We are pleased to announce our new paper in Marine Mammal Science on associations
between gray whale body condition and hormone variability:
"Stressed and slim or relaxed and chubby? A simultaneous assessment of gray whale body condition
and hormone variability"
Leila S. Lemos, Amy Olsen, Angela Smith, Jonathan D. Burnett, Todd E. Chandler, Shawn Larson,
Kathleen Hunt, and Leigh G. Torres
Baleen whale physiology remains poorly understood, including knowledge gaps concerning relationships between body condition and
hormone metabolite concentrations associated with stress and energy allocation (i.e., glucocorticoid and thyroid hormones). To better understand these relationships, we collected 73 fecal samples from 36 different mature gray whales (Eschrichtius
robustus) with concurrently collected drone imagery of these whales to determine body condition. We use linear mixed
models to determine that body condition and year were significantly related to glucocorticoid concentrations, and year and glucocorticoid concentrations were significantly related to thyroid hormone concentrations. Furthermore, we demonstrate a positive correlation
between glucocorticoid and thyroid metabolites, and a negative correlation between body condition and glucocorticoid metabolites (i.e., fatter whales had lower glucocorticoid concentrations). The absence of correlation between body condition and thyroid metabolites
indicates that thyroid hormones may not be fully involved with energy intake in baleen whales. Continued monitoring of baleen whale body condition and hormone metabolite concentrations may further elucidate these patterns and enable improved population management
and conservation efforts.
The paper is available at:
I can share the PDF in case you don't have access, just email me back.
Cheers,
Leila S. Lemos, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Institute of Environment
College of Arts, Sciences & Education
Florida International University
(971) 3409610
