| observations of vaginal calculi in dolphins. | vaginal calculi have been described from the common (delphinus delphis), pacific white-sided (lagenorhynchus obliquidens) and spotted (stenella attenuata) dolphins. we describe additional calculi found in six sexually mature d. delphis from southern california. three calculi were large (ca. 7 x 5 cm), exhibited concentric layer crystallization, and were unique from previously published descriptions. one calculus described previously and one in our sample appeared to be a fetal skeleton and skull ... | 1991 | 1920661 |
| the lungworm, halocercus spp. (nematoda: pseudaliidae) in cetaceans from california. | three cetaceans from monterey bay, california (usa), were infected with lung nematodes. a beaked whale calf, mesoplodon sp. was infected with adult halocercus sp. this represents a new host record for this nematode. the lungs of a northern right whale dolphin calf, lissodelphis borealis, contained an unidentified nematode similar in size to halocercus sp. the presence of phyllobothrium delphini-type cestode larvae in its blubber is evidence that the calf was feeding on invertebrates. a pregnant ... | 1993 | 8355360 |
| declining survival probability threatens the north atlantic right whale. | the north atlantic northern right whale (eubalaena glacialis) is considered the most endangered large whale species. its population has recovered only slowly since the cessation of commercial whaling and numbers about 300 individuals. we applied mark-recapture statistics to a catalog of photographically identified individuals to obtain the first statistically rigorous estimates of survival probability for this population. crude survival decreased from about 0.99 per year in 1980 to about 0.94 in ... | 1999 | 10077680 |
| isomer-specific accumulation and toxic assessment of polychlorinated biphenyls, including coplanar congeners, in cetaceans from the north pacific and asian coastal waters. | to elucidate the global distribution and toxicological impacts of polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) on cetaceans, the present study determined the concentrations of individual pcb congeners, including toxic non-ortho (iupac nos. 77, 126, 169) and mono-ortho (iupac nos. 105, 118, 156) coplanar congeners, in the blubber of 10 species of adult male odontocetes collected from several locations in the north pacific ocean and along coastal waters of japan, hong kong, the philippines, and india during 1 ... | 2000 | 10948292 |
| population histories of right whales (cetacea: eubalaena) inferred from mitochondrial sequence diversities and divergences of their whale lice (amphipoda: cyamus). | right whales carry large populations of three 'whale lice' (cyamus ovalis, cyamus gracilis, cyamus erraticus) that have no other hosts. we used sequence variation in the mitochondrial coi gene to ask (i) whether cyamid population structures might reveal associations among right whale individuals and subpopulations, (ii) whether the divergences of the three nominally conspecific cyamid species on north atlantic, north pacific, and southern right whales (eubalaena glacialis, eubalaena japonica, eu ... | 2005 | 16156814 |
| hexavalent chromium is cytotoxic and genotoxic to the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) lung and testes fibroblasts. | although hexavalent chromium is a known genotoxic agent in human and terrestrial mammals and is present in seawater and air, its effects on marine mammals including the endangered north atlantic right whale are unknown and untested. the present study investigated the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of hexavalent chromium in primary cultured north atlantic right whale lung and testes fibroblasts and levels of total chromium in skin biopsies from north atlantic right whales. cytotoxicity was measu ... | 2008 | 18006369 |
| medaka (oryzias latipes) as a sentinel species for aquatic animals: medaka cells exhibit a similar genotoxic response as north atlantic right whale cells. | hexavalent chromium (cr(vi)) is emerging as a major concern for aquatic environments, particularly marine environments. medaka (oryzias latipes) has been used as a model species for human and aquatic health, including the marine environment, though few studies have directly compared toxicological responses in medaka to humans or other aquatic species. we used a medaka fin cell line to compare the genotoxic response of medaka to cr(vi) to the response observed in north atlantic right whale cells ... | 2009 | 18930840 |
| particulate hexavalent chromium is cytotoxic and genotoxic to the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) lung and skin fibroblasts. | hexavalent chromium compounds are present in the atmosphere and oceans and are established mutagens and carcinogens in human and terrestrial mammals. however, the adverse effects of these toxicants in marine mammals are uncertain. previously, we reported that north atlantic right whales, one of the most endangered great whales, have tissue chromium levels that are high, levels that may pose a risk to the whale's health. furthermore, the study suggested that inhalation may be an important exposur ... | 2009 | 19230002 |
| cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of hexavalent chromium in human and north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) lung cells. | humans and cetaceans are exposed to a wide range of contaminants. in this study, we compared the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of a metal pollutant, hexavalent chromium [cr(vi)], which has been shown to cause damage in lung cells from both humans and north atlantic right whales. our results show that cr induces increased cell death and chromosome damage in lung cells from both species with increasing intracellular cr ion levels. soluble cr(vi) induced less of a cytotoxic and genotoxic effect b ... | 2009 | 19632355 |
| individual right whales call louder in increased environmental noise. | the ability to modify vocalizations to compensate for environmental noise is critical for successful communication in a dynamic acoustic environment. many marine species rely on sound for vital life functions including communication, navigation and feeding. the impacts of significant increases in ocean noise levels from human activities are a current area of concern for the conservation of marine mammals. here, we document changes in calling behaviour by individual endangered north atlantic righ ... | 2011 | 20610418 |
| a generalized baleen whale call detection and classification system. | passive acoustic monitoring allows the assessment of marine mammal occurrence and distribution at greater temporal and spatial scales than is now possible with traditional visual surveys. however, the large volume of acoustic data and the lengthy and laborious task of manually analyzing these data have hindered broad application of this technique. to overcome these limitations, a generalized automated detection and classification system (dcs) was developed to efficiently and accurately identify ... | 2011 | 21568392 |
| patterns of occurrence and marine mammal acoustic behavior in relation to navy sonar activity off jacksonville, florida. | passive acoustic data collected from marine autonomous recording units deployed off jacksonville, fl (from 13 september to 8 october 2009 and 3 december 2009 to 8 january 2010), were analyzed for detection of cetaceans and navy sonar. cetaceans detected included balaenoptera acutorostrata, eubalaena glacialis, b. borealis, physeter macrocephalus, blackfish, and delphinids. e. glacialis were detected at shallow and, somewhat unexpectedly, deep sites. p. macrocephalus were characterized by a stron ... | 2016 | 26611034 |
| wintering habitat model for the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) in the southeastern united states. | the coastal waters off the southeastern united states (seus) are a primary wintering ground for the endangered north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis), used by calving females along with other adult and juvenile whales. management actions implemented in this area for the recovery of the right whale population rely on accurate habitat characterization and the ability to predict whale distribution over time. we developed a temporally dynamic habitat model to predict wintering right whale ... | 2014 | 24740091 |
| public willingness to pay for recovering and downlisting threatened and endangered marine species. | nonmarket valuation research has produced economic value estimates for a variety of threatened, endangered, and rare species around the world. although over 40 value estimates exist, it is often difficult to compare values from different studies due to variations in study design, implementation, and modeling specifications. we conducted a stated-preference choice experiment to estimate the value of recovering or downlisting 8 threatened and endangered marine species in the united states: loggerh ... | 2012 | 22827248 |
| prevalence of cryptosporidium spp. and giardia spp. in five marine mammal species. | cryptosporidium spp. and giardia spp. are protozoan parasites that are often associated with severe diarrheal disease in a variety of mammals. although these parasites have been extensively studied in terrestrial ecosystems, little is known about either parasite in the marine environment. therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of both cryptosporidium spp. and giardia spp. in 5 marine mammal species. fecal samples were collected from 39 bowhead whales (balaena myst ... | 2005 | 16419775 |
| 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 |
| short- and long-term changes in right whale calling behavior: the potential effects of noise on acoustic communication. | the impact of anthropogenic noise on marine mammals has been an area of increasing concern over the past two decades. most low-frequency anthropogenic noise in the ocean comes from commercial shipping which has contributed to an increase in ocean background noise over the past 150 years. the long-term impacts of these changes on marine mammals are not well understood. this paper describes both short- and long-term behavioral changes in calls produced by the endangered north atlantic right whale ... | 2007 | 18247780 |
| mitochondrial dna diversity and population structure among southern right whales (eubalaena australis). | the population structure and mitochondrial (mt) dna diversity of southern right whales (eubalaena australis) are described from 146 individuals sampled on 4 winter calving grounds (argentina, south africa, western australia, and the new zealand sub-antarctic) and 2 summer feeding grounds (south georgia and south of western australia). based on a consensus region of 275 base pairs of the mtdna control region, 37 variable sites defined 37 unique haplotypes, of which only one was shared between reg ... | 2008 | 17416933 |
| sound production by north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) in surface active groups. | the surface active group (sag) is the most commonly observed surface social behavior of north atlantic right whales. recordings were made from 52 sags in the bay of fundy, canada between july and september, from 1999 to 2002. the call types recorded from these groups were similar to those described previously for southern right whales (eubalaena australis), with six major call types being termed scream, gunshot, blow, upcall, warble, and downcall. the percentage of total calls of each call type ... | 2005 | 15957796 |
| coping with copepods: do right whales (eubalaena glacialis) forage visually in dark waters? | north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) feed during the spring and early summer in marine waters off the northeast coast of north america. their food primarily consists of planktonic copepods, calanus finmarchicus, which they consume in large numbers by ram filter feeding. the coastal waters where these whales forage are turbid, but they successfully locate copepod swarms during the day at depths exceeding 100 m, where light is very dim and copepod patches may be difficult to see. usin ... | 2017 | 28193812 |
| entanglement is a costly life-history stage in large whales. | individuals store energy to balance deficits in natural cycles; however, unnatural events can also lead to unbalanced energy budgets. entanglement in fishing gear is one example of an unnatural but relatively common circumstance that imposes energetic demands of a similar order of magnitude and duration of life-history events such as migration and pregnancy in large whales. we present two complementary bioenergetic approaches to estimate the energy associated with entanglement in north atlantic ... | 2017 | 28070278 |
| predicting lethal entanglements as a consequence of drag from fishing gear. | large whales are frequently entangled in fishing gear and sometimes swim while carrying gear for days to years. entangled whales are subject to additional drag forces requiring increased thrust power and energy expenditure over time. to classify entanglement cases and aid potential disentanglement efforts, it is useful to know how long an entangled whale might survive, given the unique configurations of the gear they are towing. this study establishes an approach to predict drag forces on fishin ... | 2017 | 27923466 |
| hydration affects the physical and mechanical properties of baleen tissue. | baleen, an anisotropic oral filtering tissue found only in the mouth of mysticete whales and made solely of alpha-keratin, exhibits markedly differing physical and mechanical properties between dried or (as in life) hydrated states. on average baleen is 32.35% water by weight in north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) and 34.37% in bowhead whales (balaena mysticetus). baleen's wettability measured by water droplet contact angles shows that dried baleen is hydrophobic whereas hydrated b ... | 2016 | 27853579 |
| endangered right whales enhance primary productivity in the bay of fundy. | marine mammals have recently been documented as important facilitators of rapid and efficient nutrient recycling in coastal and offshore waters. whales enhance phytoplankton nutrition by releasing fecal plumes near the surface after feeding and by migrating from highly productive, high-latitude feeding areas to low-latitude nutrient-poor calving areas. in this study, we measured nh4+ and po43- release rates from the feces of north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis), a highly endangered ... | 2016 | 27331902 |
| longitudinal progesterone profiles in baleen from female north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) match known calving history. | reproduction of mysticete whales is difficult to monitor, and basic parameters, such as pregnancy rate and inter-calving interval, remain unknown for many populations. we hypothesized that baleen plates (keratinous strips that grow downward from the palate of mysticete whales) might record previous pregnancies, in the form of high-progesterone regions in the sections of baleen that grew while the whale was pregnant. to test this hypothesis, longitudinal baleen progesterone profiles from two adul ... | 2016 | 27293762 |
| evolutionary loss of cone photoreception in balaenid whales reveals circuit stability in the mammalian retina. | the classical understanding of mammalian vision is that it occurs through "duplex" retinae containing both rod and cone photoreceptors, the signals from which are processed through rod- and/or cone-specific signaling pathways. the recent discovery of rod monochromacy in some cetacean lineages provides a novel opportunity to investigate the effects of an evolutionary loss of cone photoreception on retinal organization. sequence analysis of right whale (eubalaena glacialis; family balaenidae) cdna ... | 2016 | 26972896 |
| a spatially explicit estimate of the prewhaling abundance of the endangered north atlantic right whale. | the north atlantic right whale (narw) (eubalaena glacialis) is one of the world's most threatened whales. it came close to extinction after nearly a millennium of exploitation and currently persists as a population of only approximately 500 individuals. setting appropriate conservation targets for this species requires an understanding of its historical population size, as a baseline for measuring levels of depletion and progress toward recovery. this is made difficult by the scarcity of records ... | 2016 | 26632250 |
| effects of model formulation on estimates of health in individual right whales (eubalaena glacialis). | right whales are vulnerable to many sources of anthropogenic disturbance including ship strikes, entanglement with fishing gear, and anthropogenic noise. the effect of these factors on individual health is unclear. a statistical model using photographic evidence of health was recently built to infer the true or hidden health of individual right whales. however, two important prior assumptions about the role of missing data and unexplained variance on the estimates were not previously assessed. h ... | 2016 | 26611058 |
| expert elicitation of population-level effects of disturbance. | expert elicitation is a rigorous method for synthesizing expert knowledge to inform decision making and is reliable and practical when field data are limited. we evaluated the feasibility of applying expert elicitation to estimate population-level effects of disturbance on marine mammals. diverse experts estimated parameters related to mortality and sublethal injury of north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis). we are now eliciting expert knowledge on the movement of right whales among g ... | 2016 | 26610972 |
| effects of fishing rope strength on the severity of large whale entanglements. | entanglement in fixed fishing gear affects whales worldwide. in the united states, deaths of north atlantic right (eubalaena glacialis) and humpback whales (megaptera novaeangliae) have exceeded management limits for decades. we examined live and dead whales entangled in fishing gear along the u.s. east coast and the canadian maritimes from 1994 to 2010. we recorded whale species, age, and injury severity and determined rope polymer type, breaking strength, and diameter of the fishing gear. for ... | 2016 | 26183819 |
| conservation physiology of an uncatchable animal: the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis). | the north atlantic right whale, eubalaena glacialis (narw), a critically endangered species that has been under intensive study for nearly four decades, provides an excellent case study for applying modern methods of conservation physiology to large whales. by combining long-term sighting histories of known individuals with physiological data from newer techniques (e.g., body condition estimated from photographs; endocrine status derived from fecal samples), physiological state and levels of str ... | 2015 | 26116203 |
| the right whale mandatory ship reporting system: a retrospective. | in 1998, the united states sought and received international maritime organization-endorsement of two mandatory ship reporting (msr) systems designed to improve mariner awareness about averting ship collisions with the endangered north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis). vessel collisions are a serious threat to the right whale and the program was among the first formal attempts to reduce this threat. under the provisions of the msr, all ships >300 gross tons are required to report their ... | 2015 | 25861555 |
| statistical analysis of north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) signal trains in cape cod bay, spring 2012. | statistical characteristics of signal trains produced by north atlantic right whales (narw) during the winter and early spring in cape cod bay, ma are described. data analysis was based on four days of acoustic recordings that were obtained with synchronized hydrophones. based on temporal and geographical clustering of detected signals, 7264 narw sounds were identified and associated with 559 signal trains. the detected signals were assigned to four classes of narrowband tonal calls--upcalls, do ... | 2014 | 25373984 |
| getting it right for the north atlantic right whale (eubalaenaglacialis): a last opportunity for effective marine spatial planning? | the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) faces increasing pressure from commercial shipping traffic and proposed marine renewable energy developments. drawing upon the successful stellwagen bank national marine sanctuary model, we propose a multi-stakeholder marine spatial planning process that considers both appropriate positioning of offshore wind farms and redefining commercial shipping lanes relative to whale migration routes: placement of wind turbines within certain right whale ... | 2014 | 24998798 |
| compliance with vessel speed restrictions to protect north atlantic right whales. | environmental regulations can only be effective if they are adhered to, but the motivations for regulatory compliance are not always clear. we assessed vessel operator compliance with a december 2008 regulation aimed at reducing collisions with the endangered north atlantic right whale that requires vessels 65 feet or greater in length to travel at speeds of 10 knots or less at prescribed times and locations along the u.s. eastern seaboard. extensive outreach efforts were undertaken to notify af ... | 2014 | 24949229 |
| remote acoustic monitoring of north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) reveals seasonal and diel variations in acoustic behavior. | remote acoustic monitoring is a non-invasive tool that can be used to study the distribution, behavior, and habitat use of sound-producing species. the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) is an endangered baleen whale species that produces a variety of stereotyped acoustic signals. one of these signals, the "gunshot" sound, has only been recorded from adult male north atlantic right whales and is thought to function for reproduction, either as reproductive advertisement for females ... | 2014 | 24646524 |
| simulated masking of right whale sounds by shipping noise: incorporating a model of the auditory periphery. | many species of large, mysticete whales are known to produce low-frequency communication sounds. these low-frequency sounds are susceptible to communication masking by shipping noise, which also tends to be low frequency in nature. the size of these species makes behavioral assessment of auditory capabilities in controlled, captive environments nearly impossible, and field-based playback experiments are expensive and necessarily limited in scope. hence, it is desirable to produce a masking model ... | 2014 | 24606298 |
| archaeological remains accounting for the presence and exploitation of the north atlantic right whale eubalaena glacialis on the portuguese coast (peniche, west iberia), 16th to 17th century. | the former occurrence of the north atlantic right whale eubalaena glacialis on the portuguese coast may be inferred from the historical range of that species in europe and in nw africa. it is generally accepted that it was the main prey of coastal whaling in the middle ages and in the pre-modern period, but this assumption still needs firming up based on biological and archaeological evidence. we describe the skeletal remains of right whales excavated at peniche in 2001-2002, in association with ... | 2014 | 24505251 |
| effects of body condition on buoyancy in endangered north atlantic right whales. | buoyancy is an important consideration for diving marine animals, resulting in specific ecologically relevant adaptations. marine mammals use blubber as an energy reserve, but because this tissue is also positively buoyant, nutritional demands have the potential to cause considerable variation in buoyancy. north atlantic right whales eubalaena glacialis are known to be positively buoyant as a result of their blubber, and the thickness of this layer varies considerably, but the effect of this var ... | 2014 | 24457930 |
| characterization of class i- and class ii-like major histocompatibility complex loci in pedigrees of north atlantic right whales. | north atlantic right whales have one of the lowest levels of genetic variation at minisatellite loci, microsatellite loci, and mitochondrial control region haplotypes among mammals. here, adaptive variation at the peptide binding region of class i and class ii drb-like genes of the major histocompatibility complex was assessed. amplification of a duplicated region in 222 individuals revealed at least 11 class ii alleles. six alleles were assigned to the locus eugl-drb1 and 5 alleles were assigne ... | 2014 | 24381183 |
| vocalization characteristics of north atlantic right whale surface active groups in the calving habitat, southeastern united states. | passive acoustic surveys were conducted to assess the vocal behavior of north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) in the designated critical calving habitat along the shallow coastal waters of southeastern united states. underwater vocalizations were recorded using autonomous buoys deployed in close proximity to surface active groups (sags). nine main vocalization types were identified with manual inspection of spectrograms, and standard acoustic descriptors were extracted. classificatio ... | 2013 | 25669262 |
| postcopulatory selection for dissimilar gametes maintains heterozygosity in the endangered north atlantic right whale. | although small populations are expected to lose genetic diversity through genetic drift and inbreeding, a number of mechanisms exist that could minimize this genetic decline. examples include mate choice for unrelated mates and fertilization patterns biased toward genetically dissimilar gametes. both processes have been widely documented, but the long-term implications have received little attention. here, we combined over 25 years of field data with high-resolution genetic data to assess the lo ... | 2013 | 24223284 |
| calling depths of baleen whales from single sensor data: development of an autocorrelation method using multipath localization. | multipath localization techniques have not previously been applied to baleen whale vocalizations due to difficulties in application to tonal vocalizations. here it is shown that an autocorrelation method coupled with the direct reflected time difference of arrival localization technique can successfully resolve location information. a derivation was made to model the autocorrelation of a direct signal and its overlapping reflections to illustrate that an autocorrelation may be used to extract re ... | 2013 | 23968054 |
| using hierarchical bayes to understand movement, health, and survival in the endangered north atlantic right whale. | body condition is an indicator of health, and it plays a key role in many vital processes for mammalian species. while evidence of individual body condition can be obtained, these observations provide just brief glimpses into the health state of the animal. an analytical framework is needed for understanding how health of animals changes over space and time.through knowledge of individual health we can better understand the status of populations. this is particularly important in endangered spec ... | 2013 | 23762237 |
| swim speed, behavior, and movement of north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) in coastal waters of northeastern florida, usa. | in a portion of the coastal waters of northeastern florida, north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) occur close to shore from december through march. these waters are included within the designated critical habitat for right whales. data on swim speed, behavior, and direction of movement--with photo-identification of individual whales--were gathered by a volunteer sighting network working alongside experienced scientists and supplemented by aerial observations. in seven years (2001-200 ... | 2013 | 23326603 |
| absolute probability estimates of lethal vessel strikes to north atlantic right whales in roseway basin, scotian shelf. | vessel strikes are the primary source of known mortality for the endangered north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis). multi-institutional efforts to reduce mortality associated with vessel strikes include vessel-routing amendments such as the international maritime organization voluntary "area to be avoided" (atba) in the roseway basin right whale feeding habitat on the southwestern scotian shelf. though relative probabilities of lethal vessel strikes have been estimated and published, a ... | 2012 | 23210317 |
| quantifying loss of acoustic communication space for right whales in and around a u.s. national marine sanctuary. | the effects of chronic exposure to increasing levels of human-induced underwater noise on marine animal populations reliant on sound for communication are poorly understood. we sought to further develop methods of quantifying the effects of communication masking associated with human-induced sound on contact-calling north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) in an ecologically relevant area (~10,000 km(2) ) and time period (peak feeding time). we used an array of temporary, bottom-mounted ... | 2012 | 22891747 |
| acoustically detected year-round presence of right whales in an urbanized migration corridor. | species' conservation relies on understanding their seasonal habitats and migration routes. north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis), listed as endangered under the u.s. endangered species act, migrate from the southeastern u.s. coast to cape cod bay, massachusetts, a federally designated critical habitat, from february through may to feed. the whales then continue north across the gulf of maine to northern waters (e.g., bay of fundy). to enter cape cod bay, right whales must traverse a ... | 2012 | 22620490 |
| characteristics of gunshot sound displays by north atlantic right whales in the bay of fundy. | north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) produce a loud, broadband signal referred to as the gunshot sound. these distinctive sounds may be suitable for passive acoustic monitoring and detection of right whales; however, little is known about the prevalence of these sounds in important right whale habitats, such as the bay of fundy. this study investigates the timing and distribution of gunshot sound production on the summer feeding grounds using an array of five marine acoustic recordi ... | 2012 | 22501089 |
| evidence that ship noise increases stress in right whales. | baleen whales (mysticeti) communicate using low-frequency acoustic signals. these long-wavelength sounds can be detected over hundreds of kilometres, potentially allowing contact over large distances. low-frequency noise from large ships (20-200 hz) overlaps acoustic signals used by baleen whales, and increased levels of underwater noise have been documented in areas with high shipping traffic. reported responses of whales to increased noise include: habitat displacement, behavioural changes and ... | 2012 | 22319129 |
| endangered north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) experience repeated, concurrent exposure to multiple environmental neurotoxins produced by marine algae. | the western north atlantic population of right whales (eubalaena glacialis) is one of the most critically endangered of any whale population in the world. among the factors considered to have potentially adverse effects on the health and reproduction of e. glacialis are biotoxins produced by certain microalgae responsible for causing harmful algal blooms. the worldwide incidence of these events has continued to increase dramatically over the past several decades and is expected to remain problem ... | 2012 | 22018895 |
| confirmation of right whales near a nineteenth-century whaling ground east of southern greenland. | north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) were found in an important nineteenth century whaling area east of southern greenland, from which they were once thought to have been extirpated. in 2007-2008, a 1-year passive acoustic survey was conducted at five sites in and near the 'cape farewell ground', the former whaling ground. over 2000 right whale calls were recorded at these sites, primarily during july-november. most calls were northwest of the historic ground, suggesting a broader r ... | 2011 | 21270027 |
| quantitative computed tomography of humpback whale (megaptera novaeangliae) mandibles: mechanical implications for rorqual lunge-feeding. | rorqual whales (balaenopteridae) lunge at high speed with mouth open to nearly 90 degrees to engulf large volumes of prey-laden water. this feeding process is enabled by extremely large skulls and mandibles that increase mouth area, thereby facilitating the flux of water into the mouth. when these mandibles are lowered during lunge-feeding, they are exposed to high drag, and therefore, may be subject to significant bending forces. we hypothesized that these mandibles exhibited a mechanical desig ... | 2010 | 20583267 |
| sedation at sea of entangled north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) to enhance disentanglement. | the objective of this study was to enhance removal of fishing gear from right whales (eubalaena glacialis) at sea that evade disentanglement boat approaches. titrated intra muscular injections to achieve sedation were undertaken on two free swimming right whales. | 2010 | 20231895 |
| tracking mtdna heteroplasmy through multiple generations in the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis). | mitochondrial heteroplasmy has been identified in a variety of species and can result from either paternal leakage, whereby sperm mitochondria enter the ova during fertilization, or more commonly by the "survival" and proliferation of mutant variants within an organism. from an evolutionary perspective, this process represents the generation of new mitochondrial diversity within a species. although this has been documented in some mammalian species, it has been reported from relatively few wild ... | 2010 | 19939969 |
| efficacy of a voluntary area to be avoided to reduce risk of lethal vessel strikes to endangered whales. | ocean-going vessels pose a threat to large whales worldwide and are responsible for the majority of reported deaths diagnosed among endangered north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis). various conservation policies have been implemented to reduce vessel-strike mortality in this species. the international maritime organization adopted the roseway basin area to be avoided on the scotian shelf as a voluntary conservation initiative to reduce the risk of lethal vessel strikes to right whale ... | 2009 | 19775275 |
| variability in ambient noise levels and call parameters of north atlantic right whales in three habitat areas. | the north atlantic right whale inhabits the coastal waters off the east coasts of the united states and canada, areas characterized by high levels of shipping and fishing activities. acoustic communication plays an important role in the social behavior of these whales and increases in low-frequency noise may be leading to changes in their calling behavior. this study characterizes the ambient noise levels, including both natural and anthropogenic sources, and right whale upcall parameters in thr ... | 2009 | 19206896 |
| sampling the skin transcriptome of the north atlantic right whale. | as an initial step in defining the transcriptome of the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) and developing functional genomic tools to study right whale health at the molecular physiological level, a cdna library has been constructed from a skin biopsy. 2496 randomly selected clones (expressed sequence tags, ests) have been sequenced, and genes identified as important in the response to stress and immune challenges have been cloned by targeted rt-pcr from skin cdna. the analysis of ... | 2009 | 20403765 |
| gross and histologic evidence of sharp and blunt trauma in north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) killed by vessels. | vessel-whale collision events represented the ultimate cause of death for 21 (52.5%) of the 40 north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) necropsied between 1970 and december 2006. injuries seen in vessel-struck whales fall into two distinct categories: 1) sharp trauma, often resulting from contact with the propeller, and 2) blunt trauma, presumably resulting from contact with a vessel's hull. this study analyzes four trauma cases that resulted from vessel-whale collisions, which together ... | 2008 | 18432095 |
| patterns of male reproductive success in a highly promiscuous whale species: the endangered north atlantic right whale. | parentage analyses of baleen whales are rare, and although mating systems have been hypothesized for some species, little data on realized male reproductive success are available and the patterns of male reproductive success have remained elusive for most species. here we combine over 20 years of photo-identification data with high-resolution genetic data for the majority of individual north atlantic right whales to assess paternity in this endangered species. there was significant skew in male ... | 2007 | 17971086 |
| nonlinear phenomena in the vocalizations of north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) and killer whales (orcinus orca). | nonlinear phenomena or nonlinearities in animal vocalizations include features such as subharmonics, deterministic chaos, biphonation, and frequency jumps that until recently were generally ignored in acoustic analyses. recent documentation of these phenomena in several species suggests that they may play a communicative role, though the exact function is still under investigation. here, qualitative descriptions and quantitative analyses of nonlinearities in the vocalizations of killer whales (o ... | 2007 | 17927399 |
| acoustic detection of north atlantic right whale contact calls using spectrogram-based statistics. | this paper considers the problem of detection of contact calls produced by the critically endangered north atlantic right whale, eubalaena glacialis. to reduce computational time, the class of acceptable detectors is constrained by the detectors implemented as a bank of two-dimensional linear fir filters and using the data spectrogram as the input. the closed form representations for the detectors are derived and the detection performance is compared with that of the generalized likelihood ratio ... | 2007 | 17672627 |
| anatomical predictions of hearing in the north atlantic right whale. | some knowledge of the hearing abilities of right whales is important for understanding their acoustic communication system and possible impacts of anthropogenic noise. traditional behavioral or physiological techniques to test hearing are not feasible with right whales. previous research on the hearing of marine mammals has shown that functional models are reliable estimators of hearing sensitivity in marine species. fundamental to these models is a comprehensive analysis of inner ear anatomy. m ... | 2007 | 17516435 |
| acoustic detection of north atlantic right whale contact calls using the generalized likelihood ratio test. | this paper addresses the problem of passive acoustic detection of contact calls produced by the highly endangered north atlantic right whale eubalaena glacialis. the proposed solution is based on using a generalized likelihood ratio test detector of polynomial-phase signals with unknown amplitude and polynomial coefficients observed in the presence of locally stationary gaussian noise. the closed form representation for a minimal sufficient statistic is derived and a realizable detection scheme ... | 2006 | 17069293 |
| benzo[a]pyrene cytotoxicity in right whale (eubalaena glacialis) skin, testis and lung cell lines. | the north atlantic right whale (narw) is one of the most endangered great whales. the narw population consists of only about 300 individuals and is reproducing at an insufficient rate. there is growing concern about the potential effects of environmental contaminants on the reproductive and overall health of narw. high contaminant burdens can accumulate in tissues of great whales but toxicological studies of their effects are limited due to legal, logistical and ethical restrictions and specific ... | 2006 | 16698075 |
| analysis of fecal glucocorticoids in the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis). | very little is known about the endocrinology of the baleen whales. the highly endangered north atlantic right whale (narw; eubalaena glacialis) is a good model species, because most narw individuals are photo-identified with known histories. we used an 125i corticosterone assay, shown to reliably measure cortisol metabolites, to determine glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in 177 narw fecal samples collected between 1999-2004 in the bay of fundy, canada. fecal glucocorticoid metabolite con ... | 2006 | 16650423 |
| g-banded karyotype and ideogram for the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis). | published cytogenetic data for extant cetacean species remain incomplete. in a review of the literature, we found karyotypic information for 6 of the 13 tentatively recognized species of the suborder mysticeti (baleen whales). among those yet to be described is the critically endangered north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis). herein, we describe and propose a first-generation g-banded karyotype and ideogram for this species (2n = 42), obtained from peripheral blood chromosome preparati ... | 2006 | 16598035 |
| skin lesions on north atlantic right whales: categories, prevalence and change in occurrence in the 1990s. | north atlantic right whales eubalaena glacialis experienced decreased reproduction and body condition in the 1990s, causing concern about the overall health of this critically endangered population. images from a detailed photo-identification catalog of right whales were analyzed for the presence of skin lesions. lesions were categorized as white lesions or blister lesions and each of those categories were further divided based on lesion morphology and location. of 439 whales photo-analyzed betw ... | 2005 | 16465836 |
| assessing reproductive status of right whales (eubalaena glacialis) using fecal hormone metabolites. | long-term studies of the endangered north atlantic right whale, eubalaena glacialis, have revealed declining reproductive parameters over the past two decades, threatening recovery of this small population if current trends continue. little is known about right whale reproductive physiology, and investigating this reproductive decline has been limited by a lack of non-lethal methods for assessing reproductive status (e.g., sexual maturation, ovarian activity, pregnancy, lactation, and reproducti ... | 2005 | 15935157 |
| north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) ignore ships but respond to alerting stimuli. | north atlantic right whales were extensively hunted during the whaling era and have not recovered. one of the primary factors inhibiting their recovery is anthropogenic mortality caused by ship strikes. to assess risk factors involved in ship strikes, we used a multi-sensor acoustic recording tag to measure the responses of whales to passing ships and experimentally tested their responses to controlled sound exposures, which included recordings of ship noise, the social sounds of conspecifics an ... | 2004 | 15058431 |
| evaluating the effects of historic bottleneck events: an assessment of microsatellite variability in the endangered, north atlantic right whale. | commercial exploitation reduced the north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) population from c. 12,000 in the 11th century to around 300 by the 21st century. we examine the effect of this population decline on levels of genetic variation at 16 microsatellite loci and contrast levels of variability to that in a closely related species (e. australis). of the 13 loci developed from the e. glacialis genome, 100% were polymorphic in e. australis. in contrast, nine loci were polymorphic in e. ... | 2002 | 12406236 |
| demography of the endangered north atlantic right whale. | northern right whales (eubalaena glacialis) were formerly abundant in the northwestern atlantic, but by 1900 they had been hunted to near extinction. after the end of commercial whaling the population was thought to be recovering slowly; however, evidence indicates that it has been declining since about 1990 (ref. 1). there are now fewer than 300 individuals, and the species may already be functionally extinct owing to demographic stochasticity or the difficulty of females locating mates in the ... | 2001 | 11734852 |
| world-wide genetic differentiation of eubalaena: questioning the number of right whale species. | few studies have examined systematic relationships of right whales (eubalaena spp.) since the original species descriptions, even though they are one of the most endangered large whales. little morphological evidence exists to support the current species designations for eubalaena glacialis in the northern hemisphere and e. australis in the southern hemisphere. differences in migratory behaviour or antitropical distribution between right whales in each hemisphere are considered a barrier to gene ... | 2000 | 11091315 |
| characterization and isolation of microsatellite loci from the endangered north atlantic right whale. | | 1999 | 10583845 |
| organochlorine levels in north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) blubber. | polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs), total ddt (ddt + dde + ddd), dieldrin, heptachlor epoxide, chlordanes, and hexachlorobenzene (hcb) were found in blubber biopsies from endangered north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis) in the bay of fundy and on browns-baccaro banks. analyses included four sex and age class composite samples from 1988, and 21 individual samples from 1989. generally, pcbs demonstrated the highest wet weight residue levels (up to 1.9 micrograms/g), followed by total ddt ... | 1991 | 1898112 |
| discovery of right whales in the gulf of mexico. | two whales were observed closely for an hour off sarasota, florida, by residents who provided observations of structural details which identify only the right whale, eubalaena glacialis, a temperate and subpolar species previously known to range to the florida east coast, but not to enter the gulf of mexico. | 1963 | 17841567 |
| particulate and soluble hexavalent chromium are cytotoxic and genotoxic to steller sea lion lung cells. | hexavalent chromium is an environmental contaminant. within the environment, marine waters are a common site for hexavalent chromium deposition. we have recently reported significantly high levels of chromium in skin tissue from north atlantic right whales. these findings demonstrate that marine species are being exposed to chromium. it is possible that such exposures may be playing a role in population declines evident among certain marine mammals, such as the steller sea lion. we developed a s ... | 2009 | 19157580 |
| sequence organization and evolution, in all extant whalebone whales, of a dna satellite with terminal chromosome localization. | a heavy (gc rich) dna satellite with terminal chromosomal localization is characteristic for all mysticete (whalebone whale) genomes. sequences of 58 repeats of the satellite were compared in all ten extant mysticete species. in three families comprising eight species, the typical repeat length was 422 (421) bp. in two species, the northern right whale and the bowhead, of family balaenidae (right whales) the repeats were much longer, typically ca. 900 and ca. 1200 bp. in all species the repeats ... | 1993 | 8365348 |
| high concentrations of isovaleric acid in the fats of odontocetes: variation and patterns of accumulation in blubber vs. stability in the melon. | isovaleric acid (iso5:0) is an unusual fatty acid that is important for echolocation and hearing in acoustic tissues of some odontocetes, but its functional significance in blubber is unknown. we examined patterns of accumulation of this compound in blubber in 30 species of odontocetes ( n=299). iso5:0 concentrations in blubber varied with phylogeny, ontogeny and body topography. iso5:0 accumulated in greater quantities in superficial/outer blubber than in deep/inner blubber. in the outer blubbe ... | 2003 | 12743728 |
| a right whale pootree: classification trees of faecal hormones identify reproductive states in north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis). | immunoassay of hormone metabolites extracted from faecal samples of free-ranging large whales can provide biologically relevant information on reproductive state and stress responses. north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis müller 1776) are an ideal model for testing the conservation value of faecal metabolites. almost all north atlantic right whales are individually identified, most of the population is sighted each year, and systematic survey effort extends back to 1986. north atlanti ... | 2017 | 28852509 |
| adrenal responses of large whales: integrating fecal aldosterone as a complementary biomarker to glucocorticoids. | until now, physiological stress assessment of large whales has predominantly focused on adrenal glucocorticoid (gc) measures. elevated gc concentrations in feces (fgc) are known to reflect stressful disturbances, such as fishing gear entanglement and human-generated underwater noise, in north atlantic right whales (eubalaena glacialis). however, there can be considerable variation in gc production as a function of sex and life history stage, which may confound the interpretation of fgc levels. a ... | 2017 | 28757434 |
| projecting the effects of climate change on calanus finmarchicus distribution within the u.s. northeast continental shelf. | calanus finmarchicus is vital to pelagic ecosystems in the north atlantic ocean. previous studies suggest the species is vulnerable to the effects of global warming, particularly on the northeast u.s. shelf, which is in the southern portion of its range. in this study, we evaluate an ensemble of six different downscaled climate models and a high-resolution global climate model, and create a generalized additive model (gam) to examine how future changes in temperature and salinity could affect th ... | 2017 | 28740241 |
| revision of "balaena" belgica reveals a new right whale species, the possible ancestry of the northern right whale, eubalaena glacialis, and the ages of divergence for the living right whale species. | in 1941, abel established balaena belgica based on a series of fused cervical vertebrae and citing other cranial fragments from the late neogene of the antwerp harbor (northern belgium). later, plisnier-ladame & quinet (1969) added a neurocranium and other skeletal remains from the same area to this species. recently, the neurocranium was re-assigned to the genus eubalaena thanks to newer phylogenetic analyses. here, a new description is provided of materials previously assigned to "balaena" bel ... | 2017 | 28663936 |
| using nonlinear time warping to estimate north pacific right whale calling depths in the bering sea. | calling depth distributions are estimated for two types of calls produced by critically endangered eastern north pacific right whales (nprws) in the bering sea, using passive acoustic data collected with bottom-mounted hydrophone recorders. nonlinear time resampling of 12 nprw "upcalls" and 20 "gunshots" recorded in a critical nprw habitat isolated individual normal mode arrivals from each call. the relative modal arrival times permitted range estimates between 1 and 40 km, while the relative mo ... | 2017 | 28599521 |
| prolonged particulate chromate exposure does not inhibit homologous recombination repair in north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) lung cells. | chromosome instability is a common feature of cancers that forms due to the misrepair of dna double strand breaks. homologous recombination (hr) repair is a high fidelity dna repair pathway that utilizes a homologous dna sequence to accurately repair such damage and protect the genome. prolonged exposure (>72h) to the human lung carcinogen, particulate hexavalent chromium (cr(vi)), inhibits hr repair, resulting in increased chromosome instability in human cells. comparative studies have shown ac ... | 2017 | 28411036 |
| changes in vocal behavior of north atlantic right whales in increased noise. | | 2012 | 22278507 |
| dangerous dining: surface foraging of north atlantic right whales increases risk of vessel collisions. | north atlantic right whales are critically endangered and, despite international protection from whaling, significant numbers die from collisions with ships. large groups of right whales migrate to the coastal waters of new england during the late winter and early spring to feed in an area with large numbers of vessels. north atlantic right whales have the largest per capita record of vessel strikes of any large whale population in the world. right whale feeding behaviour in cape cod bay (ccb) p ... | 2012 | 21813549 |
| brominated flame retardants and organochlorine contaminants in winter flounder, harp and hooded seals, and north atlantic right whales from the northwest atlantic ocean. | various brominated flame retardants (bfrs), including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbdes) and current-use, non-pbde bfrs, as well as organochlorine (oc) pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs), were measured in winter flounder, harp and hooded seals, and north atlantic right whales from the eastern united states and canada. the concentrations of pbdes in winter flounder and right whales were similar in magnitude to the levels of pcbs, which was unlike the pattern observed in seals. in ... | 2010 | 20434733 |
| patterned burst-pulse vocalizations of the northern right whale dolphin, lissodelphis borealis. | vocalizations from the northern right whale dolphin, lissodelphis borealis, were recorded during a combined visual and acoustic shipboard survey of cetacean populations off the west coast of the united states. seven of twenty single-species schools of l. borealis produced click and pulsed vocalizations. no whistles were detected during any of the encounters. clicks associated with burst-pulse vocalizations were lower in frequency and shorter in duration than clicks associated with echolocation. ... | 2007 | 17348542 |
| ecology. north atlantic right whales in crisis. | | 2005 | 16040692 |
| widespread contamination by tris(4-chlorophenyl)methane and tris(4-chlorophenyl)methanol in cetaceans from the north pacific and asian coastal waters. | for understanding global distribution, transport and behavior of tris(4-chlorophenyl)methane (tcpme) and tris(4-chlorophenyl)methanol (tcpmoh), the two newly identified microcontaminants, the present study determined their concentrations and other persistent organochlorines (ocs) in the blubber of nine species of adult male cetaceans collected from various locations in the north pacific ocean and coastal waters of some asian countries, during 1985-97. concentrations of tcpme and tcpmoh were foun ... | 2000 | 15092825 |
| buoyant balaenids: the ups and downs of buoyancy in right whales. | a variety of marine mammal species have been shown to conserve energy by using negative buoyancy to power prolonged descent glides during dives. a new non-invasive tag attached to north atlantic right whales recorded swim stroke from changes in pitch angle derived from a three-axis accelerometer. these results show that right whales are positively buoyant near the surface, a finding that has significant implications for both energetics and management. some of the most powerful fluke strokes obse ... | 2001 | 11522200 |
| an effective method for isolating dna from historical specimens of baleen. | dna was isolated from an early twentieth century museum specimen of northern right whale baleen. a system of stringent controls and a novel set of cetacean specific primers eliminated contamination from external sources and ensured the authenticity of the results. sequence analysis revealed that there were informative nucleotide positions between the museum specimen and extant members of the population and closely related species. the results indicate that museum specimens of baleen can be used ... | 1997 | 9226948 |
| effects of high-seas driftnet fisheries on the northern right whale dolphin lissodelphis borealis. | the united nations (u.n.) resolutions concerning high-seas driftnets called for moratoria by july 1992, unless appropriate conservation measures could be enacted. the analyses presented here show that the population of northern right whale dolphin has been affected by driftnets and that no apparent conservation measures are available. a number of points emerge: (1) simple "worst-case" estimates of depletion highlight the importance of accurate estimates of population abundance. current abundance ... | 1993 | 27759313 |