ArticlePloS one2017
Evidence of molting and the function of "rock-nosing" behavior in bowhead whales in the eastern Canadian Arctic.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Endangered bowhead whales might buffer climate change with individual variability in movement patterns.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Repeated narwhal interactions with moorings challenge safety assumptions of passive acoustic monitoring in the Arctic.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Closing the air gap: the use of drones for studying wildlife ecophysiology.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- The First Report ofAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Epidemiology of skin changes in endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca).PloS one · 2023Article
- Cetacean epidermal specialization: A review.Anatomia, histologia, embryologia · 2022Review
- Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Structure of the external auditory meatus of the Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) and its relation to their seasonal migration.Journal of anatomy · 2019Article
- Article
- Geomorphological evidence of large vertebrates interacting with the seafloor at abyssal depths in a region designated for deep-sea mining.Royal Society open science · 2018Article
- Convergence of biannual moulting strategies across birds and mammals.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Review
- Correction: Evidence of molting and the function of "rock-nosing" behavior in bowhead whales in the eastern Canadian Arctic.PloS one · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) have a nearly circumpolar distribution, and occasionally occupy warmer shallow coastal areas during summertime that may facilitate molting. However, relatively little is known about the occurrence of molting and associated behaviors in bowhead whales. We opportunistically observed whales in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut, Canada with skin irregularities consistent with molting during August 2014, and collected a skin sample from a biopsied whale that revealed loose epidermis and sloughing. During August 2016, we flew a small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) over whales to take video and still images to: 1) determine unique individuals; 2) estimate the proportion of the body of unique individuals that exhibited sloughing skin; 3) determine the presence or absence of superficial lines representative of rock-rubbing behavior; and 4) measure body lengths to infer age-class. The still images revealed that all individuals (n = 81 whales) were sloughing skin, and that nearly 40% of them had mottled skin over more than two-thirds of their bodies. The video images captured bowhead whales rubbing on large rocks in shallow, coastal areas-likely to facilitate molting. Molting and rock rubbing appears to be pervasive during late summer for whales in the eastern Canadian Arctic.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.