DETERMINATION OF PREGNANCY STATUS FROM BLUBBER SAMPLES IN MINKE WHALES ( BALAENOPTERA ACUTOROSTRATA)

A bstract Measurement of progesterone concentration in blubber was developed as a method to detect pregnancy in minke whales. Progesterone was extracted and quantified from blubber samples of minke whale carcasses by radioimmunoassay. Results showed a highly significant difference (almost 60‐fold) b...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Mammal Science
Main Authors: Mansour, Atef A. H., Mkay, Donald W., Lien, Jon, Orr, James C., Banoub, Joseph H., ØIen, Nils, Stenson, Garry
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2002
Subjects:
Balaenoptera acutorostrata
minke whale
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2002.tb01022.x
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1748-7692.2002.tb01022.x
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2002.tb01022.x
Description
Summary:A bstract Measurement of progesterone concentration in blubber was developed as a method to detect pregnancy in minke whales. Progesterone was extracted and quantified from blubber samples of minke whale carcasses by radioimmunoassay. Results showed a highly significant difference (almost 60‐fold) between blubber progesterone concentrations of anatomically determined pregnant females versus non‐pregnant female or male carcasses. The results of the study suggest that the blubber progesterone concentrations might be used to determine pregnancy status in free‐ranging whales.

Similar Items