Biomechanics of North Atlantic Right Whale Bone: Mandibular Fracture as a Fatal Endpoint for Blunt Vessel-Whale Collision Modeling

The North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, one of the most critically endangered whales in the world, is subject to high anthropogenic mortality. Vessel-whale collisions and entanglement in fishing gear were indicated in 27 (67.5%) of the 40 right whales necropsied between 1970 and Decembe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Campbell-Malone, Regina P.
Other Authors: MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2007
Subjects:
Biology
Marine Engineering
*WHALES
VELOCITY
NAVAL VESSELS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
THESES
WOUNDS AND INJURIES
BONE FRACTURES
MANDIBLE
HABITATS
ENDANGERED SPECIES
MORTALITY RATE
NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
BIOMECHANICS
COLLISIONS
SHIP STRIKE
RIGHT WHALE
Eubalaena glacialis
North Atlantic
North Atlantic right whale
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA475533
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA475533
Description
Summary:The North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, one of the most critically endangered whales in the world, is subject to high anthropogenic mortality. Vessel-whale collisions and entanglement in fishing gear were indicated in 27 (67.5%) of the 40 right whales necropsied between 1970 and December 2006. Of those, at least 9 deaths (22.5%) resulted from blunt contact with a vessel. To reduce the likelihood of fatal collisions, speed restrictions are being considered for vessels traversing critical habitat, although the effects of speed on collision outcomes have not been specifically evaluated from a biomechanics perspective. The ultimate goal of a larger collaborative project is to evaluate the efficacy of speed restrictions for reducing blunt collision mortality using a multi-scale finite element model. Complete, transverse fracture of the right whale mandible, an injury seen only in right whales killed by vessels, is used as a proxy for mortality in the model. Vital for that model are the material properties and biomechanical behavior of the right whale mandible. Here, the internal structure and physical properties of right whale jawbone tissue are reported. The original document contains color images. All DTIC reproductions will be in black and white. Prepared in cooperation with Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst., Woods Hole, Mass.

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