Hello MARMAM community,

My co-authors and I are pleased to share our recent publication that is now online in Functional Ecology:

Williams, T.M., Blackwell, S.B.,Tervo, O., Garde, E., Sinding, M.S., Richter, B., and Heide-Jørgensen, M.P. (2022) Physiological responses of narwhals to anthropogenic noise: A case study with seismic airguns and vessel traffic in the Arctic. Functional Ecology,  https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14119

This is a companion physiological study to our previous publication concerning the behavioral responses of narwhals to seismic airguns (Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen et al. (2021) Behavioral Response Study on Seismic Airgun and Vessel Exposures in Narwhals. Frontiers in Marine Science 8, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.658173). Together these two studies provide a comprehensive profile of the reaction of this deep-diving, high Arctic cetacean to disturbance.  In this newest physiological study we find that geographical isolation makes narwhals exceptionally vulnerable to anthropogenic activities now afforded by a larger ice-free Arctic. Measurable impacts occur across the entire oxygen pathway from respiratory to cardiovascular and locomotory function. Ultimately, energetic costs are two-fold greater for narwhals exposed to noise.

Please contact me for further information about this paper. The study will also be presented at the upcoming Society for Marine Mammalogy Conference in August.        

Best Regards,

Terrie

Terrie M. Williams, PhD

-- 
Terrie M. Williams
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of California - Santa Cruz 
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831)566-9928