Ovarian cycle approach by rectal temperature and fecal progesterone in a female killer whale, Orcinus orca

Abstract

This study aimed to validate the measurements of body temperature and fecal progesterone concentrations as minimally invasive techniques for assessing ovarian cycle in a single sexually mature female killer whale. Rectal temperature data, fecal and blood samples were collected in the dorsal position using routine husbandry training on a voluntary basis. The correlations between rectal temperature and plasma progesterone concentration and between fecal and plasma progesterone concentrations were investigated. Fecal progesterone metabolites were identified by a combination of high-performance liquid chromatography and enzyme immunoassay. Plasma progesterone concentrations (range: 0.2-18.6 ng/ml) and rectal temperature (range: 35.3-35.9°C) changed cyclically, and cycle lengths were an average (±SD) of 44.9±4.0 days (nine cycles) and 44.6±5.9 days (nine cycles), respectively. Rectal temperature positively correlated with the plasma progesterone concentrations (r=0.641, P<0.01). There was a visual trend for fecal progesterone profiles to be similar to circulating plasma progesterone profiles. Fecal immunoreactive progestagen analysis resulted in a marked immunoreactive peak of progesterone. The data from the single killer whale indicate that the measurement of rectal temperature is suitable for minimally invasive assessment of the estrous cycle and monitoring the fecal progesterone concentration is useful to assess ovarian luteal activity.

Biological matrices for sampling free‐ranging cetaceans and the implications of their use for reproductive endocrine monitoring

“…Faecal samples were collected from captive, female bottlenose dolphins of different reproductive states, and although the authors were able to establish a threshold value of progesterone metabolite values to confirm corpus luteum activity, few additional conclusions were achieved (Biancani et al 2009). In another study on a captive female killer whale, the authors demonstrated that faecal progesterone profiles were visually similar to plasma profiles; however, they could not show a significant statistical correlation between faecal and plasma concentrations of progesterone (Kusuda et al 2011).…”

“…In another study on a captive female killer whale, the authors demonstrated that faecal progesterone profiles were visually similar to plasma profiles; however, they could not show a significant statistical correlation between faecal and plasma concentrations of progesterone (Kusuda et al. ).…”

Oxygen isotopic variations in modern cetacean teeth and bones: implications for ecological, paleoecological, and paleoclimatic studies

“…Killer whales have a diverse diet ranging from small schooling fish and squid to large baleen and sperm whales [54]. Kusuda et al [43] monitored the body temperature of a female killer whale over a course of more than a year and found that its body temperature changed cyclically from 35.3°C to 35.9°C, with an average of 35.5°C.…”

“…(1)-the empirical equation established by Yoshida and Miyazaki[10]; and (2) using Eq. (2)-the phosphate-water oxygen isotope fractionation equation[58], assuming that body temperatures are 33.5°C for the sperm whale[44] and 35.5°C for all the other whales[41][42][43].The d18 O w values derived from the d18 O p values of our modern whale samples (with the exception of the killer whale) using Eq. (1) are mostly higher than the observed d18 O w values of modern Atlantic and Pacific Ocean waters…”

Pre- and Postpartum Acoustic Activity in Captive Pacific White-Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) Mothers

“…The relationship between the production rates of pulsed call sequences for mothers and their body temperature, which is an indirect physiological indicator controlled by hormones, was also analyzed in parallel during the pre-parturition period to investigate the possibility that hormones cause the acoustic activity in mothers. For example, body temperature changes during the estrous cycle are positively correlated with progesterone levels in a female beluga (Katsumata et al 2006a) and a female killer whale (Kusuda et al 2011). The acrophases of diurnal rhythms in body temperature and cortisol levels were observed at approximately the same time in male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Funasaka et al 2011).…”