Arsenic speciation in bodily fluids of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena)

Arsenic speciation in bodily fluids of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena)

Optokinetic nystagmus in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina)

Harbor seals experience motion due to self-motion and to movement in the external world. However, motion vision has not been studied yet in marine mammals moving in the underwater world. To open up this research, optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) as a basic motion sensing and retinal image stabilizing reflex was studied in four harbor seals during stimulation with moving black-and-white stripe patter...

Direct evidence for gray seal (Halichoerus grypus) predation and scavenging on harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena)

THIBAUT BOUVEROUX, Observatoire pour la Conservation et l’Etude des Animaux et Milieux Marins (OCEAMM), 51 Rue du G en eral de Gaulle, F-59123 Zuydcoote, France; JEREMY J. KISZKA andMICHAEL R. HEITHAUS, Marine Sciences Program, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, 3000 NE 151st Street, North Miami, Florida 33181, U.S.A.; THIERRY JAUNIAUX, Department of Veterinary...

Population structure of Anisakis simplex (Nematoda) in harbor porpoises Phocoena phocoena off Denmark.

The population structure and habitat selection of Anisakis simplex in 35 harbor porpoises off Denmark are described. The nematodes were collected from the stomach and duodenal ampulla and were categorized as third-stage larvae, fourth-stage larvae, subadults, and adults. The porpoises harbored 8,043 specimens of A. simplex. The proportion of adults and subadults increased with infrapopulation s...

Acoustic radiation from the head of echolocating harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena).

An experiment was conducted to investigate the sound pressure patterns on the melon of odontocetes by using four broadband hydrophones embedded in suction cups to measure echolocation signals on the surface of the forehead of two harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). It has long been hypothesized that the special lipids found in the melon of odontocetes, and not in any other mammals, focus soun...