The dive response, a decrease in heart rate (fH) and peripheral vasoconstriction, is the key mechanism allowing breath-hold divers to perform long-duration dives. This pronounced cardiovascular response to diving has…
Harbour porpoises are often found to be infected by endoparasites in several organs including the lungs and stomach as well as the heart, liver and ears. Nevertheless there is still…
Concentrations of thirty two polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were determined in the blubber of five sympatric species of odontocetes stranded or by-caught along the Northwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula: common…
The mechanism by which odontocetes produce sound is unique among mammals. To gain insight into the physiological properties that support sound production in toothed whales, we examined myoglobin content ([Mb]),…
To study intra-species variability in audiograms, the hearing sensitivity of a six-year-old female and a three-year-old male harbor porpoise was measured by using a standard psycho-acoustic technique under low ambient…
...There is, unfortunately, no unbiased way to assess the prey preference and dietary intake of free-ranging marine mammals like harbor porpoises. Although the traditional approach involving stomach content analysis of…
Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are the most prevalent cetaceans in the North Sea. The fecal viral flora of 21 harbour porpoises stranded along the Dutch coastline was analyzed by a…
Robust information on animal distributions and foraging behaviour is required to target management and conservation measures for protected species and populations. Visual survey data are commonly used to model these…
The ages of three species of cetaceans were estimated by counting the growth layer groups (GLG) and measuring the aspartic acid racemization rate (kAsp) by what is referred to as…
Hearing is the primary sensory modality for toothed whales, but it is not known at which age it is fully developed. For newborn calves, hearing could fill an important function…