot whales (globicephala melas) from the faroe islands, north-east atlantic, have high body concentrations of organohalogenated compounds (ohcs), such as polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs), organochlorinated pesticides (ocps) and brominated flame retardants (bfrs). the aim of the present study was to examine if and to what extent blood plasma and liver concentrations of several groups of these ohcs are related to concentrations of relevant nutritional and hormonal biomarkers in pilot whales. thy ... | 2016 | 27131793 |
| diversity and distribution patterns of cetaceans in the subtropical southwestern atlantic outer continental shelf and slope. | temporal and spatial patterns of cetacean diversity and distribution were investigated through eight ship-based surveys carried out during spring and autumn between 2009 and 2014 on the outer continental shelf (~150m) and slope (1500m) off southeastern and southern brazil (~23°s to ~34°s). the survey area was divided into southeast and south areas according to their oceanographic characteristics. twenty-one species were observed in 503 sightings. the overall number of species was similar between ... | 2016 | 27243455 |
| disturbance-specific social responses in long-finned pilot whales, globicephala melas. | social interactions among animals can influence their response to disturbance. we investigated responses of long-finned pilot whales to killer whale sound playbacks and two anthropogenic sources of disturbance: tagging effort and naval sonar exposure. the acoustic scene and diving behaviour of tagged individuals were recorded along with the social behaviour of their groups. all three disturbance types resulted in larger group sizes, increasing social cohesion during disturbance. however, the nat ... | 2016 | 27353529 |
| interspecific hybridization in pilot whales and asymmetric genetic introgression in northern globicephala melas under the scenario of global warming. | pilot whales are two cetacean species (globicephala melas and g. macrorhynchus) whose distributions are correlated with water temperature and partially overlap in some areas like the north atlantic ocean. in the context of global warming, distribution range shifts are expected to occur in species affected by temperature. consequently, a northward displacement of the tropical pilot whale g. macrorynchus is expected, eventually leading to increased secondary contact areas and opportunities for int ... | 2016 | 27508496 |
| in vivo formation of natural hgse nanoparticles in the liver and brain of pilot whales. | to understand the biochemistry of methylmercury (mehg) that leads to the formation of mercury-selenium (hg-se) clusters is a long outstanding challenge that promises to deepen our knowledge of mehg detoxification and the role se plays in this process. here, we show that mercury selenide (hgse) nanoparticles in the liver and brain of long-finned pilot whales are attached to se-rich structures and possibly act as a nucleation point for the formation of large se-hg clusters, which can grow with age ... | 2016 | 27678068 |
| pulmonary carcinoma with metastasis in a long-finned pilot whale (globicephala melas). | lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed neoplasm in humans, however this does not apply to other animal species. living in an aquatic environment the respiratory system of cetaceans had to undergo unique adaptations in order to them to survive and cope with totally different respiratory pathogens and potentially carcinogens from those affecting humans. | 2016 | 27729046 |
| marine mammals in the mediterranean sea: an overview. | despite being a small part of the world's oceans, the mediterranean sea hosts a diverse marine mammal fauna, with a total of 28 different species known to occur, or to have occurred, in the region. species currently recognised as regular in the mediterranean-the mediterranean monk seal (monachus monachus) and 11 cetaceans (fin whale, balaenoptera physalus; sperm whale, physeter macrocephalus; cuvier's beaked whale, ziphius cavirostris; short-beaked common dolphin, delphinus delphis; long-finned ... | 2017 | 27770981 |
| conservation status of long-finned pilot whales, globicephala melas, in the mediterranean sea. | mediterranean sea long-finned pilot whales (globicephala melas) are currently classified as data deficient on the international union for the conservation of nature (iucn) red list. multiple lines of evidence, including molecular genetic and photo-identification mark-recapture analyses, indicate that the strait of gibraltar population (distributed from 5.8°w longitude to west of djibouti bank and alborán dorsal in the alborán sea) is differentiated from the mediterranean sea population (east of ... | 2017 | 27770984 |
| an analysis of pilot whale vocalization activity using hidden markov models. | vocalizations of cetaceans form a key component of their social interactions. such vocalization activity is driven by the behavioral states of the whales, which are not directly observable, so that latent-state models are natural candidates for modeling empirical data on vocalizations. in this paper, hidden markov models are used to analyze calling activity of long-finned pilot whales (globicephala melas) recorded over three years in the vestfjord basin off lofoten, norway. baseline models are u ... | 2017 | 28147612 |
| implementation of a method to visualize noise-induced hearing loss in mass stranded cetaceans. | assessment of the impact of noise over-exposure in stranded cetaceans is challenging, as the lesions that lead to hearing loss occur at the cellular level and inner ear cells are very sensitive to autolysis. distinguishing ante-mortem pathology from post-mortem change has been a major constraint in diagnosing potential impact. here, we outline a methodology applicable to the detection of noise-induced hearing loss in stranded cetaceans. inner ears from two mass strandings of long-finned pilot wh ... | 2017 | 28165504 |
| temporal shifts in poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (pfass) in north atlantic pilot whales indicate large contribution of atmospheric precursors. | poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (pfass) are persistent, bioaccumulative anthropogenic compounds associated with adverse health impacts on humans and wildlife. pfas production changed in north america and europe around the year 2000, but impacts on wildlife appear to vary across species and location. unlike other mammal species, cetaceans lack the enzyme for transforming an important intermediate precursor (perfluorooctane sulfonamide: fosa), into a prevalent compound in most wildlife (perflu ... | 2017 | 28350446 |
| vocal repertoire of long-finned pilot whales (globicephala melas) in northern norway. | the knowledge of the vocal repertoire of pilot whales is very limited. in this paper, the vocal repertoire of long-finned pilot whales recorded during different encounters in the vestfjord in northern norway between november 2006 and august 2010 are described. sounds were analysed using two different methods: (1) an observer-based audio-visual inspection of fft-derived spectrograms, with which, besides a general variety of clicks, buzzes, nonharmonic sounds, and whistles, 129 different distinct ... | 2017 | 28618811 |
| metazoan parasites from odontocetes off new zealand: new records. | information about the parasite fauna of spectacled porpoises and cetaceans from new zealand waters in general is scarce. this study takes advantage of material archived in collections of the otago museum in dunedin and massey university in auckland, sampled from cetacean species found stranded along the new zealand coastline between 2007 and 2014. parasites from seven species of cetaceans (spectacled porpoise, phocoena dioptrica (n = 2 individuals examined); pygmy sperm whale (n = 1); long-finne ... | 2017 | 28799088 |