Defining the Transfer Functions of the PCAD Model in North Atlantic Right Whales (Eubalaena glacialis) -- Retrospective Analyses of Existing Data

• Main Authors: Kraus, Scott D, Rolland, Rosalind M
• Other Authors: NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM BOSTON MA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Biochemistry; Biology; Stress Physiology; Acoustics; *FECES; *HEALTH; *MEASUREMENT; *PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS; *STRESS(PHYSIOLOGY); *THYROID HORMONES; *UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS; *WHALES; ADRENAL CORTEX HORMONES; AMBIENT NOISE; FIELD TESTS; MATURATION; NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN; REPRODUCTION(PHYSIOLOGY); SKIN(ANATOMY); SURVIVAL(GENERAL); *POPULATION CONSEQUENCES OF ACOUSTIC DISTURBANCE; *NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES; *FECAL HORMONE ANALYSIS; *VISUAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS; SKIN CONDITION; BODY CONDITION; PRE-9/11 ERA; POST-9/11 ERA; AMBIENT NOISE LEVELS; SHIPPING NOISE; Eubalaena glacialis; North Atlantic; North Atlantic right whale
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA599705; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA599705

Anthropogenic noise has been shown to cause both behavioral and physiological changes in marine mammals, but the potential for long-term, population-level effects is not known. The NRC (2005) Population Consequences of Acoustic Disturbance (PCAD) model provides a framework to trace the consequences of acoustic disturbance through the life history of a marine mammal to its population status. In North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis), extensive data on hormone levels, health and body condition, and individual life history exists. Our long-term goal is to analyze the links between stress and thyroid hormones, visual assessments of health, and vital rates of right whales. This research supports the modeling efforts on PCAD transfer functions and develops a theoretical framework for field studies on acoustic disturbance for the North Atlantic right whale. The first objective is to test an alternative approach to elements of the PCAD model by doing the following: (1) substituting behavior change with direct measurements of physiological changes using fecal hormone levels; (2) replacing life function with skin and body condition indices; and (3) investigating the links between these parameters and right whale survival, reproduction, and maturation. Analyses of retrospective data and new data on fecal thyroid hormones (in FY 2012) will set the stage to apply stress/thyroid hormone data and health indices to assess acoustic disturbance in right whales. A second objective of this project is to analyze both acoustic recordings and fecal stress hormone levels from the Bay of Fundy in 2001 for the period before and following 9/11 (compared to similar data from other years). We hope to determine if the observed reduction in vessel activity post-9/11 has resulted in a decline in ambient noise, and if there has been an accompanying decrease in stress hormones in right whales inhabiting the Bay after this event.