Cortisol levels in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas): Setting a benchmark for Marine Protected Area monitoring
Beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) are facing profound changes in their habitat, with impacts expected at the individual and population level. Detecting and monitoring exposure and response to environmental stressors is necessary for beluga conservation and management of human activities. Cortiso...
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Language: | English French |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2018
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0020 https://doaj.org/article/8221c41d4279421d8d460af6dc227ed1 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:8221c41d4279421d8d460af6dc227ed1 2023-05-15T14:22:23+02:00 Cortisol levels in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas): Setting a benchmark for Marine Protected Area monitoring Lisa L. Loseto Kerri Pleskach Carie Hoover Gregg T. Tomy Jean-Pierre Desforges Thor. Halldorson Peter S. Ross 2018-09-01 https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0020 https://doaj.org/article/8221c41d4279421d8d460af6dc227ed1 en fr eng fre Canadian Science Publishing doi:10.1139/as-2017-0020 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/8221c41d4279421d8d460af6dc227ed1 undefined Arctic Science, Vol 4, Iss 3, Pp 358-372 (2018) hormones marine mammals physiology beaufort sea envir socio Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2018 fttriple https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0020 2023-01-22T17:50:35Z Beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) are facing profound changes in their habitat, with impacts expected at the individual and population level. Detecting and monitoring exposure and response to environmental stressors is necessary for beluga conservation and management of human activities. Cortisol has proven as a useful tool to assess stress on wildlife. Cortisol was measured in three blubber layers and plasma in subsistence-hunted beluga whales from the summers of 2007 to 2010 using an HPLC/MS/MS. We assessed the effect of biological and biochemical factors. Cortisol ranged from undetectable to 17.8 ng/g in blubber and 2.5 to 61.2 ng/mL in plasma. Concentrations were highest in the inner blubber layer likely reflecting circulating levels. All tissues were significantly higher in 2008 for reasons that remain unclear. Cortisol levels were on par with resting levels in captive belugas. Best fit models for cortisol revealed age to be an important determinant along with length and blubber thickness. Lack of relationships with biochemical factors such as organic contaminants suggests current cortisol levels are not significantly influenced by present contaminant concentrations. Our findings support the use of middle and outer blubber tissues for an integrated measure of chronic stress that are less subject to the influence of acute stress. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Unknown Arctic Science |
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English French |
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hormones marine mammals physiology beaufort sea envir socio |
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hormones marine mammals physiology beaufort sea envir socio Lisa L. Loseto Kerri Pleskach Carie Hoover Gregg T. Tomy Jean-Pierre Desforges Thor. Halldorson Peter S. Ross Cortisol levels in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas): Setting a benchmark for Marine Protected Area monitoring |
topic_facet |
hormones marine mammals physiology beaufort sea envir socio |
description |
Beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) are facing profound changes in their habitat, with impacts expected at the individual and population level. Detecting and monitoring exposure and response to environmental stressors is necessary for beluga conservation and management of human activities. Cortisol has proven as a useful tool to assess stress on wildlife. Cortisol was measured in three blubber layers and plasma in subsistence-hunted beluga whales from the summers of 2007 to 2010 using an HPLC/MS/MS. We assessed the effect of biological and biochemical factors. Cortisol ranged from undetectable to 17.8 ng/g in blubber and 2.5 to 61.2 ng/mL in plasma. Concentrations were highest in the inner blubber layer likely reflecting circulating levels. All tissues were significantly higher in 2008 for reasons that remain unclear. Cortisol levels were on par with resting levels in captive belugas. Best fit models for cortisol revealed age to be an important determinant along with length and blubber thickness. Lack of relationships with biochemical factors such as organic contaminants suggests current cortisol levels are not significantly influenced by present contaminant concentrations. Our findings support the use of middle and outer blubber tissues for an integrated measure of chronic stress that are less subject to the influence of acute stress. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lisa L. Loseto Kerri Pleskach Carie Hoover Gregg T. Tomy Jean-Pierre Desforges Thor. Halldorson Peter S. Ross |
author_facet |
Lisa L. Loseto Kerri Pleskach Carie Hoover Gregg T. Tomy Jean-Pierre Desforges Thor. Halldorson Peter S. Ross |
author_sort |
Lisa L. Loseto |
title |
Cortisol levels in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas): Setting a benchmark for Marine Protected Area monitoring |
title_short |
Cortisol levels in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas): Setting a benchmark for Marine Protected Area monitoring |
title_full |
Cortisol levels in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas): Setting a benchmark for Marine Protected Area monitoring |
title_fullStr |
Cortisol levels in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas): Setting a benchmark for Marine Protected Area monitoring |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cortisol levels in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas): Setting a benchmark for Marine Protected Area monitoring |
title_sort |
cortisol levels in beluga whales (delphinapterus leucas): setting a benchmark for marine protected area monitoring |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0020 https://doaj.org/article/8221c41d4279421d8d460af6dc227ed1 |
genre |
Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas |
genre_facet |
Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas |
op_source |
Arctic Science, Vol 4, Iss 3, Pp 358-372 (2018) |
op_relation |
doi:10.1139/as-2017-0020 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/8221c41d4279421d8d460af6dc227ed1 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0020 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
_version_ |
1766294988536152064 |