Retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: A baleen hormone approach
Physiological measurements are informative in assessing the relative importance of stressors that potentially impact the health of wildlife. Kelp Gulls, Larus dominicanus (KG), resident to the region of Península Valdés, Argentina, have developed a unique behavior of landing on the backs of southern...
Published in: | General and Comparative Endocrinology |
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Language: | English |
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ftconicet:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/148604 2023-10-09T21:56:05+02:00 Retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: A baleen hormone approach Fernández Ajó, Alejandro A. Hunt, Kathleen E. Giese, Adriana Carolina Sironi, Mariano Uhart, Marcela María Rowntree, Victoria J. Marón, Carina Flavia Dillon, Danielle DiMartino, Matias Buck, C. Loren application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11336/148604 eng eng Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016648020302896 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.ygcen.2020.113536 http://hdl.handle.net/11336/148604 Fernández Ajó, Alejandro A.; Hunt, Kathleen E.; Giese, Adriana Carolina; Sironi, Mariano; Uhart, Marcela María; et al.; Retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: A baleen hormone approach; Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science; General and Comparative Endocrinology; 296; 9-2020; 1-12 0016-6480 CONICET Digital CONICET info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/ BALEEN HORMONES EUBALAENA SPP GLUCOCORTICOIDS LARUS DOMINICANUS PARASITISM THYROID https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion ftconicet https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2020.113536 2023-09-24T20:27:59Z Physiological measurements are informative in assessing the relative importance of stressors that potentially impact the health of wildlife. Kelp Gulls, Larus dominicanus (KG), resident to the region of Península Valdés, Argentina, have developed a unique behavior of landing on the backs of southern right whale adults and calves, Eubalaena australis (SRW), where they feed on their skin and blubber. This parasitic behavior results in large open wounds on the dorsal surface of the whale. Coincidently, the SRW population off the coast of Península Valdés has experienced elevated calf mortality. We quantified levels of glucocorticoids and thyroid hormone extracted from baleen of dead calves to evaluate, retrospectively, the endocrine response of whale calves to gull wounding and harassment. Baleen accumulates hormones as it grows, allowing evaluation of long-term trends in physiological condition. While glucocorticoids (GCs) are known to increase in response to stressors such as disturbance, the metabolic hormone triiodothyronine (T3) has been shown to decrease under sustained food deprivation but is largely unaffected by disturbance stress. We quantified lifetime patterns of GCs and T3 in baleen recovered at necropsy from 36 southern right whale calves with varying severity of wounding from KGs. GC levels in baleen correlated positively with the degree of wounding, while T3 levels remained stable irrespective of the severity of the wounding. Our results suggest no evidence of malnutrition in low vs. severely wounded whales. However, the positive correlation of GCs with wound severity indicates that heavily wounded calves are suffering high levels of physiological stress before they die. This suggests that KG wounding may have contributed to the high southern right whale calf mortality observed in the Península Valdés region of Argentina. Fil: Fernández Ajó, Alejandro A. Northern Arizona University; Estados Unidos Fil: Hunt, Kathleen E. George Mason University; Estados Unidos Fil: Giese, Adriana Carolina. ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Right Whale CONICET Digital (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) Argentina Adriana ENVELOPE(-62.783,-62.783,-64.667,-64.667) General and Comparative Endocrinology 296 113536 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
CONICET Digital (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) |
op_collection_id |
ftconicet |
language |
English |
topic |
BALEEN HORMONES EUBALAENA SPP GLUCOCORTICOIDS LARUS DOMINICANUS PARASITISM THYROID https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
spellingShingle |
BALEEN HORMONES EUBALAENA SPP GLUCOCORTICOIDS LARUS DOMINICANUS PARASITISM THYROID https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 Fernández Ajó, Alejandro A. Hunt, Kathleen E. Giese, Adriana Carolina Sironi, Mariano Uhart, Marcela María Rowntree, Victoria J. Marón, Carina Flavia Dillon, Danielle DiMartino, Matias Buck, C. Loren Retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: A baleen hormone approach |
topic_facet |
BALEEN HORMONES EUBALAENA SPP GLUCOCORTICOIDS LARUS DOMINICANUS PARASITISM THYROID https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
description |
Physiological measurements are informative in assessing the relative importance of stressors that potentially impact the health of wildlife. Kelp Gulls, Larus dominicanus (KG), resident to the region of Península Valdés, Argentina, have developed a unique behavior of landing on the backs of southern right whale adults and calves, Eubalaena australis (SRW), where they feed on their skin and blubber. This parasitic behavior results in large open wounds on the dorsal surface of the whale. Coincidently, the SRW population off the coast of Península Valdés has experienced elevated calf mortality. We quantified levels of glucocorticoids and thyroid hormone extracted from baleen of dead calves to evaluate, retrospectively, the endocrine response of whale calves to gull wounding and harassment. Baleen accumulates hormones as it grows, allowing evaluation of long-term trends in physiological condition. While glucocorticoids (GCs) are known to increase in response to stressors such as disturbance, the metabolic hormone triiodothyronine (T3) has been shown to decrease under sustained food deprivation but is largely unaffected by disturbance stress. We quantified lifetime patterns of GCs and T3 in baleen recovered at necropsy from 36 southern right whale calves with varying severity of wounding from KGs. GC levels in baleen correlated positively with the degree of wounding, while T3 levels remained stable irrespective of the severity of the wounding. Our results suggest no evidence of malnutrition in low vs. severely wounded whales. However, the positive correlation of GCs with wound severity indicates that heavily wounded calves are suffering high levels of physiological stress before they die. This suggests that KG wounding may have contributed to the high southern right whale calf mortality observed in the Península Valdés region of Argentina. Fil: Fernández Ajó, Alejandro A. Northern Arizona University; Estados Unidos Fil: Hunt, Kathleen E. George Mason University; Estados Unidos Fil: Giese, Adriana Carolina. ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fernández Ajó, Alejandro A. Hunt, Kathleen E. Giese, Adriana Carolina Sironi, Mariano Uhart, Marcela María Rowntree, Victoria J. Marón, Carina Flavia Dillon, Danielle DiMartino, Matias Buck, C. Loren |
author_facet |
Fernández Ajó, Alejandro A. Hunt, Kathleen E. Giese, Adriana Carolina Sironi, Mariano Uhart, Marcela María Rowntree, Victoria J. Marón, Carina Flavia Dillon, Danielle DiMartino, Matias Buck, C. Loren |
author_sort |
Fernández Ajó, Alejandro A. |
title |
Retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: A baleen hormone approach |
title_short |
Retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: A baleen hormone approach |
title_full |
Retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: A baleen hormone approach |
title_fullStr |
Retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: A baleen hormone approach |
title_full_unstemmed |
Retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: A baleen hormone approach |
title_sort |
retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: a baleen hormone approach |
publisher |
Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11336/148604 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.783,-62.783,-64.667,-64.667) |
geographic |
Argentina Adriana |
geographic_facet |
Argentina Adriana |
genre |
Southern Right Whale |
genre_facet |
Southern Right Whale |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016648020302896 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.ygcen.2020.113536 http://hdl.handle.net/11336/148604 Fernández Ajó, Alejandro A.; Hunt, Kathleen E.; Giese, Adriana Carolina; Sironi, Mariano; Uhart, Marcela María; et al.; Retrospective analysis of the lifetime endocrine response of southern right whale calves to gull wounding and harassment: A baleen hormone approach; Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science; General and Comparative Endocrinology; 296; 9-2020; 1-12 0016-6480 CONICET Digital CONICET |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2020.113536 |
container_title |
General and Comparative Endocrinology |
container_volume |
296 |
container_start_page |
113536 |
_version_ |
1779320535581196288 |