History of polar whaling: insights into the physiology of the great whales.
The sheer size and pelagic nature of the great whales has effectively precluded detailed studies of most of their physiological processes. The vast majority of all data for these species have come from anatomical studies conducted on specimens that were caught in commercial and native whaling operations. In both the polar regions, an incredible number of whales were hunted, but anatomical studies were not usually conducted until relatively recent times. However, the anatomical data that do exist provide a valuable insight into some of the physiological demands placed on the animals by their marine habitat. These include information on blubber and nutrition; baleen and feeding ecology; contaminant chemistry and tissue samples; diving chemistry and acoustics. Taken together, these anatomical data provide the only substantial information on how these animals dive and hunt. Recent breakthroughs in chemical techniques however, are providing even greater details on function (for example, fatty acid signature methods). Coupled with advanced methods for tracking these whales at sea (acoustic and satellite), future studies should provide significant new information on the general physiology of these difficult to study species.
Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska, Fairbanks 99775, USA. mikec@ims.uaf.edu
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D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000502:physiology; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D003081:Cold Climate; D004242:Diving / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D014907:Whales / Q000502:physiology*