Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to announce the recent publication of the following paper
on body shape of free-swimming right whales.
The paper is available online and Open Access from:
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v459/p135-156/
Carolyn A. Miller, Peter B. Best, Wayne L. Perryman, Mark F.
Baumgartner, Michael J. Moore. 2012
*Body shape changes associated with reproductive status, nutritive
condition and growth in right whales /Eubalaena glacialis /and /E.
australis/*
Marine Ecology Progress Series 459:135-156 - doi:10.3354/meps09675**
**Mammalian reproduction is metabolically regulated; therefore, the
endangered status and high variability in reproduction of North Atlantic
right whales /Eubalaena glacialis/ necessitate accurate assessments at
sea of the nutritional condition of living individuals. Aerial
photogrammetry was used to measure dorsal body width at multiple
locations along the bodies of free-swimming right whales at different
stages of the female reproductive cycle (/E. glacialis/) and during the
initial months of lactation (mother and calf /Eubalaena australis/) to
quantify changes in nutritional condition during energetically demanding
events. Principal components analyses indicated that body width was most
variable at 60% of the body length from the snout. Thoracic, abdominal
and caudal body width of /E. australis/ thinned significantly during the
initial months of lactation, especially at 60% of body length from the
snout, while their calves' widths and width-to-length ratios increased.
The body shape of /E. glacialis/ that had been lactating for 8 mo was
significantly thinner than non-lactating, non-pregnant /E. glacialis/.
Body shape of /E. glacialis/ measured in the eighth month of lactation
was significantly thinner than that of /E. australis/ in the first
month, but did not differ from that of /E. australis/ in the third and
fourth months. Body width was comparable with diameter calculated from
girth of carcasses. These results indicate that mother right whales rely
on endogenous nutrient reserves to support the considerable energy
expenditure during the initial months of lactation; therefore,
photogrammetric measurements of body width, particularly at 60% of body
length from the snout, are an effective way to quantitatively and
remotely assess nutritional condition of living right whales.
Kind regards,
Carolyn A. Miller**
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