Development of Respiratory Sampling to Assess Stress Responses in North Atlantic Right Whales

• Main Authors: Hunt, Kathleen E, Rolland, Rosalind M, Kraus, Scott D
• Other Authors: NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM BOSTON MA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Biology; Stress Physiology; Test Facilities; Equipment and Methods; *COLLECTING METHODS; *RESPIRATION; *RESPONSE(BIOLOGY); *SAMPLING; *STRESS(PHYSIOLOGY); *WHALES; ABSORBERS(MATERIALS); CENTRIFUGES; CONSTRUCTION; DESIGN CRITERIA; FIELD TESTS; FREEZE DRYING; LABORATORY TESTS; MOUNTS; NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN; POLES(SUPPORTS); TEST AND EVALUATION; *RESPIRATORY SAMPLING; *BLOW SAMPLING; *BALEEN WHALES; *STRESS RESPONSES; *NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES; BLOW COLLECTION; RESPIRATORY VAPOR COLLECTION; CARBON-FIBER POLES; BOAT MOUNTS; SAMPLE COLLECTORS; NYLON FABRIC COLLECTORS; BLOW COLLECTOR DESIGNS; PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS ASSESSMENT; baleen whales; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA599703; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA599703

Our primary long-term goal is to assess whether respiratory sample (blow) analysis can be developed as a practical method of physiological stress assessment in free-living cetaceans. Few methods exist for the assessment of physiological stress levels of free-swimming cetaceans. Respiratory samples (blow) can potentially be collected from targeted individuals and from large numbers of whales. Additionally, blow sampling is noninvasive and should not alter the stress response being measured, and it can be employed multiple times on known individual whales. Overall, blow may offer a novel method for assessment of short-term stress (minutes/hours) in cetaceans, and may offer a useful complement to existing fecal-sampling methods. Our primary objective in FY2011 was to test and develop a practical methodology for collecting respiratory samples from free-swimming, large baleen whales. Our approach in FY2011 involved the design and construction of a carbon-fiber pole and associated boat mount that can be attached to a small research vessel, modifying the designs used by Hogg et al. (2005), Hogg et al. (2009), and Acevedo-Whitehouse et al. (2010), with the boat mount modified from designs by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. We designed, tested, and constructed sample collectors that could be mounted interchangeably on the end of the pole, with the aim of designing cost-effective collectors that could be constructed from easily available materials. Our main approach involved the modification of the nylon-fabric collector used by Hogg et al. (2009). We also tested modifications of this design, including other types of absorbent and plate-type collectors. We field tested the pole and collectors with a well-studied population of North Atlantic right whales in the Bay of Fundy during August and September of 2011. We also did initial laboratory testing to determine whether the respiratory samples contained a mucoid fraction that could be freeze-dried or centrifuged.