Baleen whale inhalation variability revealed using animal-borne video tags.

Empirical metabolic rate and oxygen consumption estimates for free-ranging whales have been limited to counting respiratory events at the surface. Because these observations were limited and generally viewed from afar, variability in respiratory properties was unknown and oxygen consumption estimates assumed constant breath-to-breath tidal volume and oxygen uptake. However, evidence suggests that cetaceans in human care vary tidal volume and breathing frequency to meet aerobic demand, which would significantly impact energetic estimates if the findings held in free-ranging species.

REVIEW: Assessing North Atlantic right whale health: threats, and development of tools critical for conservation of the species.

Whaling has decimated North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis (NARW) since the 11th century and southern right whales E. australis (SRW) since the 19th century. Today, NARWs are Critically Endangered and decreasing, whereas SRWs are recovering.

Turbulent flow reduces oxygen consumption in the labriform swimming shiner perch, .

Fish swimming energetics are often measured in laboratory environments which attempt to minimize turbulence, though turbulent flows are common in the natural environment. To test whether the swimming energetics and kinematics of shiner perch, (a labriform swimmer), were affected by turbulence, two flow conditions were constructed in a swim-tunnel respirometer. A low-turbulence flow was created using a common swim-tunnel respirometry setup with a flow straightener and fine-mesh grid to minimize velocity fluctuations.

Predicting lethal entanglements as a consequence of drag from fishing gear.

Large whales are frequently entangled in fishing gear and sometimes swim while carrying gear for days to years. Entangled whales are subject to additional drag forces requiring increased thrust power and energy expenditure over time. To classify entanglement cases and aid potential disentanglement efforts, it is useful to know how long an entangled whale might survive, given the unique configurations of the gear they are towing.

Bottlenose dolphins modify behavior to reduce metabolic effect of tag attachment.

Attaching bio-telemetry or -logging devices ('tags') to marine animals for research and monitoring adds drag to streamlined bodies, thus affecting posture, swimming gaits and energy balance. These costs have never been measured in free-swimming cetaceans. To examine the effect of drag from a tag on metabolic rate, cost of transport and swimming behavior, four captive male dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) were trained to swim a set course, either non-tagged (n=7) or fitted with a tag (DTAG2; n=12), and surface exclusively in a flow-through respirometer in which oxygen consumption VO₂ and carbon dioxide production (VO₂; ml kg(-1) min(-1)) rates were measured and respiratory exchange ratio (VO₂/resting VO₂) was calculated.

Absolute probability estimates of lethal vessel strikes to North Atlantic right whales in Roseway Basin, Scotian Shelf.

Vessel strikes are the primary source of known mortality for the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). Multi-institutional efforts to reduce mortality associated with vessel strikes include vessel-routing amendments such as the International Maritime Organization voluntary "area to be avoided" (ATBA) in the Roseway Basin right whale feeding habitat on the southwestern Scotian Shelf. Though relative probabilities of lethal vessel strikes have been estimated and published, absolute probabilities remain unknown.

Assessment of management to mitigate anthropogenic effects on large whales.

United States and Canadian governments have responded to legal requirements to reduce human-induced whale mortality via vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear by implementing a suite of regulatory actions. We analyzed the spatial and temporal patterns of mortality of large whales in the Northwest Atlantic (23.5°N to 48.