Perryman
Wayne L.
Perryman
Wayne L.
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ArticleLarger females have more calves: influence of maternal body length on fecundity in North Atlantic right whales(Inter Research, 2022-05-12) Stewart, Joshua D. ; Durban, John W. ; Europe, Hollis ; Fearnbach, Holly ; Hamilton, Philip K. ; Knowlton, Amy R. ; Lynn, Morgan S. ; Miller, Carolyn A. ; Perryman, Wayne L. ; Tao, Brandon W. H. ; Moore, Michael J.North Atlantic right whales (NARW) are critically endangered and have been declining in abundance since 2011. In the past decade, human-caused mortalities from vessel strikes and entanglements have been increasing, while birth rates in the population are at a 40 yr low. In addition to declining abundance, recent studies have shown that NARW length-at-age is decreasing due to the energetic impacts of sub-lethal entanglements, and that the body condition of the population is poorer than closely related southern right whales. We examined whether shorter body lengths are associated with reduced fecundity in female NARW. We compared age-corrected, modeled metrics of body length with 3 metrics of fecundity: age at first reproduction, average inter-birth interval, and the number of calves produced per potential reproductive year. We found that body length is significantly related to birth interval and calves produced per reproductive year, but not age at first reproduction. Larger whales had shorter inter-birth intervals and produced more calves per potential reproductive year. Larger whales also had higher lifetime calf production, but this was a result of larger whales having longer potential reproductive spans, as body lengths have generally been declining over the past 40 yr. Declining body sizes are a potential contributor to low birth rates over the past decade. Efforts to reduce entanglements and vessel strikes could help maintain population viability by increasing fecundity and improving resiliency of the population to other anthropogenic and climate impacts.
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ArticlePhotogrammetry of blue whales with an unmanned hexacopter(John Wiley & Sons, 2016-05-06) Durban, John W. ; Moore, Michael J. ; Chiang, Gustavo ; Hickmott, Leigh S. ; Bocconcelli, Alessandro ; Howes, Gloria ; Bahamonde, Paulina A. ; Perryman, Wayne L. ; LeRoi, Donald J.Baleen whales are the largest animals ever to live on earth, and many populations were hunted close to extinction in the 20th century (Clapham et al. 1999). Their recovery is now a key international conservation goal, and they are important in marine ecosystems as massive consumers that can promote primary production through nutrient cycling (Roman et al. 2014). However, although abundance has been assessed to monitor the recovery of some large whale populations (e.g., Barlow et al. 2011, Laake et al. 2012) many populations are wide-ranging and pelagic, and this inaccessibility has generally impeded quantitative assessments of recovery (Peel et al. 2015). To augment traditional abundance monitoring, we suggest that photogrammetric measures of individual growth and body condition can also inform about population status, enabling assessment of individual health as well as population numbers. Photogrammetry from manned aircraft has used photographs taken from directly above whales to estimate individual lengths (Gilpatrick and Perryman 2008) and monitor growth trends (Fearnbach et al. 2011), and shape profiles can be measured to assess body condition to infer reproductive and nutritional status (e.g., Perryman and Lynn 2002, Miller et al. 2012). Recently, Durban et al. (2015) demonstrated the utility of an unmanned hexacopter for collecting aerial photogrammetry images of killer whales (Orcinus orca); this provided a noninvasive, cost-effective, and safe platform that could be deployed from a boat to obtain vertical images of whales. Here we describe the use of this small, unmanned aerial system (UAS) to measure length and condition of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest of all whales.
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ArticleBody shape changes associated with reproductive status, nutritive condition and growth in right whales Eubalaena glacialis and E. australis(Inter-Research, 2012-07-12) Miller, Carolyn A. ; Best, Peter B. ; Perryman, Wayne L. ; Baumgartner, Mark F. ; Moore, Michael J.Mammalian reproduction is metabolically regulated; therefore, the endangered status and high variability in reproduction of North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis necessitate accurate assessments at sea of the nutritional condition of living individuals. Aerial photogrammetry was used to measure dorsal body width at multiple locations along the bodies of free-swimming right whales at different stages of the female reproductive cycle (E. glacialis) and during the initial months of lactation (mother and calf Eubalaena australis) to quantify changes in nutritional condition during energetically demanding events. Principal components analyses indicated that body width was most variable at 60% of the body length from the snout. Thoracic, abdominal and caudal body width of E. australis thinned significantly during the initial months of lactation, especially at 60% of body length from the snout, while their calves’ widths and width-to-length ratios increased. The body shape of E. glacialis that had been lactating for 8 mo was significantly thinner than non-lactating, non-pregnant E. glacialis. Body shape of E. glacialis measured in the eighth month of lactation was significantly thinner than that of E. australis in the first month, but did not differ from that of E. australis in the third and fourth months. Body width was comparable with diameter calculated from girth of carcasses. These results indicate that mother right whales rely on endogenous nutrient reserves to support the considerable energy expenditure during the initial months of lactation; therefore, photogrammetric measurements of body width, particularly at 60% of body length from the snout, are an effective way to quantitatively and remotely assess nutritional condition of living right whales.