Challenges in small cetacean telemetry: an attempt at developing a remotely deployed attachment device for single-pin dorsal fin satellite transmitters.

Satellite telemetry is critical for collecting fine-scale temporal and spatial data on individual animals that has broad-scale applicability at population and species levels. There have been significant advances in the remote deployment of satellite telemetry devices on large cetacean species. However, the development of comparable remote attachment methodologies for small cetaceans is still limited.

Microvascular anatomy suggests varying aerobic activity levels in the adipose tissues of diving tetrapods.

Adipose tissue has many important functions including metabolic energy storage, endocrine functions, thermoregulation and structural support. Given these varied functions, the microvascular characteristics within the tissue will have important roles in determining rates/limits of exchange of nutrients, waste, gases and molecular signaling molecules between adipose tissue and blood. Studies on skeletal muscle have suggested that tissues with higher aerobic capacity contain higher microvascular density (MVD) with lower diffusion distances (DD) than less aerobically active tissues.

Lipid signature of neural tissues of marine and terrestrial mammals: consistency across species and habitats.

Marine mammals are exposed to O-limitation and increased N gas concentrations as they dive to exploit habitat and food resources. The lipid-rich tissues (blubber, acoustic, neural) are of particular concern as N is five times more soluble in lipid than in blood or muscle, creating body compartments that can become N saturated, possibly leading to gas emboli upon surfacing. We characterized lipids in the neural tissues of marine mammals to determine whether they have similar lipid profiles compared to terrestrial mammals.

Reference genome and demographic history of the most endangered marine mammal, the vaquita.

The vaquita is the most critically endangered marine mammal, with fewer than 19 remaining in the wild. First described in 1958, the vaquita has been in rapid decline for more than 20 years resulting from inadvertent deaths due to the increasing use of large-mesh gillnets. To understand the evolutionary and demographic history of the vaquita, we used combined long-read sequencing and long-range scaffolding methods with long- and short-read RNA sequencing to generate a near error-free annotated reference genome assembly from cell lines derived from a female individual.

Microvessel density, lipid chemistry and N2 solubility in human and pig adipose tissue.

Decompression sickness (DCS) occurs when nitrogen gas (N2) comes out of solution too quickly, forming bubbles in the blood and tissues. These bubbles can be a serious condition; thus it is of extreme interest in the dive community to model DCS risk. Diving models use tissue compartments to calculate tissue partial pressures, often using data obtained from other mammalian species (i.

Fatty acid composition and N solubility in triacylglycerol-rich adipose tissue: the likely importance of intact molecular structure.

Diving tetrapods (sea turtles, seabirds and marine mammals) are a biologically diverse group, yet all are under similar constraints: oxygen limitation and increased hydrostatic pressure at depth. Adipose tissue is important in the context of diving because nitrogen gas (N) is five times more soluble in fat than in blood, creating a potential N sink in diving animals. Previous research demonstrates that unusual lipid composition [waxes and short-chained fatty acids (FA)] in adipose tissue of some whales leads to increased N solubility.

Microvascular characteristics of the acoustic fats: Novel data suggesting taxonomic differences between deep and shallow-diving odontocetes.

Odontocetes have specialized mandibular fats, the extramandibular (EMFB) and intramandibular fat bodies (IMFB), which function as acoustic organs, receiving and channeling sound to the ear during hearing and echolocation. Recent strandings of beaked whales suggest that these fat bodies are susceptible to nitrogen (N ) gas embolism and empirical evidence has shown that the N solubility of these fat bodies is higher than that of blubber. Since N gas will diffuse from blood into tissue at any blood/tissue interface and potentially form gas bubbles upon decompression, it is imperative to understand the extent of microvascularity in these specialized acoustic fats so that risk of embolism formation when diving can be estimated.

Nitrogen solubility in odontocete blubber and mandibular fats in relation to lipid composition.

Understanding toothed whale (odontocete) diving gas dynamics is important given the recent atypical mass strandings of odontocetes (particularly beaked whales) associated with mid-frequency naval sonar. Some stranded whales have exhibited gas emboli (pathologies resembling decompression sickness) in their specialized intramandibular and extramandibular fat bodies used for echolocation and hearing. These tissues have phylogenetically unique, endogenous lipid profiles with poorly understood biochemical properties.

Seasonal variation in the spatial distribution of basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) in the lower Bay of Fundy, Canada.

The local distribution of basking sharks in the Bay of Fundy (BoF) is unknown despite frequent occurrences in the area from May to November. Defining this species' spatial habitat use is critical for accurately assessing its Special Concern conservation status in Atlantic Canada. We developed maximum entropy distribution models for the lower BoF and the northeast Gulf of Maine (GoM) to describe spatiotemporal variation in habitat use of basking sharks.

Solubility of nitrogen in marine mammal blubber depends on its lipid composition.

Understanding the solubility of nitrogen gas in tissues is a crucial aspect of diving physiology, especially for air-breathing tetrapods. Adipose tissue is of particular interest because of the high solubility of nitrogen in lipids. Surprisingly, nothing is known about nitrogen solubility in the blubber of any marine mammal.

Microvascular patterns in the blubber of shallow and deep diving odontocetes.

Blubber, a specialized form of subdermal adipose tissue, surrounds marine mammal bodies. Typically, adipose tissue is perfused by capillaries but information on blubber vascularization is lacking. This study's goals were to: 1) describe and compare the microvasculature (capillaries, microarterioles, and microvenules) of blubber across odontocete species; 2) compare microvasculature of blubber to adipose tissue; and 3) examine relationships between blubber's lipid composition and its microvasculature.

Propagation of narrow-band-high-frequency clicks: measured and modeled transmission loss of porpoise-like clicks in porpoise habitats.

Estimating the range at which harbor porpoises can detect prey items and environmental objects is integral to understanding their biosonar. Understanding the ranges at which they can use echolocation to detect and avoid obstacles is particularly important for strategies to reduce bycatch. Transmission loss (TL) during acoustic propagation is an important determinant of those detection ranges, and it also influences animal detection functions used in passive acoustic monitoring.

Seasonal patterns of heat loss in wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

This study investigated patterns of heat loss in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) resident to Sarasota Bay, FL, USA, where water temperatures vary seasonally from 11 to 33 degrees C. Simultaneous measurements of heat flux (HF) and skin surface temperature were collected at the body wall and appendages of dolphins during health-monitoring events in summer (June 2002-2004) and winter (February 2003-2005). Integument thickness was measured and whole body conductance (W/m(2) degrees C) was estimated using HF and colonic temperature measurements.

The relationship between heat flow and vasculature in the dorsal fin of wild bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus.

The dorsal fin of the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus contains blood vessels that function either to conserve or to dissipate body heat. Prior studies have demonstrated that heat flux, measured from a single position on the dorsal fin, decreases during body cooling and diving bradycardia and increases after exercise and at the termination of the dive response. While prior studies attributed changes in heat flux to changes in the pattern of blood flow, none directly investigated the influence of vascular structures on heat flux across the dorsal fin.