Decrease stress; train your animals: The effect of handling methods on cortisol levels in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) under human care

Desportes, Geneviève; Buholzer, Lisette; Anderson-Hansen, Kirstin; Blanchet, Marie-Anne; Acquarone, Mario; Shephard, Gwyneth; Brando, Sabrina; Vossen, Arndt; Siebert, Ursula
Aquatic Mammals (2007)

Circulating cortisol levels are accepted as a sensitive indicator of acute stress in marine mammals, particularly in relation with capture and handling. The present study provides the first long-term monitoring…


Physiological responses to capture and handling of free-ranging male Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis)

Hao, Yu-Jiang; Zhao, Qing-Zhong; Wu, Hai-Ping; Chen, Dao-Quan; Gong, Cheng; Li, Li; Wang, Ding
Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology (2009)

We captured free-ranging male Yangtze finless porpoises over three seasons and assayed leukocytes and serum biochemistry to investigate physiological responses to the capture and handlings. Serum thyroid hormones (THs) declined…


Investigations of thyroid and stress hormones in free-ranging and captive harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena): A pilot study

Siebert, Ursula; Pozniak, Blazej; Anderson Hansen, Kirstin; Nordstrom, Gwyneth; Teilmann, Jonas; van Elk, Niels; Vossen, Arndt; Dietz, Rune;
Aquatic Mammals (2011)

Increasing anthropogenic activities in the marine environment are potential threats to the health of harbor porpoises by causing unnatural continuous stress to the animals. The present study was a first…


Evaluation of immune and stress status in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena): can hormones and mRNA expression levels serve as indicators to assess stress?

Müller, Sabine; Lehnert, Kristina; Seibel, Henrike; Driver, Jörg; Ronnenberg, Katrin; Teilmann, Jonas; van Elk, Cornelius; Kristensen, Jakob; Everaarts, Eligius; Siebert, Ursula
BMC Vet Res (2013)

The harbour porpoise is exposed to increasing pressure caused by anthropogenic activities in its marine environment. Numerous offshore wind farms are planned or under construction in the North and Baltic…


Developing a new research tool for use in free-ranging cetaceans: recovering cortisol from harbour porpoise skin

Bechshoft, T.; Wright, A. J.; Weisser, J. J.; Teilmann, J.; Dietz, R.; Hansen, M.; Bjorklund, E.; Styrishave, B.
Conservation Physiology (2015)

We developed a chemical analytical procedure for sampling, extracting and determining epidermal skin cortisol concentrations (SCCs) in the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) using gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. In brief, this…


The possible effects of high vessel traffic on the physiological parameters of the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis ssp. asiaeorientalis)

Nabi, Ghulam; Hao, Yujiang; McLaughlin, Richard William; Wang, Ding
Frontiers in Physiology (2018)

Poyang is the largest freshwater lake in China, where the acoustic environment and space for the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoises (YFPs) has been altered by heavy vessel traffic and…


A field effort to capture critically endangered vaquitas Phocoena sinus for protection from entanglement in illegal gillnets

Rojas-Bracho, L.; Gulland, F. M. D.; Smith, C. R.; Taylor, B.; Wells, R. S.; Thomas, P. O.; Bauer, B.; Heide-Jørgensen, M. P.; Teilmann, J.; Dietz, R.; Balle, J. D.; Jensen, M. V.; Sinding, M. H. S.; Jaramillo-Legorreta, A.; Abel, G.; Read, A. J.; Westgate, A. J.; Colegrove, K.; Gomez, F.; Martz, K.; Rebolledo, R.; Ridgway, S.; Rowles, T.; van Elk, C. E.; Boehm, J.; Cardenas-Hinojosa, G.; Constandse, R.; Nieto-Garcia, E.; Phillips, W.; Sabio, D.; Sanchez, R.; Sweeney, J.; Townsend, F.; Vivanco, J.; Vivanco, J. C.; Walker, S.
Endangered Species Research (2019)

In 2017 an emergency field effort was undertaken in an attempt to prevent the extinction of the world’s most endangered marine mammal, the vaquita (Phocoena sinus). The rescue effort involved…