Evaluation of ballistics euthanasia applied to stranded cetaceans using ethological and post-mortem computed tomography assessment.

Debilitated stranded cetaceans with low survival likelihood, may require euthanasia to avoid further suffering. Euthanasia can involve chemical or physical methods, including ballistics. Ballistics should cause instantaneous, permanent insensibility through brainstem disruption.

Reproductive biology of male common dolphins () in New Zealand waters.

Unlabelled: Reproductive parameters were assessed in 64 male common dolphins () examined post-mortem from strandings and bycatch in New Zealand between 1999 and 2020. The stages of male sexual maturation were assessed using morphological measurements and histological examination of testicular tissue. Age was determined via growth layer groups (GLGs) in teeth.

Multidimensional trace metals and nutritional niche differ between sexually immature and mature common dolphins (Delphinus delphis).

There is a need to understand the links between metals and nutrition for apex marine predators, which may be subject to different ecotoxicological effects at different life stages. We combined stomach content analyses (SCA), prey composition analysis (PCA), the Multidimensional Niche Framework (MNNF) with Bayesian multivariate ellipses, trace metal analysis and nicheROVER to investigate nutrition and trace metals across sex, age, and sexual maturity status in common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) from New Zealand. A broader prey composition niche breadth (SEAc) was estimated for immature compared to mature conspecifics, showing a higher degree of prey and nutrient generalism driven by protein (P) intake.

Age- and sex-specific survivorship of the Southern Hemisphere long-finned pilot whale ().

Biodiversity loss is a major global challenge of the 21st century. Ultimately, extinctions of species are determined by birth and death rates; thus, conservation management of at-risk species is dependent on robust demographic data. In this study, data gathered from 381 (227 females, 154 males) long-finned pilot whales () that died in 14 stranding events on the New Zealand coast between 2006 and 2017 were used to construct the first age- and sex-specific life tables for the subspecies.