ArticlePloS one2017
Population growth is limited by nutritional impacts on pregnancy success in endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca).
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers.
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Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 151 citations in OpenAlex.
- Characterization of Circulating Maternal Progestagens, Estrogens, Androgens and Glucocorticoids During Normal Pregnancy in Belugas (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Life History and Reproductive Parameters in an Increasingly Abundant Killer Whale Population.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Marine Sediments: Distribution, Sources, and Biological Risks in the Habitat of Resident Killer Whales and their Prey in British Columbia, Canada.Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology · 2026Article
- Variations in Circulating Thyroid Hormone Profiles Across Age, Sex, and Pregnancy Outcomes in Killer Whales (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Costs of maternal care revealed through body conditionin Northern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca).Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Reproductive Science Methods for Marine Mammals.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Article
- A sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analytical method of steroid hormones in small blubber samples from four whale species.Conservation physiology · 2026Article
- A geometric morphometric approach for detecting different reproductive stages of a free-ranging killer whale Orcinus orca population.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Within-sample variability of steroid and thyroid metabolite measurements in faeces of Northeast Pacific resident killer whales (Conservation physiology · 2025Article
- Pathogens from salmon aquaculture in relation to conservation of wild Pacific salmon in Canada.Science advances · 2024Review
- Marine mammals as indicators of Anthropocene Ocean Health.npj biodiversity · 2024Review
- Spatial and seasonal foraging patterns drive diet differences among north Pacific resident killer whale populations.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- Physiological carry-over effects of variable precipitation are mediated by reproductive status in a long-lived ungulate.Conservation physiology · 2024Article
- Article
- Spatiotemporal Trends Spanning Three Decades Show Toxic Levels of Chemical Contaminants in Marine Mammals.Environmental science & technology · 2023Article
- Mechanisms of equality and inequality in mammalian societies.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Assessment of a non-invasive approach to pregnancy diagnosis in gray whales through drone-based photogrammetry and faecal hormone analysis.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- Sediment Spatial Distribution and Quality Assessment of Metals in Chinook Salmon and Resident Killer Whale Marine Habitat in British Columbia, Canada.Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology · 2023Article
- Temporal dynamics of mother-offspring relationships in Bigg's killer whales: opportunities for kin-directed help by post-reproductive females.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The Southern Resident killer whale population (Orcinus orca) was listed as endangered in 2005 and shows little sign of recovery. These fish eating whales feed primarily on endangered Chinook salmon. Population growth is constrained by low offspring production for the number of reproductive females in the population. Lack of prey, increased toxins and vessel disturbance have been listed as potential causes of the whale's decline, but partitioning these pressures has been difficult. We validated and applied temporal measures of progesterone and testosterone metabolites to assess occurrence, stage and health of pregnancy from genotyped killer whale feces collected using detection dogs. Thyroid and glucocorticoid hormone metabolites were measured from these same samples to assess physiological stress. These methods enabled us to assess pregnancy occurrence and failure as well as how pregnancy success was temporally impacted by nutritional and other stressors, between 2008 and 2014. Up to 69% of all detectable pregnancies were unsuccessful; of these, up to 33% failed relatively late in gestation or immediately post-partum, when the cost is especially high. Low availability of Chinook salmon appears to be an important stressor among these fish-eating whales as well as a significant cause of late pregnancy failure, including unobserved perinatal loss. However, release of lipophilic toxicants during fat metabolism in the nutritionally deprived animals may also provide a contributor to these cumulative effects. Results point to the importance of promoting Chinook salmon recovery to enhance population growth of Southern Resident killer whales. The physiological measures used in this study can also be used to monitor the success of actions aimed at promoting adaptive management of this important apex predator to the Pacific Northwest.
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