Lifetime glucocorticoid profiles in baleen of right whale calves: potential relationships to chronic stress of repeated wounding by Kelp Gulls

Conservation Physiology
Alejandro A Fernández AjóC Loren Buck

Abstract

Baleen tissue accumulates stress hormones (glucocorticoids, GC) as it grows, along with other adrenal, gonadal and thyroid hormones. The hormones are deposited in a linear fashion such that a single plate of baleen allows retrospective assessment and evaluation of long-term trends in the whales' physiological condition. In whale calves, a single piece of baleen contains hormones deposited across the lifespan of the animal, with the tip of the baleen representing prenatally grown baleen. This suggests that baleen recovered from stranded carcasses of whale calves could be used to examine lifetime patterns of stress physiology. Here we report lifetime profiles of cortisol and corticosterone in baleen of a North Atlantic right whale ('NARW'-Eubalaena glacialis) calf that died from a vessel strike, as well as four southern right whale ('SRW'-Eubalaena australis) calves that were found dead with varying severity of chronic wounding from Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) attacks. In all five calves, prenatally grown baleen exhibited a distinctive profile of elevated glucocorticoids that declined shortly before birth, similar to GC profiles reported from baleen of pregnant females. After birth, GC profiles in calf baleen corresponded with ...Continue Reading

References

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Dec 13, 2017·Conservation Physiology·Kathleen E HuntC Loren Buck
Jul 19, 2018·Scientific Reports·Elizabeth A BurgessRosalind M Rolland

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Citations

Apr 6, 2019·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Kathleen E HuntRosalind M Rolland
Apr 24, 2021·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Danielle DillonC Loren Buck
Jun 1, 2021·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Alejandro Fernández AjóC Loren Buck
Aug 12, 2021·Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology·Lucas A ZenaC Loren Buck

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