Inter-individual differences in contamination profiles as tracer of social group association in stranded sperm whales

Schnitzler, J.G. et al. (2018) Inter-individual differences in contamination profiles as tracer of social group association in stranded sperm whales. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 10958. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-29186-z) (PMID:30026609) (PMCID:PMC6053436)

Abstract

Ecological and physiological factors lead to different contamination patterns in individual marine mammals. The objective of the present study was to assess whether variations in contamination profiles are indicative of social structures of young male sperm whales as they might reflect a variation in feeding preferences and/or in utilized feeding grounds. We used a total of 61 variables associated with organic compounds and trace element concentrations measured in muscle, liver, kidney and blubber gained from 24 sperm whales that stranded in the North Sea in January and February 2016. Combining contaminant and genetic data, there is evidence for at least two cohorts with different origin among these stranded sperm whales; one from the Canary Island region and one from the northern part of the Atlantic. While genetic data unravel relatedness and kinship, contamination data integrate over areas, where animals occured during their lifetime. Especially in long-lived animals with a large migratory potential, as sperm whales, contamination data may carry highly relevant information about aggregation through time and space.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Necropsies were funded by the Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization of Schleswig-Holstein/Agency for Coastal Defence, National Park and Marine Conservation Schleswig-Holstein (LKN.SH) Germany. The necropsies were conducted through funding gained from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (grant number: HD3611/BO11018.02 065). UK necropsies and sampling were conducted by the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Program (CSIP) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) which is co-funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Afairs (Defra) and the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Brownlow, Dr Andrew
• Authors: Schnitzler, J.G., Pinzone, M., Autenrieth, M., van Neer, A., Ijsseldijk, L.L., Barber, J.L., Deaville, R., Jepson, P., Brownlow, A., Schaffeld, T., Thomé, J.-P., Tiedemann, R., Das, K., and Siebert, U.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Scientific Reports
• Publisher: Nature Research
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• ISSN (Online): 2045-2322
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © The Author(s) 2018
• First Published: First published in Scientific Reports 8(1):10958
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence