Seasonal gain in body condition of foraging humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

KC Bierlich, J Hewitt, RS Schick, L Pallin… - Frontiers in Marine …, 2022 - frontiersin.org
Most baleen whales are capital breeders that use stored energy acquired on foraging
grounds to finance the costs of migration and reproduction on breeding grounds. Body …

Closing the air gap: the use of drones for studying wildlife ecophysiology

A Yaney‐Keller, RR McIntosh, RH Clarke… - Biological …, 2025 - Wiley Online Library
Techniques for non‐invasive sampling of ecophysiological data in wild animals have been
developed in response to challenges associated with studying captive animals or using …

Range-wide comparison of gray whale body condition reveals contrasting sub-population health characteristics and vulnerability to environmental change

LG Torres, CN Bird, F Rodríguez-González… - Frontiers in Marine …, 2022 - frontiersin.org
Climate change is a global phenomenon, yet impacts on resource availability to predators
may be spatially and temporally diverse and asynchronous. As capital breeders, whales are …

Downsized: gray whales using an alternative foraging ground have smaller morphology

KC Bierlich, A Kane, L Hildebrand, CN Bird… - Biology …, 2023 - royalsocietypublishing.org
Describing individual morphology and growth is key for identifying ecological niches and
monitoring the health and fitness of populations. Eastern North Pacific ((ENP), approximately …

Assessment of a non-invasive approach to pregnancy diagnosis in gray whales through drone-based photogrammetry and faecal hormone analysis

A Fernandez Ajó, E Pirotta… - Royal Society …, 2023 - royalsocietypublishing.org
Knowledge of baleen whales' reproductive physiology is limited and requires long-term
individual-based studies and innovative tools. We used 6 years of individual-level data on …

Comparing uncertainty associated with 1-, 2-, and 3D aerial photogrammetry-based body condition measurements of baleen whales

KC Bierlich, J Hewitt, CN Bird, RS Schick… - Frontiers in Marine …, 2021 - frontiersin.org
Body condition is a crucial and indicative measure of an animal's fitness, reflecting overall
foraging success, habitat quality, and balance between energy intake and energetic …

Age-specific behavior and habitat use in humpback whales: implications for vessel strike

JEF Stepanuk, EI Heywood, JF Lopez… - Marine Ecology …, 2021 - int-res.com
Vessel strikes are a major threat impacting large whales globally. Juvenile whales often
represent a high proportion of lethal vessel strikes, but few studies have investigated …

Lunge filter feeding biomechanics constrain rorqual foraging ecology across scale

SR Kahane-Rapport, MS Savoca… - Journal of …, 2020 - journals.biologists.com
Fundamental scaling relationships influence the physiology of vital rates, which in turn
shape the ecology and evolution of organisms. For diving mammals, benefits conferred by …

Demography of an ice-obligate mysticete in a region of rapid environmental change

L Pallin, KC Bierlich, J Durban… - Royal Society …, 2022 - royalsocietypublishing.org
Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis, AMW) are an abundant, ice-dependent
species susceptible to rapid climatic changes occurring in parts of the Antarctic. Here, we …

Integrating 3D models with morphometric measurements to improve volumetric estimates in marine mammals

NO Hirtle, JEF Stepanuk, EI Heywood… - Methods in Ecology …, 2022 - Wiley Online Library
Studies of body condition are key to understanding the health, bioenergetics and ecological
roles of marine mammals. Due to challenges in studying marine mammals at sea, body …