Multi-year progesterone profiles during pregnancy in baleen of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).

ABSTRACT: Understanding calving rates of wild whale populations is critically important for management and conservation. Reproduction of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) is difficult to monitor and, even with long-term sighting studies, basic physiological information such as pregnancy rates and calving intervals remain poorly understood in many populations. We hypothesized that pregnant whales have sustained elevations in baleen progesterone that temporally correlate with gestation. To test this hypothesis, baleen progesterone profiles from two adult female North Pacific humpbacks, both with extensive sighting records and documented pregnancies, were compared to those of a nulliparous female (adult female never seen with a calf) and a juvenile male. Baleen specimens recovered during

SUBMITTER: Lowe CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8567847 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature