| blue-green color and composition of stejneger's beaked whale (mesoplodon stejnegeri) milk. | two hundred ml of milk were obtained from a lactating stejneger's beaked whale stranded at ninilchik, alaska on 21 oct, 1980. total solids (41%) were similar to values reported for sperm and belukha whales, while fat (17%) was half as great and crude protein (17%) was 2-4 times greater than in milk of these species. lactose was not detected. calcium (0.22%) was greater than reported for pigmy sperm whales but less than for blue whales. phosphorus (0.07%) was less than for any of the above specie ... | 1984 | 6509923 |
| [comparative study of the rna and proteins of antigenically similar human and animal influenza a viruses]. | in 1976-1979 in various regions of the ussr influenza viruses were isolated from mammals and birds and found to be antigenically similar with human influenza viruses having hemagglutinin h0, h1, and neuraminidase n1. comparative studies of electrophoretic mobility in polyacrylamide gel of rnas and proteins of these viruses and human influenza viruses sharing common antigens with them were carried out. by the mobility in gel of genome fragments, the virus isolated from a squirrel, a/squirrel/vlad ... | 1981 | 7257321 |
| bioenergetic scaling: metabolic design and body-size constraints in mammals. | the cytosolic phosphorylation ratio ([atp]/[adp][p(i)]) in the mammalian heart was found to be inversely related to body mass with an exponent of -0.30 (r = 0.999). this exponent is similar to -0.25 calculated for the mass-specific o2 consumption. the inverse of cytosolic free [adp], the gibbs energy of atp hydrolysis (delta g'atp), and the efficiency of atp production (energy captured in forming 3 mol of atp per cycle along the mitochondrial respiratory chain from nadh to 1/2 o2) were all found ... | 1995 | 7638188 |
| comparison between the complete mtdna sequences of the blue and the fin whale, two species that can hybridize in nature. | the sequence of the mitochondrial dna (mtdna) molecule of the blue whale (balaenoptera musculus) was determined. the molecule is 16,402 bp long and its organization conforms with that of other eutherian mammals. the molecule was compared with the mtdna of the congeneric fin whale (b. physalus). it was recently documented that the two species can hybridize and that male offspring are infertile whereas female offspring may be fertile. the present comparison made it possible to determine the degree ... | 1993 | 8308901 |
| sequence analysis of the complete mitochondrial dna molecule of the hedgehog, erinaceus europaeus, and the phylogenetic position of the lipotyphla. | the sequence of the mitochondrial dna (mtdna) molecule of the european hedgehog (erinaceus europaeus) was determined. the length of the sequence presented is 17,442 nucleotides (nt). the molecule is thus the largest eutherian mtdna molecule so far reported. the organization of the molecule conforms with that of other eutherians, but the control region of the molecule is exceptionally long, 1,988 nt, due to the presence of repeated motifs at two different positions in the 3' part of the control r ... | 1995 | 8587140 |
| identification of sex in cetaceans by multiplexing with three zfx and zfy specific primers. | we sequenced 540 nucleotides of the last exon in the zfy/zfx gene in two males and two females for eight cetacean species; four odontocetes (toothed whales) and four mysticetes (baleen whales). based upon the obtained nucleotide sequences, we designed two sets of oligonucleotide primers for specific amplification of the zfx and the zfy sequence in odontocetes and mysticetes, respectively. each primer set consisted of three oligonucleotides; one forward-orientated primer, which anneals to the zfy ... | 1996 | 8673273 |
| the mitochondrial dna molecule of sumatran orangutan and a molecular proposal for two (bornean and sumatran) species of orangutan. | the complete mitochondrial dna (mtdna) molecule of sumatran orangutan, plus the complete mitochondrial control region of another sumatran specimen and the control regions and five protein-coding genes of two specimens of bornean orangutan were sequenced and compared with a previously reported complete mtdna of bornean orangutan. the two orangutans are presently separated at the subspecies level. comparison with five different species pairs-namely, harbor seal/grey seal, horse/donkey, fin whale/b ... | 1996 | 8875856 |
| the complete mitochondrial dna (mtdna) of the donkey and mtdna comparisons among four closely related mammalian species-pairs. | the nucleotide sequence of the complete mitochondrial genome of the donkey, equus asinus, was determined. the length of the molecule is 16,670 bp. the length, however, is not absolute due to pronounced heteroplasmy caused by variable numbers of two types of repetitive motifs in the control region. the sequence of the repeats is (a) 5'-cacaccca and (b) 5'-tgcgcgca, respectively. the order of (a) and (b) can be expressed as {n[2(a)+(b)]+m(a)}. in 32 different clones analyzed the number of n and m ... | 1996 | 8875857 |
| aging and neoplastic progression. | aging is the gradual development of individuals of a particular species in time. interspecies comparison shows the variability of the aging processes in ontogeny which is species-specifically fixed. e.g. a mouse will never be able to reach the life expectancy of a blue whale or man. certain changes of the life span have been observed in aging human populations, on an individual basis, or in zoo animals under the care of veterinarians. cells of different tissues exhibit a varying senescence addit ... | 1998 | 9891233 |
| the mitochondrial genome of the sperm whale and a new molecular reference for estimating eutherian divergence dates. | extant cetaceans are systematically divided into two suborders: mysticeti (baleen whales) and odontoceti (toothed whales). in this study, we have sequenced the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of an odontocete, the sperm whale (physeter macrocephalus), and included it in phylogenetic analyses together with the previously sequenced complete mtdnas of two mysticetes (the fin and blue whales) and a number of other mammals, including five artiodactyls (the hippopotamus, cow, sheep, alpaca, and pig ... | 2000 | 10835487 |
| higher impact of female than male migration on population structure in large mammals. | we simulated large mammal populations using an individual-based stochastic model under various sex-specific migration schemes and life history parameters from the blue whale and the asian elephant. our model predicts that genetic structure at nuclear loci is significantly more influenced by female than by male migration. we identified requisite comigration of mother and offspring during gravidity and lactation as the primary cause of this phenomenon. in addition, our model predicts that the comm ... | 2000 | 10964235 |
| genetic control of size in drosophila. | during the past ten years, significant progress has been made in understanding the basic mechanisms of the development of multicellular organisms. genetic analysis of the development of caenorhabditis elegans and drosophila has unearthed a fruitful number of genes involved in establishing the basic body plan, patterning of limbs, specification of cell fate and regulation of programmed cell death. the genes involved in these developmental processes have been conserved throughout evolution and hom ... | 2000 | 11128988 |
| only male fin whales sing loud songs. | the low-frequency vocalizations of fin and blue whales are the most powerful and ubiquitous biological sounds in the ocean. here we combine acoustic localization and molecular techniques to show that, in fin whales, only males produce these vocalizations. this finding indicates that they may function as male breeding displays, and will help to focus concern on the impact of human-generated low-frequency sounds on recovering whale populations. | 2002 | 12075339 |
| on being the right size: heart design, mitochondrial efficiency and lifespan potential. | 1. from the smallest shrew or bumble-bee bat to the largest blue whale, heart size varies by over seven orders of magnitude (from 12 mg to 600 kg). this study reviews the scaling relationships between heart design, cellular bioenergetics and mitochondrial efficiencies in mammals of different body sizes. 2. the [31p]-nuclear magnetic resonance-derived [phosphocreatine]/[atp] ratio in hearts of smaller mammals is significantly higher (2.7 +/- 0.3 for mouse; n = 22) than in larger mammals (1.6 +/- ... | 2003 | 12890185 |
| exposure to seismic survey alters blue whale acoustic communication. | the ability to perceive biologically important sounds is critical to marine mammals, and acoustic disturbance through human-generated noise can interfere with their natural functions. sounds from seismic surveys are intense and have peak frequency bands overlapping those used by baleen whales, but evidence of interference with baleen whale acoustic communication is sparse. here we investigated whether blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) changed their vocal behaviour during a seismic survey that ... | 2010 | 19776059 |
| composition and chromosomal localization of cetacean highly repetitive dna with special reference to the blue whale, balaenoptera musculus. | three highly repetitive dna components--the common cetacean component, the heavy (gc-rich) satellite and the light (at-rich) satellite--were were studied in the blue whale. consensus sequences of the common component and the heavy satellite were determined on the basis of three repeats of the common component and eight repeats of the heavy satellite. the tandemly organized common cetacean component, which comprises a large portion of all cetacean--both odontocete (toothed whale) and mysticete (w ... | 2008 | 2612291 |
| the comparative osteology of the petrotympanic complex (ear region) of extant baleen whales (cetacea: mysticeti). | anatomical comparisons of the ear region of baleen whales (mysticeti) are provided through detailed osteological descriptions and high-resolution photographs of the petrotympanic complex (tympanic bulla and petrosal bone) of all extant species of mysticete cetaceans. salient morphological features are illustrated and identified, including overall shape of the bulla, size of the conical process of the bulla, morphology of the promontorium, and the size and shape of the anterior process of the pet ... | 2011 | 21731700 |
| genetic variation at exon 2 of the mhc class ii dqb locus in blue whale (balaenoptera musculus) from the gulf of california. | the genes of the major histocompatibility complex (mhc) play an important role in the vertebrate immune response and are among the most polymorphic genes known in vertebrates. in some marine mammals, mhc genes have been shown to be characterized by low levels of polymorphism compared to terrestrial taxa; this reduction in variation is often explained as a result of lower pathogen pressures in marine habitats. to determine if this same reduction in variation applies to the migratory population of ... | 2016 | 26761201 |
| endoparasite survey of free-swimming baleen whales (balaenoptera musculus, b. physalus, b. borealis) and sperm whales (physeter macrocephalus) using non/minimally invasive methods. | a number of parasitic diseases have gained importance as neozoan opportunistic infections in the marine environment. here, we report on the gastrointestinal endoparasite fauna of three baleen whale species and one toothed whale: blue (balaenoptera musculus), fin (balaenoptera physalus), and sei whales (balaenoptera borealis) and sperm whales (physeter macrocephalus) from the azores islands, portugal. in total, 17 individual whale fecal samples [n = 10 (b. physalus); n = 4 (p. macrocephalus); n = ... | 2016 | 26593736 |
| marine mammal strandings in the new caledonia region, southwest pacific. | four hundred twenty three marine mammals, in 72 stranding events, were recorded between 1877 and 2005 in new caledonia, the loyalty islands, and vanuatu in the southwest pacific. sixteen species were represented in this count, including: minke whale, balaenoptera acutorostrata (1 single stranding), sei whale, b. borealis (1 single stranding), blue whale, b. musculus (1 single stranding), humpback whale, megaptera novaeangliae (2 single strandings), giant sperm whale, physeter macrocephalus (18 s ... | 2006 | 16644500 |
| relative abundance and behavior of marine mammals exposed to transmissions from the heard island feasibility test. | the heard island feasibility test source transmitted a hum at 209-220 db re: 1 micropa at 175-m depth, centered on 57 hz with a maximum bandwidth of 30 hz for 1 h of every 3. experienced marine mammal observers conducted line-transect surveys and monitored marine mammal behavior visually and acoustically in a 70 x 70 km square centered on the transmission site. thirty-nine groups of cetaceans and 19 of pinnipeds were sighted from both vessels before the start of transmissions. thirty-nine groups ... | 1994 | 7963037 |
| extensively remodeled, fractured cetacean tympanic bullae show that whales can survive traumatic injury to the ears. | underwater human activities and anthropogenic noise in our oceans may be a major source of habitat degradation for marine life. this issue was highlighted by the opening of the united states eastern seaboard for seismic oil and gas exploration in 2014, which generated massive media coverage and widespread concern that seismic surveys could kill or deafen whales. we discovered 11 new specimens of fractured and healed cetacean ear bones, out of a survey of 2127 specimens housed in museum collectio ... | 2016 | 26391309 |
| metabolic expenditures of lunge feeding rorquals across scale: implications for the evolution of filter feeding and the limits to maximum body size. | bulk-filter feeding is an energetically efficient strategy for resource acquisition and assimilation, and facilitates the maintenance of extreme body size as exemplified by baleen whales (mysticeti) and multiple lineages of bony and cartilaginous fishes. among mysticetes, rorqual whales (balaenopteridae) exhibit an intermittent ram filter feeding mode, lunge feeding, which requires the abandonment of body-streamlining in favor of a high-drag, mouth-open configuration aimed at engulfing a very la ... | 2012 | 23024769 |
| comparative anatomy of the foramen ovale in the hearts of cetaceans. | the structure of the cardiac foramen ovale from 17 species representing six cetacean families, the monodontidae, phocoenidae, delphinidae, ziphiidae, balaenidae and the balaenopteridae, was studied using the scanning electron microscope. eight white whale fetuses (delphinapterus leucas) and a narwhal fetus (monodon monoceros) represented the monodontidae; one fetal and nine neonatal harbour porpoises (phocoena phocoena) and a finless porpoise fetus (neophocoena phocoenoides) represented the phoc ... | 2007 | 17532800 |
| crassicaudosis: a parasitic disease threatening the health and population recovery of large baleen whales. | this communication briefly reviews knowledge of the systemic disease caused by crassicauda boopis in blue whales (balaenoptera musculus), fin whales (b. physalus) and humpback whales (megaptera novaeangliae). infections with this giant nematode characteristically incite a chronic inflammatory reaction of the blood vessels which drain the kidneys. in this critical location, the parasite-induced lesion can cause complete vascular occlusion and kidney failure. whale calves and juveniles typically s ... | 1992 | 1305859 |
| radiocaesium (137cs) in marine mammals from svalbard, the barents sea and the north greenland sea. | specific activities of the anthropogenic radionuclide, 137cs, were determined in marine mammals from svalbard and the barents and north greenland seas. muscle samples were collected from 12 polar bears, 15 ringed seals, 10 hooded seals, 7 bearded seals, 14 harp seals, one walrus, one white whale and one blue whale in the period 2000-2003. the mean concentrations (+/-sd) of 137cs were: 0.72+/-0.62 bq/kg wet weight (w.w.) for polar bears; 0.49+/-0.07 bq/kg w.w. for ringed seals; 0.25+/-0.10 bq/kg ... | 2006 | 16154620 |
| inferring cetacean population densities from the absolute dynamic topography of the ocean in a hierarchical bayesian framework. | we inferred the population densities of blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) and short-beaked common dolphins (delphinus delphis) in the northeast pacific ocean as functions of the water-column's physical structure by implementing hierarchical models in a bayesian framework. this approach allowed us to propagate the uncertainty of the field observations into the inference of species-habitat relationships and to generate spatially explicit population density predictions with reduced effects of sam ... | 2015 | 25785692 |
| bones as biofuel: a review of whale bone composition with implications for deep-sea biology and palaeoanthropology. | whales are unique among vertebrates because of the enormous oil reserves held in their soft tissue and bone. these 'biofuel' stores have been used by humans from prehistoric times to more recent industrial-scale whaling. deep-sea biologists have now discovered that the oily bones of dead whales on the seabed are also used by specialist and generalist scavenging communities, including many unique organisms recently described as new to science. in the context of both cetacean and deep-sea inverteb ... | 2011 | 20702457 |
| morphological specializations of baleen whales associated with hydrodynamic performance and ecological niche. | feeding behavior, prey type, and habitat appear to be associated with the morphological design of body, fluke, and flippers in baleen whales. morphometric data from whaling records and recent stranding events were compiled, and morphometric parameters describing the body length, and fluke and flipper dimensions for an "average" blue whale balaenoptera musculus, humpback whale megaptera novaeangliae, gray whale eschrichtius robustus, and right whale eubalaena glacialis were determined. body mass, ... | 2006 | 17051544 |
| seasonal variability and detection range modeling of baleen whale calls in the gulf of alaska, 1999-2002. | five species of large whales, including the blue (balaenoptera musculus), fin (b. physalus), sei (b. borealis), humpback (megaptera novaeangliae), and north pacific right (eubalaena japonica), were the target of commercial harvests in the gulf of alaska (goa) during the 19th through mid-20th centuries. since this time, there have been a few summer time visual surveys for these species, but no overview of year-round use of these waters by endangered whales primarily because standard visual survey ... | 2007 | 18247747 |
| genetic variation in blue whales in the eastern pacific: implication for taxonomy and use of common wintering grounds. | many aspects of blue whale biology are poorly understood. some of the gaps in our knowledge, such as those regarding their basic taxonomy and seasonal movements, directly affect our ability to monitor and manage blue whale populations. as a step towards filling in some of these gaps, microsatellite and mtdna sequence analyses were conducted on blue whale samples from the southern hemisphere, the eastern tropical pacific (etp) and the northeast pacific. the results indicate that the etp is differ ... | 2017 | 27891694 |
| a dna-based method for identification of krill species and its application to analysing the diet of marine vertebrate predators. | accurate identification of species that are consumed by vertebrate predators is necessary for understanding marine food webs. morphological methods for identifying prey components after consumption often fail to make accurate identifications of invertebrates because prey morphology becomes damaged during capture, ingestion and digestion. another disadvantage of morphological methods for prey identification is that they often involve sampling procedures that are disruptive for the predator, such ... | 2002 | 12453250 |
| mysticete (baleen whale) relationships based upon the sequence of the common cetacean dna satellite. | the genomes of all extant cetaceans are characterized by the presence of the so-called common cetacean dna satellite. in the mysticetes (whalebone whales) the repeat length of the satellite is 1,760 bp. in the odontocetes (toothed whales), other than the family delphinidae, the repeat length is usually approximately 1,740 bp. the delphinidae are characterized by a repeat length of approximately 1,580 bp. it has been shown in odontocetes that the satellite evolves in concert and that differences ... | 1992 | 1435232 |
| molecular identification of cetaceans from the west atlantic using the e3-i5 region of coi. | molecular identification is very useful in cases where morphology-based species identification is not possible. examples for its application in cetaceans include the identification of carcasses of stranded animals in advanced state of decomposition and body parts that are illegally traded. one dna region that is often used for molecular identification is the folmer region of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit i (coi) (locus 48 to 705 bp). this locus has been used for the identif ... | 2017 | 28437554 |
| the influence of sea ice, wind speed and marine mammals on southern ocean ambient sound. | this paper describes the natural variability of ambient sound in the southern ocean, an acoustically pristine marine mammal habitat. over a 3-year period, two autonomous recorders were moored along the greenwich meridian to collect underwater passive acoustic data. ambient sound levels were strongly affected by the annual variation of the sea-ice cover, which decouples local wind speed and sound levels during austral winter. with increasing sea-ice concentration, area and thickness, sound levels ... | 2017 | 28280544 |
| low-frequency whale and seismic airgun sounds recorded in the mid-atlantic ocean. | beginning in february 1999, an array of six autonomous hydrophones was moored near the mid-atlantic ridge (35 degrees n-15 degrees n, 50 degrees w-33 degrees w). two years of data were reviewed for whale vocalizations by visually examining spectrograms. four distinct sounds were detected that are believed to be of biological origin: (1) a two-part low-frequency moan at roughly 18 hz lasting 25 s which has previously been attributed to blue whales (balaenoptera musculus); (2) series of short puls ... | 2004 | 15101661 |
| species identification using genetic tools: the value of nuclear and mitochondrial gene sequences in whale conservation. | dna sequence analysis is a powerful tool for identifying the source of samples thought to be derived from threatened or endangered species. analysis of mitochondrial dna (mtdna) from retail whale meat markets has shown consistently that the expected baleen whale in these markets, the minke whale, makes up only about half the products analyzed. the other products are either unregulated small toothed whales like dolphins or are protected baleen whales such as humpback, bryde's, fin, or blue whales ... | 2006 | 9768497 |
| baleen wear reveals intraoral water flow patterns of mysticete filter feeding. | a survey of macroscopic and microscopic wear patterns in the baleen of eight whale species (cetacea: mysticeti) discloses structural, functional, and life history properties of this neomorphic keratinous tissue, including evidence of intraoral water flow patterns involved in filter feeding. all baleen demonstrates wear, particularly on its medial and ventral edges, as flat outer layers of cortical keratin erode to reveal horn tubes, also of keratin, which emerge as hair-like fringes. this study ... | 2016 | 26825852 |
| discrimination of frequency-modulated baleen whale downsweep calls with overlapping frequencies. | automatic classification of fin, sei, and blue whale frequency modulated downsweeps has been a challenging task for bioacousticians. these calls overlap in frequency range and have similar time durations. the traditional spectrogram methodology, the short time fourier transform, tends to be ineffective because of the large temporal ambiguities needed to achieve the necessary frequency resolution to study the fine time-frequency (tf) structures. spectrograms generated with the pseudo wigner-ville ... | 2015 | 26093394 |
| low frequency baleen whale calls detected on ocean-bottom seismometers in the lau basin, southwest pacific ocean. | ten months of broadband seismic data, recorded on six ocean-bottom seismographs located in the lau basin, were examined to identify baleen whale species. as the first systematic survey of baleen whales in this part of the southwest pacific ocean, this study reveals the variety of species present and their temporal occurrence in and near the basin. baleen whales produce species-specific low frequency calls that can be identified by distinct patterns in data spectrograms. by matching spectrograms ... | 2015 | 25618038 |
| could feeding habit and migratory behaviour be the causes of different toxicological hazard to cetaceans of gulf of california (mexico)? | in this work, a suite of diagnostic biomarkers was applied to seven cetacean species to evaluate the role of the feeding habits and migratory behavior in the toxicological status of these species from the gulf of california, mexico. we investigate the interspecific differences in cytochrome p450 1a1 and 2b (cyp1a1 and cyp2b, respectively), aryl hydrocarbon receptor and e2f transcription factor 1 and the contaminants levels [organochlorine compounds, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbdes) and pol ... | 2014 | 24510600 |
| proceedings of the smbe tri-national young investigators' workshop 2005. baleen whale phylogeny and a past extensive radiation event revealed by sine insertion analysis. | baleen whales (suborder mysticeti) comprise 11 extant species that are classified into four families. although several phylogenetic hypotheses about these taxa have been proposed, their phylogenetic relationships remain confused. we addressed this problem using short interspersed repetitive element (sine) insertion data, which now are regarded as almost ideal shared, derived characters at the molecular level. we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships of baleen whales by characterizing 36 i ... | 2006 | 16330660 |
| characterizing chilean blue whale vocalizations with dtags: a test of using tag accelerometers for caller identification. | vocal behavior of blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) in the gulf of corcovado, chile, was analyzed using both audio and accelerometer data from digital acoustic recording tags (dtags). over the course of three austral summers (2014, 2015, 2016), seventeen tags were deployed, yielding 124 hours of data. we report the occurrence of southeast pacific type 2 (sep2) calls, which exhibit peak frequencies, durations, and timing consistent with previous recordings made using towed and moored hydrophone ... | 2017 | 28883086 |
| "spot" call: a common sound from an unidentified great whale in australian temperate waters. | underwater passive acoustic recordings in the southern and indian oceans off australia from 2002 to 2016 have regularly captured a tonal signal of about 10 s duration at 22-28 hz with a symmetrical bell-shaped envelope. the sound is often accompanied by short, higher frequency downsweeps and repeated at irregular intervals varying from 120 to 200 s. it is termed the "spot" call according to its appearance in spectrograms of long-time averaging. although similar to the first part of an antarctic ... | 2017 | 28863576 |
| a pulsed-air model of blue whale b call vocalizations. | blue whale sound production has been thought to occur by helmholtz resonance via air flowing from the lungs into the upper respiratory spaces. this implies that the frequency of blue whale vocalizations might be directly proportional to the size of their sound-producing organs. here we present a sound production mechanism where the fundamental and overtone frequencies of blue whale b calls can be well modeled using a series of short-duration (<1 s) wavelets. we propose that the likely source of ... | 2017 | 28831197 |
| functional variants of the melanocortin-4 receptor associated with the odontoceti and mysticeti suborders of cetaceans. | cetaceans, a group of mammals adapted to the aquatic environment that descended from terrestrial artiodactyls, exhibit tremendous interspecific differences in a number of phenotypes, including feeding behavior, such as filter feeding in the mysticeti vs prey-hunting odontoceti, and size, with the smallest cetacean, the vaquita, at 1.4 meters and the largest, the blue whale, reaching 33 meters. the melanocortin-4 receptor (mc4r) regulates food intake, energy balance, and somatic growth in both ma ... | 2017 | 28720755 |
| estimating blue whale skin isotopic incorporation rates and baleen growth rates: implications for assessing diet and movement patterns in mysticetes. | stable isotope analysis in mysticete skin and baleen plates has been repeatedly used to assess diet and movement patterns. accurate interpretation of isotope data depends on understanding isotopic incorporation rates for metabolically active tissues and growth rates for metabolically inert tissues. the aim of this research was to estimate isotopic incorporation rates in blue whale skin and baleen growth rates by using natural gradients in baseline isotope values between oceanic regions. nitrogen ... | 2017 | 28562625 |
| modelling the effects of environmental conditions on the acoustic occurrence and behaviour of antarctic blue whales. | harvested to perilously low numbers by commercial whaling during the past century, the large scale response of antarctic blue whales balaenoptera musculus intermedia to environmental variability is poorly understood. this study uses acoustic data collected from 586 sonobuoys deployed in the austral summers of 1997 through 2009, south of 38°s, coupled with visual observations of blue whales during the iwc sower line-transect surveys. the characteristic z-call and d-call of antarctic blue whales w ... | 2017 | 28222124 |
| the development of an intermediate-duration tag to characterize the diving behavior of large whales. | the development of high-resolution archival tag technologies has revolutionized our understanding of diving behavior in marine taxa such as sharks, turtles, and seals during their wide-ranging movements. however, similar applications for large whales have lagged behind due to the difficulty of keeping tags on the animals for extended periods of time. here, we present a novel configuration of a transdermally attached biologging device called the advanced dive behavior (adb) tag. the adb tag conta ... | 2017 | 28116055 |
| estimates of abundance and trend of chilean blue whales off isla de chiloé, chile. | since 1970, blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) have been seen feeding in the waters off southern chile during the summer and autumn (december to may). investigation of the genetic, acoustic and morphological characteristics of these blue whales shows that they are a distinct but unnamed subspecies, called the chilean blue whales. photo-identification surveys have been conducted in the waters off northwestern isla grande de chiloé, southern chile from 2004-2012 and isla chañaral, central chile i ... | 2017 | 28081160 |
| seasonal and diel vocalization patterns of antarctic blue whale (balaenoptera musculus intermedia) in the southern indian ocean: a multi-year and multi-site study. | passive acoustic monitoring is an efficient way to provide insights on the ecology of large whales. this approach allows for long-term and species-specific monitoring over large areas. in this study, we examined six years (2010 to 2015) of continuous acoustic recordings at up to seven different locations in the central and southern indian basin to assess the peak periods of presence, seasonality and migration movements of antarctic blue whales (balaenoptera musculus intermedia). an automated met ... | 2016 | 27828976 |
| multiple origins of gigantism in stem baleen whales. | living baleen whales (mysticeti) include the world's largest animals to have ever lived-blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) can reach more than 30 m. however, the gigantism in baleen whales remains little explored. here, we compiled all published stem mysticetes from the eocene and oligocene and then mapped the estimated body size onto different phylogenies that suggest distinct evolutionary histories of baleen whales. by assembling all known stem baleen whales, we present three novel findings i ... | 2016 | 27717969 |
| kinematic diversity in rorqual whale feeding mechanisms. | rorqual whales exhibit an extreme lunge filter-feeding strategy characterized by acceleration to high speed and engulfment of a large volume of prey-laden water [1-4]. although tagging studies have quantified the kinematics of lunge feeding, the timing of engulfment relative to body acceleration has been modeled conflictingly because it could never be directly measured [5-7]. the temporal coordination of these processes has a major impact on the hydrodynamics and energetics of this high-cost fee ... | 2016 | 27666966 |
| prey-mediated behavioral responses of feeding blue whales in controlled sound exposure experiments. | behavioral response studies provide significant insights into the nature, magnitude, and consequences of changes in animal behavior in response to some external stimulus. controlled exposure experiments (cees) to study behavioral response have faced challenges in quantifying the importance of and interaction among individual variability, exposure conditions, and environmental covariates. to investigate these complex parameters relative to blue whale behavior and how it may change as a function o ... | 2016 | 27509749 |
| observations and bayesian location methodology of transient acoustic signals (likely blue whales) in the indian ocean, using a hydrophone triplet. | a notable sequence of calls was encountered, spanning several days in january 2003, in the central part of the indian ocean on a hydrophone triplet recording acoustic data at a 250 hz sampling rate. this paper presents signal processing methods applied to the waveform data to detect, group, extract amplitude and bearing estimates for the recorded signals. an approximate location for the source of the sequence of calls is inferred from extracting the features from the waveform. as the source appr ... | 2016 | 27250159 |
| analysis of the microbial diversity in faecal material of the endangered blue whale, balaenoptera musculus. | using bacterial and fungal tag-encoded flx-titanium amplicon pyrosequencing, the microbiota of the faecal material of two blue whales living in the wild off the coast of california was investigated. in both samples the most predominant bacterial phylum was the firmicutes with clostridium spp. being the most dominant bacteria. the most predominant fungi were members of the phylum ascomycota with metschnikowia spp. being the most dominant. in this study, we also preliminarily characterised the cul ... | 2016 | 27108139 |
| software for real-time localization of baleen whale calls using directional sonobuoys: a case study on antarctic blue whales. | directional frequency analysis and recording (difar) sonobuoys can allow real-time acoustic localization of baleen whales for underwater tracking and remote sensing, but limited availability of hardware and software has prevented wider usage. these software limitations were addressed by developing a module in the open-source software pamguard. a case study is presented demonstrating that this software provides greater efficiency and accessibility than previous methods for detecting, localizing, ... | 2016 | 27036292 |
| calls reveal population structure of blue whales across the southeast indian ocean and the southwest pacific ocean. | for effective species management, understanding population structure and distribution is critical. however, quantifying population structure is not always straightforward. within the southern hemisphere, the blue whale (balaenoptera musculus) complex is extremely diverse but difficult to study. using automated detector methods, we identified "acoustic populations" of whales producing region-specific call types. we examined blue whale call types in passive acoustic data at sites spanning over 7,3 ... | 2015 | 26989263 |
| towards population-level conservation in the critically endangered antarctic blue whale: the number and distribution of their populations. | population-level conservation is required to prevent biodiversity loss within a species, but it first necessitates determining the number and distribution of populations. many whale populations are still depleted due to 20th century whaling. whales are one of the most logistically difficult and expensive animals to study because of their mobility, pelagic lifestyle and often remote habitat. we tackle the question of population structure in the antarctic blue whale (balaenoptera musculus intermed ... | 2016 | 26951747 |
| temporal segregation of the australian and antarctic blue whale call types (balaenoptera musculus spp.). | we examined recordings from a 15-month (may 2009-july 2010) continuous acoustic data set collected from a bottom-mounted passive acoustic recorder at a sample frequency of 6khz off portland, victoria, australia (38°33'01″s, 141°15'13″e) off southern australia. analysis revealed that calls from both subspecies were recorded at this site, and general additive modeling revealed that the number of calls varied significantly across seasons. antarctic blue whales were detected more frequently from jul ... | 2015 | 26937046 |
| low-frequency sound level in the southern indian ocean. | this study presents long-term statistics on the ambient sound in the southern indian ocean basin based on 2 years of data collected on six widely distributed autonomous hydrophones from 47°s to 4°s and 53°e to 83°e. daily mean power spectra (10-100 hz) were analyzed in order to identify the main sound sources and their space and time variability. periodic signals are principally associated with the seasonal presence of three types of blue whales and fin whales whose signatures are easily identif ... | 2015 | 26723301 |
| automated detection of antarctic blue whale calls. | this paper addresses the problem of automated detection of z-calls emitted by antarctic blue whales (b. m. intermedia). the proposed solution is based on a subspace detector of sigmoidal-frequency signals with unknown time-varying amplitude. this detection strategy takes into account frequency variations of blue whale calls as well as the presence of other transient sounds that can interfere with z-calls (such as airguns or other whale calls). the proposed method has been tested on more than 105 ... | 2015 | 26627784 |
| blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) optimize foraging efficiency by balancing oxygen use and energy gain as a function of prey density. | terrestrial predators can modulate the energy used for prey capture to maximize efficiency, but diving animals face the conflicting metabolic demands of energy intake and the minimization of oxygen depletion during a breath hold. it is thought that diving predators optimize their foraging success when oxygen use and energy gain act as competing currencies, but this hypothesis has not been rigorously tested because it has been difficult to measure the quality of prey that is targeted by free-rang ... | 2015 | 26601290 |
| designing an effective mark-recapture study of antarctic blue whales. | to properly conserve and manage wild populations, it is important to have information on abundance and population dynamics. in the case of rare and cryptic species, especially in remote locations, surveys can be difficult and expensive, and run the risk of not producing sample sizes large enough to produce precise estimates. therefore, it is crucial to conduct preliminary analysis to determine if the study will produce useable estimates. the focus of this paper is a proposed mark-recapture study ... | 2015 | 26465038 |
| description and seasonal detection of two potential whale calls recorded in the indian ocean. | unidentified acoustic signals are recorded by hydrophones placed in the world's oceans. some of these sounds are suspected to originate from marine mammals. in this study, two acoustic signals recorded by two arrays at diego garcia in the northern indian ocean are described. data were available between january 2002 and december 2003. signals were detected manually using long-term spectral average plots. time and frequency measurements were taken from a sample of both signals. the first unidentif ... | 2015 | 26428776 |
| a single-station method for the detection, classification and location of fin whale calls using ocean-bottom seismic stations. | passive seismic monitoring in the oceans uses long-term deployments of ocean bottom seismometers (obss). an obs usually records the three components of ground motion and pressure, typically at 100 hz. this makes the obs an ideal tool to investigate fin and blue whales that vocalize at frequencies below 45 hz. previous applications of obs data to locate whale calls have relied on single channel analyses that disregard the information that is conveyed by the horizontal seismic channels. recently, ... | 2015 | 26233048 |
| low genetic diversity in pygmy blue whales is due to climate-induced diversification rather than anthropogenic impacts. | unusually low genetic diversity can be a warning of an urgent need to mitigate causative anthropogenic activities. however, current low levels of genetic diversity in a population could also be due to natural historical events, including recent evolutionary divergence, or long-term persistence at a small population size. here, we determine whether the relatively low genetic diversity of pygmy blue whales (balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) in australia is due to natural causes or overexploitation ... | 2015 | 25948571 |
| stretchy nerves are an essential component of the extreme feeding mechanism of rorqual whales. | rorqual whales (balaenopteridae) are among the largest vertebrates that have ever lived and include blue (balaenoptera musculus) and fin (balaenoptera physalus) whales. rorquals differ from other baleen whales (mysticeti) in possessing longitudinal furrows or grooves in the ventral skin that extend from the mouth to the umbilicus. this ventral grooved blubber directly relates to their intermittent lunge feeding strategy, which is unique among vertebrates and was potentially an evolutionary innov ... | 2015 | 25942546 |
| sources and levels of ambient ocean sound near the antarctic peninsula. | arrays of hydrophones were deployed within the bransfield strait and scotia sea (antarctic peninsula region) from 2005 to 2009 to record ambient ocean sound at frequencies of up to 125 and 500 hz. icequakes, which are broadband, short duration signals derived from fracturing of large free-floating icebergs, are a prominent feature of the ocean soundscape. icequake activity peaks during austral summer and is minimum during winter, likely following freeze-thaw cycles. iceberg grounding and rapid d ... | 2015 | 25875205 |
| blue whale population structure along the eastern south pacific ocean: evidence of more than one population. | blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) were among the most intensively exploited species of whales in the world. as a consequence of this intense exploitation, blue whale sightings off the coast of chile were uncommon by the end of the 20th century. in 2004, a feeding and nursing ground was reported in southern chile (sch). with the aim to investigate the genetic identity and relationship of these chilean blue whales to those in other southern hemisphere areas, 60 biopsy samples were collected from ... | 2014 | 25492593 |
| red shift, blue shift: investigating doppler shifts, blubber thickness, and migration as explanations of seasonal variation in the tonality of antarctic blue whale song. | the song of antarctic blue whales (balaenoptera musculus intermedia) comprises repeated, stereotyped, low-frequency calls. measurements of these calls from recordings spanning many years have revealed a long-term linear decline as well as an intra-annual pattern in tonal frequency. while a number of hypotheses for this long-term decline have been investigated, including changes in population structure, changes in the physical environment, and changes in the behaviour of the whales, there have be ... | 2014 | 25229644 |
| acoustically invisible feeding blue whales in northern icelandic waters. | fixed passive acoustic monitoring can be used for long-term recording of vocalizing cetaceans. both presence monitoring and animal density estimation requires the call rates and sound source levels of vocalizations produced by single animals. in this study, blue whale calls were recorded using acoustic bio-logging systems in skjálfandi bay off húsavík, northeast iceland, in june 2012. an accelerometer was attached to individual whales to monitor diving behavior. during 21 h recording two individ ... | 2014 | 25096128 |
| spatial and temporal occurrence of blue whales off the u.s. west coast, with implications for management. | mortality and injuries caused by ship strikes in u.s. waters are a cause of concern for the endangered population of blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) occupying the eastern north pacific. we sought to determine which areas along the u.s. west coast are most important to blue whales and whether those areas change inter-annually. argos-monitored satellite tags were attached to 171 blue whales off california during summer/early fall from 1993 to 2008. we analyzed portions of the tracks that occur ... | 2014 | 25054829 |
| estimating historical eastern north pacific blue whale catches using spatial calling patterns. | blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) were exploited extensively around the world and remain endangered. in the north pacific their population structure is unclear and current status unknown, with the exception of a well-studied eastern north pacific (enp) population. despite existing abundance estimates for the enp population, it is difficult to estimate pre-exploitation abundance levels and gauge their recovery because historical catches of the enp population are difficult to separate from catch ... | 2014 | 24892427 |
| high genetic diversity in a small population: the case of chilean blue whales. | it is generally assumed that species with low population sizes have lower genetic diversities than larger populations and vice versa. however, this would not be the case for long-lived species with long generation times, and which populations have declined due to anthropogenic effects, such as the blue whale (balaenoptera musculus). this species was intensively decimated globally to near extinction during the 20th century. along the chilean coast, it is estimated that at least 4288 blue whales w ... | 2014 | 24834336 |
| a simulation study of acoustic-assisted tracking of whales for mark-recapture surveys. | collecting enough data to obtain reasonable abundance estimates of whales is often difficult, particularly when studying rare species. passive acoustics can be used to detect whale sounds and are increasingly used to estimate whale abundance. much of the existing effort centres on the use of acoustics to estimate abundance directly, e.g. analysing detections in a distance sampling framework. here, we focus on acoustics as a tool incorporated within mark-recapture surveys. in this context, acoust ... | 2014 | 24827919 |
| non-song vocalizations of pygmy blue whales in geographe bay, western australia. | non-song vocalizations of migrating pygmy blue whales (balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) in western australia are described. simultaneous land-based visual observations and underwater acoustic recordings detected 27 groups in geographe bay, wa over 2011 to 2012. six different vocalizations were recorded that were not repeated in a pattern or in association with song, and thus were identified as non-song vocalizations. five of these were not previously described for this population. their acousti ... | 2014 | 24815291 |
| migratory movements of pygmy blue whales (balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) between australia and indonesia as revealed by satellite telemetry. | in australian waters during the austral summer, pygmy blue whales (balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) occur predictably in two distinct feeding areas off western and southern australia. as with other blue whale subspecies, outside the austral summer their distribution and movements are poorly understood. in order to describe the migratory movements of these whales, we present the satellite telemetry derived movements of eleven individuals tagged off western australia over two years. whales were t ... | 2014 | 24718589 |
| blue whale vocalizations recorded around new zealand: 1964-2013. | previous underwater recordings made in new zealand have identified a complex sequence of low frequency sounds that have been attributed to blue whales based on similarity to blue whale songs in other areas. recordings of sounds with these characteristics were made opportunistically during the southern ocean research partnership's recent antarctic blue whale voyage. detections of these sounds occurred all around the south island of new zealand during the voyage transits from nelson, new zealand t ... | 2014 | 24606296 |
| the control of cell growth and body size in caenorhabditis elegans. | one of the most important ways in which animal species vary is in their size. individuals of the largest animal ever thought to have lived, the blue whale (balaenoptera musculus), can reach a weight of 190 t and a length of over 30 m. at the other extreme, among the smallest multicellular animals are males of the parasitic wasp, dicopomorpha echmepterygis, which even as adults are just 140 μm in length. in terms of volume, these species differ by more than 14 orders of magnitude. since size has ... | 2014 | 24262077 |
| selective pressurized liquid extraction of pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in a whale earplug (earwax): a novel method for analyzing organic contaminants in lipid-rich matrices. | lipid-rich matrices are often sinks for lipophilic contaminants, such as pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbdes). typically methods for contaminant extraction and cleanup for lipid-rich matrices require multiple cleanup steps; however, a selective pressurized liquid extraction (sple) technique requiring no additional cleanup has been developed for the simultaneous extraction and cleanup of whale earwax (cerumen; a lipid-rich matrix). whale earwax ... | 2013 | 24183593 |
| decadal trends in indian ocean ambient sound. | the increase of ocean noise documented in the north pacific has sparked concern on whether the observed increases are a global or regional phenomenon. this work provides evidence of low frequency sound increases in the indian ocean. a decade (2002-2012) of recordings made off the island of diego garcia, uk in the indian ocean was parsed into time series according to frequency band and sound level. quarterly sound level comparisons between the first and last years were also performed. the combina ... | 2013 | 24180757 |
| ocean noise in the tropical and subtropical pacific ocean. | ocean ambient noise is well studied in the north pacific and north atlantic but is poorly described for most of the worlds' oceans. calibrated passive acoustic recordings were collected during 2009-2010 at seven locations in the central and western tropical and subtropical pacific. monthly and hourly mean power spectra (15-1000 hz) were calculated in addition to their skewness, kurtosis, and percentile distributions. overall, ambient noise at these seven sites was 10-20 db lower than reported re ... | 2013 | 24116406 |
| north atlantic blue and fin whales suspend their spring migration to forage in middle latitudes: building up energy reserves for the journey? | the need to balance energy reserves during migration is a critical factor for most long-distance migrants and an important determinant of migratory strategies in birds, insects and land mammals. large baleen whales migrate annually between foraging and breeding sites, crossing vast ocean areas where food is seldom abundant. how whales respond to the demands and constraints of such long migrations remains unknown. we applied a behaviour discriminating hierarchical state-space model to the satelli ... | 2013 | 24116112 |
| blue whale earplug reveals lifetime contaminant exposure and hormone profiles. | lifetime contaminant and hormonal profiles have been reconstructed for an individual male blue whale (balaenoptera musculus, linnaeus 1758) using the earplug as a natural aging matrix that is also capable of archiving and preserving lipophilic compounds. these unprecedented lifetime profiles (i.e., birth to death) were reconstructed with a 6-mo resolution for a wide range of analytes including cortisol (stress hormone), testosterone (developmental hormone), organic contaminants (e.g., pesticides ... | 2013 | 24043814 |
| whales use distinct strategies to counteract solar ultraviolet radiation. | a current threat to the marine ecosystem is the high level of solar ultraviolet radiation (uv). large whales have recently been shown to suffer sun-induced skin damage from continuous uv exposure. genotoxic consequences of such exposure remain unknown for these long-lived marine species, as does their capacity to counteract uv-induced insults. we show that uv exposure induces mitochondrial dna damage in the skin of seasonally sympatric fin, sperm, and blue whales and that this damage accumulates ... | 2013 | 23989080 |
| acoustic detection and long-term monitoring of pygmy blue whales over the continental slope in southwest australia. | a 9-yr dataset of continuous sea noise recording made at the cape leeuwin station of the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty hydroacoustic network in 2002-2010 was processed to detect calls from pygmy blue whales and to analyze diurnal, seasonal, and interannual variations in their vocal activity. because the conventional spectrogram correlation method for recognizing whale calls in sea noise resulted in a too high false detection rate, alternative algorithms were tested and the most robust on ... | 2013 | 23968048 |
| seasonal and geographic variation of southern blue whale subspecies in the indian ocean. | understanding the seasonal movements and distribution patterns of migratory species over ocean basin scales is vital for appropriate conservation and management measures. however, assessing populations over remote regions is challenging, particularly if they are rare. blue whales (balaenoptera musculus spp) are an endangered species found in the southern and indian oceans. here two recognized subspecies of blue whales and, based on passive acoustic monitoring, four "acoustic populations" occur. ... | 2013 | 23967221 |
| blue whales respond to simulated mid-frequency military sonar. | mid-frequency military (1-10 khz) sonars have been associated with lethal mass strandings of deep-diving toothed whales, but the effects on endangered baleen whale species are virtually unknown. here, we used controlled exposure experiments with simulated military sonar and other mid-frequency sounds to measure behavioural responses of tagged blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) in feeding areas within the southern california bight. despite using source levels orders of magnitude below some opera ... | 2013 | 23825206 |
| the simultaneous detection of mitochondrial dna damage from sun-exposed skin of three whale species and its association with uv-induced microscopic lesions and apoptosis. | due to life history and physiological constraints, cetaceans (whales) are unable to avoid prolonged exposure to external environmental insults, such as solar ultraviolet radiation (uv). the majority of studies on the effects of uv on skin are restricted to humans and laboratory animals, but it is important to develop tools to understand the effects of uv damage on large mammals such as whales, as these animals are long-lived and widely distributed, and can reflect the effects of uv across a larg ... | 2013 | 23583579 |
| assessing the risk of ships striking large whales in marine spatial planning. | marine spatial planning provides a comprehensive framework for managing multiple uses of the marine environment and has the potential to minimize environmental impacts and reduce conflicts among users. spatially explicit assessments of the risks to key marine species from human activities are a requirement of marine spatial planning. we assessed the risk of ships striking humpback (megaptera novaeangliae), blue (balaenoptera musculus), and fin (balaenoptera physalus) whales in alternative shippi ... | 2013 | 23521668 |
| fine-scale population structure of blue whale wintering aggregations in the gulf of california. | population differentiation in environments without well-defined geographical barriers represents a challenge for wildlife management. based on a comprehensive database of individual sighting records (1988-2009) of blue whales from the winter/calving gulf of california, we assessed the fine-scale genetic and spatial structure of the population using individual-based approaches. skin samples of 187 individuals were analyzed for nine microsatellite loci. a single population with no divergence among ... | 2013 | 23505485 |
| anatomy and age estimation of an early blue whale (balaenoptera musculus) fetus. | the external anatomy of a 130-mm blue whale fetus (balaenoptera musculus) is described, and its internal anatomy is reconstructed noninvasively from microct scans. the specimen lies developmentally at the junction of the embryonic and fetal periods. similarly to the embryos of many odontocetes, it lacks a caudal fluke and dorsal fin, but it also exhibits an elongated rostrum, resorbed umbilical hernia, partially exposed cornea, and spatial separation of the anus and genitalia seen in early odont ... | 2013 | 23447333 |
| how large should whales be? | the evolution and distribution of species body sizes for terrestrial mammals is well-explained by a macroevolutionary tradeoff between short-term selective advantages and long-term extinction risks from increased species body size, unfolding above the 2 g minimum size induced by thermoregulation in air. here, we consider whether this same tradeoff, formalized as a constrained convection-reaction-diffusion system, can also explain the sizes of fully aquatic mammals, which have not previously been ... | 2013 | 23342050 |
| underwater acrobatics by the world's largest predator: 360° rolling manoeuvres by lunge-feeding blue whales. | the extreme body size of blue whales requires a high energy intake and therefore demands efficient foraging strategies. as an obligate lunge feeder on aggregations of small zooplankton, blue whales engulf a large volume of prey-laden water in a single, rapid gulp. the efficiency of this feeding mechanism is strongly dependent on the amount of prey that can be captured during each lunge, yet food resources tend to be patchily distributed in both space and time. here, we measured the three-dimensi ... | 2013 | 23193050 |
| hybridization of southern hemisphere blue whale subspecies and a sympatric area off antarctica: impacts of whaling or climate change? | understanding the degree of genetic exchange between subspecies and populations is vital for the appropriate management of endangered species. blue whales (balaenoptera musculus) have two recognized southern hemisphere subspecies that show differences in geographic distribution, morphology, vocalizations and genetics. during the austral summer feeding season, the antarctic blue whale (b. m. intermedia) is found in polar waters and the pygmy blue whale (b. m. brevicauda) in temperate waters. here ... | 2012 | 23137299 |
| tracking fin whales in the northeast pacific ocean with a seafloor seismic network. | ocean bottom seismometer (obs) networks represent a tool of opportunity to study fin and blue whales. a small obs network on the juan de fuca ridge in the northeast pacific ocean in ~2.3 km of water recorded an extensive data set of 20-hz fin whale calls. an automated method has been developed to identify arrival times based on instantaneous frequency and amplitude and to locate calls using a grid search even in the presence of a few bad arrival times. when only one whale is calling near the net ... | 2012 | 23039436 |
| application of mcmaster's technique in live blue whales. | | 2012 | 22798341 |
| steady inter and intra-annual decrease in the vocalization frequency of antarctic blue whales. | time averaged narrow-band noise near 27 hz produced by vocalizations of many distant antarctic blue whales intensifies seasonally from early february to late october in the ocean off australia's south west. spectral characteristics of long term patterns in this noise band were analyzed using ambient noise data collected at the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty hydroacoustic station off cape leeuwin, western australia over 2002-2010. within 7 day averaged noise spectra derived from 4096-point ... | 2012 | 22712920 |
| circumpolar diversity and geographic differentiation of mtdna in the critically endangered antarctic blue whale (balaenoptera musculus intermedia). | the antarctic blue whale (balaenoptera musculus intermedia) was hunted to near extinction between 1904 and 1972, declining from an estimated initial abundance of more than 250,000 to fewer than 400. here, we describe mtdna control region diversity and geographic differentiation in the surviving population of the antarctic blue whale, using 218 biopsy samples collected under the auspices of the international whaling commission (iwc) during research cruises from 1990-2009. microsatellite genotypes ... | 2012 | 22412889 |