ArticleGeneral and comparative endocrinology2021
Blubber endocrine profiles provide insights into reproductive biology in blue whales from the eastern North Pacific Ocean.
Article in General and comparative endocrinology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- A multidisciplinary assessment of endocrine and morphometric correlates of lactation physiology in southern right whales.Conservation physiology · 2026Article
- Multiyear Baleen Endocrine Profiles Suggest a Longer Estimated Gestation in Southern Right Whales (Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Estimating pregnancy rate from blubber progesterone levels of a blindly biopsied beluga population poses methodological, analytical and statistical challenges.Conservation physiology · 2023Article
- Naturally stressed? Glucocorticoid profiles in blubber of blue and gray whales in response to life history parameters.Marine Mammal Science · 2022Article
- Application of endocrine biomarkers to update information on reproductive physiology in gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus).PloS one · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The goal of the present study was to complement existing data of testosterone and progesterone in blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) blubber from the eastern North Pacific Ocean to evaluate effects of seasonality and location on these hormones and to better assess reproductive status of individuals. Physiological parameters regarding reproduction are fundamental for describing population dynamics, and hormones can be a valid tool to estimate those for wildlife populations. In this study, blubber tissue was validated for testosterone and progesterone assays. Hormone concentrations were measured in 69 (35 males and 34 females) blubber samples from live (n = 66) and stranded (n = 3) animals collected between 2002 and 2016 from a known winter reproductive ground in the Gulf of California (GoC) and summer feeding areas along the United States West Coast (USWC), specifically off the states of California and Oregon. Results were combined with sighting histories as a tool to determine reproductive status of individual whales. Testosterone concentrations in adult male blue whales were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in blubber biopsies sampled off the USWC between the months of June and November compared to those sampled in the GoC between February and April. Elevated testosterone concentrations likely indicate physiological preparation for reproductive activity while the animals were present off the USWC. Progesterone concentrations were significantly elevated in pregnant females, confirming progesterone as an indicator of pregnancy in blue whales. Probabilities of being pregnant were estimated for adult females with unknown sighting histories based on progesterone concentrations. Testosterone in females was detected and measured only in pregnant whales suggesting its biosynthesis or metabolism is altered during gestation. These results provide updated and new information on the reproductive cycle of blue whales in the eastern North Pacific, posing new milestones to better estimate the timing of the mating season for this endangered population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.