Table 3.
Comparison of whale fecal hormone metabolites (ng.g−1, dried mass) by demographic units, including mean concentration ± standard deviation in the first row, median in the second row and range (min–max) in the third row. Rows in italics in the table include concentrations of stranded whales and case studies (endocrine profiles typical of physiologically stressed individuals and adult breeding males), and putative thresholds for pregnancies (progestin metabolites) and maturation in males (androgen metabolites)
| Demographic unit | N | Progestin metabolites | N | Androgen metabolites | N | Glucocorticoid metabolites | N | Thyroid metabolites |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immature male | 8 | 19.43 ± 18.05 13.11 (5.49–58.71) |
7 | 8.14 ± 4.72 10.62 (1.44–12.54) |
5 | 12.02 ± 8.21 8.11 (4.41–23.17) |
4 | 49.58 ± 37.86 44.92 (8.44–100.02) |
| Mature male | 30 | 69.77 ± 97.69 32.63 (0.016–488.05) |
28 | 174.44 ± 328.11 70.32 (1.97–1478.04) |
21 | 20.78 ± 15.72 19.76 (3.24–70.22) |
21 | 192.57 ± 461.10 47.03 (1.28–2134.86) |
| Immature female | 5 | 71.60 ± 61.65 60.34 (6.57–159.02) |
5 | 10.63 ± 3.49 11.27 (5.65–15.01) |
3 | 19.49 ± 11.10 25.19 (6.69–26.59) |
3 | 48.42 ± 17.56 58.30 (28.14–58.82) |
| Resting female | 42 | 78.37 ± 85.75 50.80 (8.71–449.07) |
36 | 12.10 ± 12.54 8.18 (1.69–59.84) |
36 | 14.80 ± 9.00 13.61 (10.48–48.30) |
29 | 8 ± 152.97 63.55 (3.99–624.50) |
| Pregnant female | 4 | 157.41 ± 102.62 126.49 (70.78–305.86) |
4 | 20.47 ± 16.58 15.94 (5.71–44.27) |
4 | 15.88 ± 3.38 15.27 (12.75–20.25) |
3 | 18.57 ± 9.64 15.58 (10.77–29.35) |
| Lactating female | 1 | 24.52 | 1 | 5.68 | 1 | 9.06 | 1 | 65.88 |
| Postweaning female | 2 | 159.36 ± 183.30 159.36 (29.75–288.97) |
2 | 19.94 ± 0.89 19.94 (19.31–20.57) |
2 | 5.61 ± 2.06 5.61 (4.16–7.07) |
— | — |
| Stranded whales | — | — | — | — |
1 1 1 1 |
23.60 (†) 5.83 (*) 30.78 (¥) 26.58 («) |
— | — |
| Case studies |
— — |
— — |
— 1 |
— 85.93 (€) |
1 — |
22.01 (§) — |
— — |
— — |
| Putative thresholds | — |
70.78 (¤) 300.00 (‡) |
— | 60.00 (£) | — | — | — | — |
Legend: (†) Stranded immature male (STRAND 1); (*) Stranded immature male (STRAND 2); (¥) Stranded resting female (STRAND 3); («) Stranded immature female (STRAND 4); (§) injured immature male gray whale (whale ID: ErPNW-223); (€) mature male in competitive behavior (whale ID: ErPNW-80 T); (¤) putative threshold for pregnancy; (‡) conservative putative threshold for pregnancy; (£) putative threshold for maturation in male.