Shipping is the dominant marine anthropogenic noise source in the world's oceans, yet we know little about vessel encounter rates, exposure levels and behavioural reactions for cetaceans in the wild,…
Little is known about harbor porpoises at the individual level or local group structure. Group characteristics, site fidelity, and photo‐identification of harbor porpoises were investigated off Fidalgo Island, Washington State.…
Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) was used to study the occurrence and distribution of feeding behaviour of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in the Ems estuary, on the border between the Netherlands…
Odontocetes have evolved a rich diversity of prey- and habitat-specific foraging strategies, which allows them to feed opportunistically on locally and temporally abundant prey. While habitat-specific foraging strategies have been…
Anthropogenic effects have created various risks for wild animals. Boat traffic is one of the most fatal risks for marine mammals. Individual behavioral responses of cetaceans, including diving behavior such…
Pronounced dive responses through peripheral vasoconstriction and bradycardia enable prolonged apnoea in marine mammals. For most vertebrates, the dive response is initiated upon face immersion, but little is known about…
Echolocating mammals generally target individual prey items by transitioning through the biosonar phases of search (slow-rate, high-amplitude outputs), approach (gradually increasing rate and decreasing output amplitude) and buzzing (high-rate, low-amplitude…
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…
The most common cetacean in the North Sea is the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). Underwater noise is increasingly recognized as a source of impact on the marine environment and seismic…
The number of welfare-oriented studies is increasing in animals under human care, including odontocetes. However, validated welfare indicators are lacking for captive odontocetes. We studied the effect of several conditions…