Coinfection and Vertical Transmission of Brucella and Morbillivirus in a Neonatal Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) in Hawaii, USA

2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristi L. West ◽  
Gregg Levine ◽  
Jessica Jacob ◽  
Brenda Jensen ◽  
Susan Sanchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Transmission ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Physeter Macrocephalus

scholarly journals Testing a passive deterrent on longlines to reduce sperm whale depredation in the Gulf of Alaska

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 1667-1672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria O'Connell ◽  
Janice Straley ◽  
Joe Liddle ◽  
Lauren Wild ◽  
Linda Behnken ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Collaborative Effort ◽  
Physeter Macrocephalus ◽  
Anoplopoma Fimbria ◽  
Acoustic Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Control ◽  
Individual Fishing Quota

Abstract In Alaska, sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) depredation on longline sets has increased since implementation of the Individual Fishing Quota programme in 1995. A collaborative effort (SEASWAP) between longliners, scientists, and managers has undertaken research to evaluate this depredation with a primary objective to develop and test a passive deterrent that would reduce depredation without reducing catch rate of sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria). Commercial longliners, fishing for their own sablefish quotas during the regular season, deployed beaded gear (25 mm lucite beads attached to gangions) with control gear and set recorders to collect acoustic data. Beaded and control gear were randomly assigned by skate quad (672 hooks) with 5 quads in each longline set. Acoustic recorders were used to document sperm whale creak–pause events, representative of depredation of the longline gear. Although there were more sablefish per skate quad on the beaded gear and there was a decrease in depredation events on the beaded gear compared with the control, neither effect was significant (p = 0.205 and 0.364, respectively). The SEASWAP project is testing other deterrent strategies including gear modifications and the establishment of a sighting network to improve avoidance.

scholarly journals Beached bachelors: An extensive study on the largest recorded sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus mortality event in the North Sea

PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. e0201221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lonneke L. IJsseldijk ◽  
Abbo van Neer ◽  
Rob Deaville ◽  
Lineke Begeman ◽  
Marco van de Bildt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Physeter Macrocephalus ◽  
Mortality Event ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

scholarly journals Architecture of the sperm whale forehead facilitates ramming combat

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Panagiotopoulou ◽  
Panagiotis Spyridis ◽  
Hyab Mehari Abraha ◽  
David R. Carrier ◽  
Todd C. Pataky
Keyword(s):  
Connective Tissue ◽  
Structural Engineering ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Physeter Macrocephalus ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
Moby Dick ◽  
Unique Structure ◽  
Complex Structural ◽  
Von Mises ◽  
Von Mises Stresses

Herman Melville’s novelMoby Dickwas inspired by historical instances in which large sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus L.) sank 19th century whaling ships by ramming them with their foreheads. The immense forehead of sperm whales is possibly the largest, and one of the strangest, anatomical structures in the animal kingdom. It contains two large oil-filled compartments, known as the “spermaceti organ” and “junk,” that constitute up to one-quarter of body mass and extend one-third of the total length of the whale. Recognized as playing an important role in echolocation, previous studies have also attributed the complex structural configuration of the spermaceti organ and junk to acoustic sexual selection, acoustic prey debilitation, buoyancy control, and aggressive ramming. Of these additional suggested functions, ramming remains the most controversial, and the potential mechanical roles of the structural components of the spermaceti organ and junk in ramming remain untested. Here we explore the aggressive ramming hypothesis using a novel combination of structural engineering principles and probabilistic simulation to determine if the unique structure of the junk significantly reduces stress in the skull during quasi-static impact. Our analyses indicate that the connective tissue partitions in the junk reduce von Mises stresses across the skull and that the load-redistribution functionality of the former is insensitive to moderate variation in tissue material parameters, the thickness of the partitions, and variations in the location and angle of the applied load. Absence of the connective tissue partitions increases skull stresses, particularly in the rostral aspect of the upper jaw, further hinting of the important role the architecture of the junk may play in ramming events. Our study also found that impact loads on the spermaceti organ generate lower skull stresses than an impact on the junk. Nevertheless, whilst an impact on the spermaceti organ would reduce skull stresses, it would also cause high compressive stresses on the anterior aspect of the organ and the connective tissue case, possibly making these structures more prone to failure. This outcome, coupled with the facts that the spermaceti organ houses sensitive and essential sonar producing structures and the rostral portion of junk, rather than the spermaceti organ, is frequently a site of significant scarring in mature males suggest that whales avoid impact with the spermaceti organ. Although the unique structure of the junk certainly serves multiple functions, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the structure also evolved to function as a massive battering ram during male-male competition.

scholarly journals The genotoxicity of particulate and soluble chromate in sperm whale (physeter macrocephalus) skin fibroblasts

2011 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Pierce Wise ◽  
Sandra S. Wise ◽  
Carolyne LaCerte ◽  
John Pierce Wise ◽  
AbouEl-Makarim Aboueissa
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Skin Fibroblasts ◽  
Physeter Macrocephalus

scholarly journals Structure and Proportions of the Spermaceti Organ in the Sperm Whale

1978 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm R. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Properties ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Total Weight ◽  
Physeter Macrocephalus ◽  
Detailed Structure

The head of the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus L.), which is largely snout and the crest of the skull necessary to support it, may exceed a third of the total weight and a quarter of the length of the whale. This indicates the snout has an extremely important function but few theories regarding its function take into account the overall structure, whilst the detailed structure and proportions of the adult's snout have been almost totally neglected. Similarly, consideration of the thermal properties of the spermaceti oil, which is the most remarkable component and constitutes a large proportion of the head, have been neglected in studies of function.

scholarly journals Socially segregated, sympatric sperm whale clans in the Atlantic Ocean

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 160061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane Gero ◽  
Anne Bøttcher ◽  
Hal Whitehead ◽  
Peter Teglberg Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Mantel Test ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
Physeter Macrocephalus ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
Sympatric Populations ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Matrix Correlation ◽  
Social Units

Sperm whales ( Physeter macrocephalus ) are unusual in that there is good evidence for sympatric populations with distinct culturally determined behaviour, including potential acoustic markers of the population division. In the Pacific, socially segregated, vocal clans with distinct dialects coexist; by contrast, geographical variation in vocal repertoire in the Atlantic has been attributed to drift. We examine networks of acoustic repertoire similarity and social interactions for 11 social units in the Eastern Caribbean. We find the presence of two socially segregated, sympatric vocal clans whose dialects differ significantly both in terms of categorical coda types produced by each clan (Mantel test between clans: matrix correlation = 0.256; p  ≤ 0.001) and when using classification-free similarity which ignores defined types (Mantel test between clans: matrix correlation = 0.180; p  ≤ 0.001). The more common of the two clans makes a characteristic 1 + 1 + 3 coda, while the other less often sighted clan makes predominantly regular codas. Units were only observed associating with other units within their vocal clan. This study demonstrates that sympatric vocal clans do exist in the Atlantic, that they define a higher order level of social organization as they do in the Pacific, and suggests that cultural identity at the clan level is probably important in this species worldwide.

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