Royal Society Open Science (2017)
Acoustic harassment devices (AHD) or ‘seal scarers’ are used extensively, not only to deter seals from fisheries, but also as mitigation tools to deter marine mammals from potentially harmful sound…
The evolution of genital shape variation in female cetaceans
Orbach, Dara N.; Hedrick, Brandon; Würsig, Bernd; Mesnick, Sarah L.; Brennan, Patricia L. R.
Evolution (2017)
Male genital diversification is likely the result of sexual selection. Female genital diversification may also result from sexual selection, although it is less well studied and understood. Female genitalia are…
Diet composition and food consumption rate of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in the western Baltic Sea
Andreasen, Heidi; Ross, Stine D.; Siebert, Ursula; Andersen, Niels G.; Ronnenberg, Katrin; Gilles, Anita
Marine Mammal Science (2017)
Stomach content composition and prey-specific consumption rates of juvenile and adult harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) were estimated from a data set including 339 stomachs collected over a 32 yr period…
Coming of age: Do female harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the North Sea and Baltic Sea have sufficient time to reproduce in a human influenced environment?
Kesselring, Tina; Viquerat, Sacha; Brehm, Ralph; Siebert, Ursula
PLOS ONE (2017)
The harbour porpoise is the only cetacean species native to German waters. Since human pressures are suggested to shorten their reproductive lifespan, basic knowledge on reproduction is strongly required. One…
Evaluating morphometric and metabolic markers of body condition in a small cetacean, the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
Kershaw, Joanna L.; Sherrill, Meredith; Davison, Nicholas J.; Brownlow, Andrew; Hall, Ailsa J.
Ecology and Evolution (2017)
Mammalian body condition is an important individual fitness metric as it affects both survival and reproductive success. The ability to accurately measure condition has key implications for predicting individual and…
Marine mammal sightings around oil and gas installations in the central North Sea
Delefosse, Matthieu; Rahbek, Malene Louise; Roesen, Lars; Clausen, Karin Tubbert
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (2017)
Relatively little is known about the distribution and diversity of marine mammals around offshore anthropogenic structures. We present results obtained from incidental sightings of marine mammals around oil and gas…
The effects of marine traffic on the behaviour of Black Sea harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena relicta) within the Istanbul Strait, Turkey
Akkaya Bas, Aylin; Christiansen, Fredrik; Öztürk, Ayaka Amaha; Öztürk, Bayram; McIntosh, Caley
PLOS ONE (2017)
Marine traffic is threatening cetaceans on a local and global scale. The Istanbul Strait is one of the busiest waterways, with up to 2,500 vessels present daily. This is the…
Harbour porpoise distribution can vary at small spatiotemporal scales in energetic habitats
Benjamins, Steven; van Geel, Nienke; Hastie, Gordon; Elliott, Jim; Wilson, Ben
Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography (2017)
Marine habitat heterogeneity underpins species distribution and can be generated through interactions between physical and biological drivers at multiple spatiotemporal scales. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is used worldwide to study…
Precocious hearing in harbour porpoise neonates
Wahlberg, Magnus; Delgado-García, Lara; Kristensen, Jakob H.
Journal of Comparative Physiology A (2017)
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…
Comparative physiology of vocal musculature in two odontocetes, the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
Thometz, Nicole M.; Dearolf, Jennifer L.; Dunkin, Robin C.; Noren, Dawn P.; Holt, Marla M.; Sims, Olivia C.; Cathey, Brandon C.; Williams, Terrie M.
Journal of Comparative Physiology B (2017)
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]),…