Interpretation of southern hemisphere humpback whale diet via stable isotopes; implications of tissue-specific analysis.

ABSTRACT: Blubber and skin are commonly used tissues in stable isotope analysis for the purpose of investigating cetacean diet. Critical comparison of tissue-specific isotopic signals is, however, lacking resulting in uncertainty surrounding the representativeness and therefore utility of different tissues for accurate determination of recent foraging. This study used remotely biopsied blubber and skin tissues from southern hemisphere humpback whales for strategic comparison of δ13C and δ15N values. Samples were collected between 2008-2018 as part of long-term monitoring under the Humpback Whale Sentinel Program. Blubber tissues were lipid-extracted prior to analysis, whilst mathematical lipid-correction was performed on skin samples. Isotopic values from paired blubber and skin samples from the sam

SUBMITTER: Eggebo J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10069779 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature