Multi-year profiles of T3 are positively correlated with corticosterone in male bowhead whale baleen.

Thyroid hormones play an important role in the regulation of growth, development, metabolism, thermoregulation, and migration. Very little information exists on patterns of thyroid hormone concentrations in healthy mysticete whales, as many studies have focused on ill, entangled, or stranded whales, making it difficult to interpret thyroid hormone trends. In this study, we used a unique sample-set of bowhead whale baleen plates to explore the long-term interrelationships between triiodothyronine (T3), the most biologically active thyroid hormone, corticosterone, testosterone, and nitrogen isotope ratios (δN) (proxies for stress, reproduction, and diet, respectively) to investigate the role T3 may play in the physiology of healthy cetaceans.

δN and δC cycles in narwhal () embedded teeth reveal seasonal variation in ecology and/or physiology.

Monitoring Arctic marine mammals in response to rapid climate change requires reliable longitudinal data. To obtain such data is challenging, but sequential measurements of stable isotopes (SI) from metabolically inert tissues like dentine allow for chronological reconstruction of SI data that can provide insights into whale life history, behaviour and physiology. This study examined dentine samples from narwhal embedded canines to reconstruct individual SI profiles and assess intra-annual variation in δN and δC.

Dietary plasticity and broad North Atlantic origins inferred from bulk and amino acid-specific δN and δC favour killer whale range expansions into Arctic waters.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) occur seasonally in the eastern Canadian Arctic (ECA), where their range expansion associated with declining sea ice have raised questions about the impacts of increasing killer whale predation pressure on Arctic-endemic prey. We assessed diet and distribution of ECA killer whales using bulk and compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of amino acids (AA) of 54 skin biopsies collected from 2009 to 2020 around Baffin Island, Canada. Bulk ECA killer whale skin δN and δC values did not overlap with potential Arctic prey after adjustment for trophic discrimination, and instead reflected foraging history in the North Atlantic prior to their arrival in the ECA.

Climate change introduces threatened killer whale populations and conservation challenges to the Arctic.

The Arctic is the fastest-warming region on the planet, and the lengthening ice-free season is opening Arctic waters to sub-Arctic species such as the killer whale (Orcinus orca). As apex predators, killer whales can cause significant ecosystem-scale changes. Setting conservation priorities for killer whales and their Arctic prey species requires knowledge of their evolutionary history and demographic trajectory.

Assessment of persistent organic pollutants in killer whales (Orcinus orca) of the Canadian Arctic: Implications for subsistence consumption and conservation strategies.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) historically restricted to certain Arctic regions due to extensive sea ice have recently been documented farther north and for longer durations in the Canadian Arctic. These apex predators accumulate high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the concentrations and profiles of POPs in killer whales of the Canadian Arctic, thus determining potential risks for Inuit communities if consumed.

Varying Diet Composition Causes Striking Differences in Legacy and Emerging Contaminant Concentrations in Killer Whales across the North Atlantic.

Lipophilic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) tend to biomagnify in food chains, resulting in higher concentrations in species such as killer whales () feeding on marine mammals compared to those consuming fish. Advancements in dietary studies include the use of quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) and differentiation of feeding habits within and between populations of North Atlantic (NA) killer whales. This comprehensive study assessed the concentrations of legacy and emerging POPs in 162 killer whales from across the NA.

Patterns of trace element deposition in beluga whale teeth reflect early life history.

Determination of trace element concentrations in continuously growing biological structures such as otoliths, whiskers, and teeth can provide important insight into physiological and ontogenetic processes. We examined concentrations of 11 trace elements (Li, Mg, Mn, Cu, Zn, Se, Rb, Sr, Cs, Ba, Pb) in the annual dentine growth layer groups (GLGs) of teeth of 66 Eastern Canadian Arctic belugas (Delphinapterus leucas). Several of these trace elements displayed clear and consistent patterns in early life, though few longer term trends or signals were present in trace element data for either females or males.

Investigating the Relationship Between Body Shape and Life History Traits in Toothed Whales: Can Body Shape Predict Fast-Slow Life Histories?

Unlabelled: A widespread pattern in vertebrate life-history evolution is for species to evolve towards either fast or slow life histories; however, the underlying causes of this pattern remain unclear. Toothed whales (Odontoceti) are a diverse group with a range of body sizes and life histories, making them an ideal model to investigate potential drivers of this dichotomy. Using ancestral reconstruction, we identified that certain groups of odontocetes evolved more-streamlined, presumably faster, body shapes around the same time that killer whales () evolved into whale predators approximately 1 Mya during the Pleistocene.

Mercury accumulation, biomagnification, and relationships to δC, δN and δS of fishes and marine mammals in a coastal Arctic marine food web.

Combining mercury and stable isotope data sets of consumers facilitates the quantification of whether contaminant variation in predators is due to diet, habitat use and/or environmental factors. We investigated inter-species variation in total Hg (THg) concentrations, trophic magnification slope between δN and THg, and relationships of THg with δC and δS in 15 fish and four marine mammal species (249 individuals in total) in coastal Arctic waters. Median THg concentration in muscle varied between species ranging from 0.

Detection of steroid and thyroid hormones in mammalian teeth.

Endocrine tools can provide an avenue to better understand mammalian life histories and predict how individuals and populations may respond to environmental stressors; however, few options exist for studying long-term endocrine patterns in individual marine mammals. Here, we (i) determined whether hormones could be measured in teeth from four marine mammal species: narwhal (), beluga (), killer whale () and Atlantic walrus (); (ii) validated commercially available enzyme immunoassay kits for use with tooth extracts; and (iii) conducted biological validations for each species to determine whether reproductive hormone concentrations in teeth correlated with age of sexual maturity. Tooth extracts from all species had measurable concentrations of progesterone, testosterone, 17β-estradiol, corticosterone, aldosterone and triiodothyronine (T3); however, cortisol was undetectable.

Male Bowhead Whale Reproductive Histories Inferred from Baleen Testosterone and Stable Isotopes.

Male mammals of seasonally reproducing species typically have annual testosterone (T) cycles, with T usually peaking during the breeding season, but occurrence of such cycles in male mysticete whales has been difficult to confirm. Baleen, a keratinized filter-feeding apparatus of mysticetes, incorporates hormones as it grows, such that a single baleen plate can record years of endocrine history with sufficient temporal resolution to discern seasonal patterns. We analyzed patterns of T every 2 cm across the full length of baleen plates from nine male bowhead whales () to investigate occurrence and regularity of T cycles and potential inferences about timing of breeding season, sexual maturation, and reproductive senescence.

Amino acid δ15N differences consistent with killer whale ecotypes in the Arctic and Northwest Atlantic.

Ecotypes are groups within a species with different ecological adaptations than their conspecifics. Eastern North Pacific (ENP) killer whale (Orcinus orca) ecotypes differ in their diet, behavior, and morphology, but the same is not known for this species in the eastern Canadian Arctic (ECA) and Northwest Atlantic (NWA). Using compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of amino acids (AAs), we compared δ15N patterns of the primary trophic and source AA pair, glutamic acid/glutamine (Glx) and phenylalanine (Phe), in dentine collagen of (1) sympatric ENP killer whale ecotypes with well-characterized diet differences and (2) ECA/NWA killer whales with unknown diets.

Distributions of Arctic and Northwest Atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are distributed widely in all oceans, although they are most common in coastal waters of temperate and high-latitude regions. The species' distribution has not been fully described in the northwest Atlantic (NWA), where killer whales move into seasonally ice-free waters of the eastern Canadian Arctic (ECA) and occur year-round off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador farther south. We measured stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in dentine phosphate (δO) and structural carbonate (δO, δC) of whole teeth and annual growth layers from killer whales that stranded in the ECA (n = 11) and NWA (n = 7).

Prolonged maternal investment in northern bottlenose whales alters our understanding of beaked whale reproductive life history.

Nursing and weaning periods are poorly understood in cetaceans due to the difficulty of assessing underwater behaviour in the wild. However, the onset and completion of weaning are critical turning points for individual development and survival, with implications for a species' life history including reproductive potential. δ15N and δ13C deposited in odontocete teeth annuli provide a lifetime record of diet, offering an opportunity to investigate variation and trends in fundamental biology.

Amino acid δN underestimation of cetacean trophic positions highlights limited understanding of isotopic fractionation in higher marine consumers.

Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of amino acids (AAs) has been rapidly incorporated in ecological studies to resolve consumer trophic position (TP). Differential N fractionation of "trophic" AAs, which undergo trophic N enrichment, and "source" AAs, which undergo minimal trophic N enrichment and serve as a proxy for primary producer δN values, allows for internal calibration of TP. Recent studies, however, have shown the difference between source and trophic AA δN values in higher marine consumers is less than predicted from empirical studies of invertebrates and fish.

Killer whale presence drives bowhead whale selection for sea ice in Arctic seascapes of fear.

The effects of predator intimidation on habitat use and behavior of prey species are rarely quantified for large marine vertebrates over ecologically relevant scales. Using state space movement models followed by a series of step selection functions, we analyzed movement data of concurrently tracked prey, bowhead whales (; = 7), and predator, killer whales ( = 3), in a large (63,000 km), partially ice-covered gulf in the Canadian Arctic. Our analysis revealed pronounced predator-mediated shifts in prey habitat use and behavior over much larger spatiotemporal scales than previously documented in any marine or terrestrial ecosystem.

Killer whale genomes reveal a complex history of recurrent admixture and vicariance.

Reconstruction of the demographic and evolutionary history of populations assuming a consensus tree-like relationship can mask more complex scenarios, which are prevalent in nature. An emerging genomic toolset, which has been most comprehensively harnessed in the reconstruction of human evolutionary history, enables molecular ecologists to elucidate complex population histories. Killer whales have limited extrinsic barriers to dispersal and have radiated globally, and are therefore a good candidate model for the application of such tools.

Multi-year patterns in testosterone, cortisol and corticosterone in baleen from adult males of three whale species.

Male baleen whales have long been suspected to have annual cycles in testosterone, but due to difficulty in collecting endocrine samples, little direct evidence exists to confirm this hypothesis. Potential influences of stress or adrenal stress hormones (cortisol, corticosterone) on male reproduction have also been difficult to study. Baleen has recently been shown to accumulate steroid hormones during growth, such that a single baleen plate contains a continuous, multi-year retrospective record of the whale's endocrine history.

Sustained disruption of narwhal habitat use and behavior in the presence of Arctic killer whales.

Although predators influence behavior of prey, analyses of electronic tracking data in marine environments rarely consider how predators affect the behavior of tracked animals. We collected an unprecedented dataset by synchronously tracking predator (killer whales, [Formula: see text] = 1; representing a family group) and prey (narwhal, [Formula: see text] = 7) via satellite telemetry in Admiralty Inlet, a large fjord in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. Analyzing the movement data with a switching-state space model and a series of mixed effects models, we show that the presence of killer whales strongly alters the behavior and distribution of narwhal.

Dentine oxygen isotopes (δ (18)O) as a proxy for odontocete distributions and movements.

Spatial variation in marine oxygen isotope ratios (δ (18)O) resulting from differential evaporation rates and precipitation inputs is potentially useful for characterizing marine mammal distributions and tracking movements across δ (18)O gradients. Dentine hydroxyapatite contains carbonate and phosphate that precipitate in oxygen isotopic equilibrium with body water, which in odontocetes closely tracks the isotopic composition of ambient water. To test whether dentine oxygen isotope composition reliably records that of ambient water and can therefore serve as a proxy for odontocete distribution and movement patterns, we measured δ (18)O values of dentine structural carbonate (δ (18) OSC) and phosphate (δ (18) OP) of seven odontocete species (n = 55 individuals) from regional marine water bodies spanning a surface water δ (18)O range of several per mil.

Comparison of three techniques used to measure diffusive gas exchange from sheltered aquatic surfaces.

Three approaches commonly used to quantify diffusive gas exchange across aquatic surfaces were compared in a densely treed, low-wind environment Diffusive surface fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from a small boreal reservoir were estimated using (i) surface water concentrations, the thin boundary layer (TBL) equation, and gas transfer velocities (k) calculated using sulfur hexafluoride (SF6); (ii) surface water concentrations, the TBL equation, and k estimated from wind speed; and (iii) static floating chambers (FCs). Comparisons were made during three different approximately 10-day intervals (August 2000, June and September 2001). CO2 and CH4 fluxes estimated from SF6-derived k were on average 1-3 times greater than those determined from wind-estimated k Overall agreement between FC CO2 and CH4 flux estimates and those based on SF6 and wind speed derived kvalues was much weaker, with FC CO2 and CH4 flux estimates ranging from -9 to 23 times those based on SF6 and wind-estimated k values.