Seasonal and developmental differences in blubber stores of beluga whales in Bristol Bay, Alaska using high-resolution ultrasound.

ABSTRACT: Diving mammals use blubber for a variety of structural and physiological functions, including buoyancy, streamlining, thermoregulation, and energy storage. Estimating blubber stores provides proxies for body condition, nutritional status, and health. Blubber stores may vary topographically within individuals, across seasons, and with age, sex, and reproductive status; therefore, a single full-depth blubber biopsy does not provide an accurate measure of blubber depth, and additional biopsies are limited because they result in open wounds. We examined high-resolution ultrasound as a noninvasive method for assessing blubber stores by sampling blubber depth at 11 locations on beluga whales in Alaska. Blubber mass was estimated as a proportion of body mass (40% from the literature) and compared

SUBMITTER: Cornick LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5993092 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature