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Satellite tagging and biopsy sampling of killer whales at subantarctic Marion Island: effectiveness, immediate reactions and long-term responses

Satellite tagging and biopsy sampling of killer whales at subantarctic Marion Island: effectiveness, immediate reactions and long-term responses
Satellite tagging and biopsy sampling of killer whales at subantarctic Marion Island: effectiveness, immediate reactions and long-term responses

Remote tissue biopsy sampling and satellite tagging are becoming widely used in large marine vertebrate studies because they allow the collection of a diverse suite of otherwise difficult-to-obtain data which are critical in understanding the ecology of these species and to their conservation and management. Researchers must carefully consider their methods not only from an animal welfare perspective, but also to ensure the scientific rigour and validity of their results. We report methods for shore-based, remote biopsy sampling and satellite tagging of killer whales Orcinus orca at Subantarctic Marion Island. The performance of these methods is critically assessed using 1) the attachment duration of low-impact minimally percutaneous satellite tags; 2) the immediate behavioural reactions of animals to biopsy sampling and satellite tagging; 3) the effect of researcher experience on biopsy sampling and satellite tagging; and 4) the mid- (1 month) and long- (24 month) term behavioural consequences. To study mid- and long-term behavioural changes we used multievent capture-recapture models that accommodate imperfect detection and individual heterogeneity. We made 72 biopsy sampling attempts (resulting in 32 tissue samples) and 37 satellite tagging attempts (deploying 19 tags). Biopsy sampling success rates were low (43%), but tagging rates were high with improved tag designs (86%). The improved tags remained attached for 26±14 days (mean ± SD). Individuals most often showed no reaction when attempts missed (66%) and a slight reaction-defined as a slight flinch, slight shake, short acceleration, or immediate dive-when hit (54%). Severe immediate reactions were never observed. Hit or miss and age-sex class were important predictors of the reaction, but the method (tag or biopsy) was unimportant. Multievent trap-dependence modelling revealed considerable variation in individual sighting patterns; however, there were no significant mid- or long-term changes following biopsy sampling or tagging.

1932-6203
Reisinger, Ryan R.
4eaf9440-48e5-41fa-853f-d46457e5444e
Oosthuizen, W. Chris
c47dad12-f162-48e4-991e-9629439fba1c
Péron, Guillaume
630e8636-1416-4acd-bb88-9540073edcfb
Toussaint, Dawn Cory
ff524e27-0653-45ea-8a48-437e71ade158
Andrews, Russel D.
ada531f4-f475-42e1-88d3-b21bf19eee21
De Bruyn, P. J.Nico
3257867f-eda3-4ddf-baa3-aaf692de19bb
Reisinger, Ryan R.
4eaf9440-48e5-41fa-853f-d46457e5444e
Oosthuizen, W. Chris
c47dad12-f162-48e4-991e-9629439fba1c
Péron, Guillaume
630e8636-1416-4acd-bb88-9540073edcfb
Toussaint, Dawn Cory
ff524e27-0653-45ea-8a48-437e71ade158
Andrews, Russel D.
ada531f4-f475-42e1-88d3-b21bf19eee21
De Bruyn, P. J.Nico
3257867f-eda3-4ddf-baa3-aaf692de19bb

Reisinger, Ryan R., Oosthuizen, W. Chris, Péron, Guillaume, Toussaint, Dawn Cory, Andrews, Russel D. and De Bruyn, P. J.Nico (2014) Satellite tagging and biopsy sampling of killer whales at subantarctic Marion Island: effectiveness, immediate reactions and long-term responses. PLoS ONE, 9 (11), [e111835]. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111835).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Remote tissue biopsy sampling and satellite tagging are becoming widely used in large marine vertebrate studies because they allow the collection of a diverse suite of otherwise difficult-to-obtain data which are critical in understanding the ecology of these species and to their conservation and management. Researchers must carefully consider their methods not only from an animal welfare perspective, but also to ensure the scientific rigour and validity of their results. We report methods for shore-based, remote biopsy sampling and satellite tagging of killer whales Orcinus orca at Subantarctic Marion Island. The performance of these methods is critically assessed using 1) the attachment duration of low-impact minimally percutaneous satellite tags; 2) the immediate behavioural reactions of animals to biopsy sampling and satellite tagging; 3) the effect of researcher experience on biopsy sampling and satellite tagging; and 4) the mid- (1 month) and long- (24 month) term behavioural consequences. To study mid- and long-term behavioural changes we used multievent capture-recapture models that accommodate imperfect detection and individual heterogeneity. We made 72 biopsy sampling attempts (resulting in 32 tissue samples) and 37 satellite tagging attempts (deploying 19 tags). Biopsy sampling success rates were low (43%), but tagging rates were high with improved tag designs (86%). The improved tags remained attached for 26±14 days (mean ± SD). Individuals most often showed no reaction when attempts missed (66%) and a slight reaction-defined as a slight flinch, slight shake, short acceleration, or immediate dive-when hit (54%). Severe immediate reactions were never observed. Hit or miss and age-sex class were important predictors of the reaction, but the method (tag or biopsy) was unimportant. Multievent trap-dependence modelling revealed considerable variation in individual sighting patterns; however, there were no significant mid- or long-term changes following biopsy sampling or tagging.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 1 October 2014
Published date: 6 November 2014
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2014 Reisinger et al. Copyright: Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 455136
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/455136
ISSN: 1932-6203
PURE UUID: bec87008-e9c1-4d62-a980-99e4b95c508a
ORCID for Ryan R. Reisinger: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8933-6875

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Date deposited: 10 Mar 2022 17:52
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:11

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Contributors

Author: W. Chris Oosthuizen
Author: Guillaume Péron
Author: Dawn Cory Toussaint
Author: Russel D. Andrews
Author: P. J.Nico De Bruyn

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