) probably represents the best approach to improve

our knowledge on the feeding ecology of these species. Samples were collected under the auspices of strandings monitoring programs run by Sociedade Portuguesa de Vida Selvagem (SPVS) (Portugal), Coordinadora para o Estudio dos Mamíferos Mariños (CEMMA) (Galicia) and the Scottish Agriculture College (SAC) Veterinary Science Division (Scotland). We thank all the members of SPVS, CEMMA, and SAC for their assistance with data and sample collection, in particular Pablo Covelo, Mara Caldas, Juan I. Díaz, and Angela Llavona www.selleckchem.com/products/Trichostatin-A.html (CEMMA). MBS was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Programa Nacional de Movilidad de Recursos Humanos de Investigación (PR-2010-0518). SSM was supported by a Ph.D. grant from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (ref SFRH/BD/38735/2007). The field work related with strandings and tissue collection in Portugal was partially supported by the project SafeSea (Project EEAGrants PT 0039, supported by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism) and by the Project MarPro–Life09 NAT/PT/000038 (funded by the European Union–Program Life+). The

collection of samples in Galicia was supported by the programs of the Dirección Xeral de Conservación da Natureza of the Xunta de Galicia. Strandings work carried out by SAC are funded by Defra and Marine Scotland. We thank the editors and referees for Selleck Metformin their helpful comments on the manuscript. “
“Increasing evidence links exposure to Navy sonar with certain mass stranding events of deep diving beaked whales. Although the cause of these strandings is unknown, one theory suggests that the animals confuse the sonar signals with vocalizations of killer whales, a known predator. Here we analyze the movement patterns of a tagged female Blainville’s beaked whale in reaction to playback of killer whale predation calls. During a deep foraging dive, the whale was exposed to a playback of killer whale vocalizations with the

source level slowly increased until the whale prematurely ceased foraging. The heading data from the tag were analyzed using a rotation test with a likelihood ratio calculated for a nonparametric kernel density estimate. We found a significant difference (P < 0.005) in the distribution of Δheading (the change in heading averaged over 200 s) after the cessation of the killer selleck compound whale playback. A test of the angular standard deviation (SD) of the Δheading showed that after the playback, the SD was significantly reduced (P = 0.0064), which indicates that the animal maintained a straighter than normal course for an extended period of time. The prolonged directed avoidance response observed here suggests a behavioral reaction that could pose a risk factor for stranding. Increasing anthropogenic noise in the ocean and its effects on marine life has become a rising concern for lawmakers and researchers alike in recent years.