Heart rate logging in deep diving toothed whales: A new tool for assessing responses to disturbance
Abstract
Acute stressors such as sonar have the potential to impede vital functions in cetaceans by modifying behavior, in addition to having negative physiological impacts. To predict and quantify how marine mammals will respond to anthropogenic stressors, it is essential to understand their physiological limits, the plasticity of their diving physiology, and their physiological response to stress. This information is particularly pertinent for beaked whale species that strand in conjunction with navy sonar exercises. We propose to address this knowledge gap by developing a new biologging capability for measuring heart rate, activity and ventilation rates in wild deep-diving cetaceans building on our recent successful deployments of ECG tags on wild porpoises. To do this we will first develop an improved ECG and/or acoustic heart rate sensor, suitable for deployment on unconstrained animals, using captive harbor porpoises and short-finned pilot whales for testing. We will then incorporate the sensor into a modified DTAG3 data logger, which we will deploy on wild short-finned pilot whales. Once the system works successfully with pilot whales, we will attempt to deploy it on similar sized Blainville s beaked whales to shed fundamentally new light on their diving physiology with implications for understanding effects of human disturbance.Specifically we propose to: develop an acoustic and/or surface sensor for measuring dive heart rate; use the heart rate DTAG3 to measure the diving heart rate, along with the sounds and movements of wild, free-ranging pilot whales, enabling a study of the relationship between dive heart rate, activity, and ventilation rates; and attempt to deploy the heart rate DTAG3 on Blainville s beaked whales off El Hierro in the Canary Islands to uncover how beaked whales regulate heart rate in shallow versus deep dives.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 23, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141612852
Entities
People
- Birgitte I McDonald
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- San José State University
- United States Navy