Killer whales inhabiting coastal waters of the northeastern Pacific are listed under the Canadian Species at Risk Act, which requires the identification of critical habitats for the recovery of their populations. Little is known about their distribution during the winter and what areas are important for their survival during these months. Passive acoustic monitoring is a valuable complementary method to traditional visual and photographic surveys although it has seldom been used to study killer whales and there are limitations in practice. There is a need to develop tools and protocols to maximize the efficiency of such studies. In this thesis, long-term acoustic data collected with autonomous recorders were analyzed 1) to assess the performance of two types of analysis (Manual and Long Term Spectral Averages) for detecting and identifying killer whale calls and to compare the effects of using two different duty cycles (1/3 and 2/3); and 2) to investigate the seasonal occurrence of different killer whale populations at two sites off the west coasts of Vancouver Island and Washington: Swiftsure Bank and Cape Elizabeth. Both the use of Long Term Spectral Averages and a lower duty cycle resulted in a decrease in call detection and resolution of call identification, leading to underestimations of the amount of time the whales spent at the site. A compromise between a lower resolution data processing method and a higher duty cycle (and vice-versa) is therefore suggested for future passive acoustic monitoring studies of killer whales. Killer whale calls were detected on 186 days at Swiftsure Bank and on 39 days at Cape Elizabeth. The seasonal occurrence of killer whales at Swiftsure Bank highlights its importance as a killer whale hotspot, with year-round presence of Southern Residents and British Columbia Transients, Northern Residents in spring and fall, and California Transients on rare occasions. These results support the expansion of Southern Resident’s critical habitat to include Swiftsure Bank. Temporal habitat partitioning between Resident populations was observed at Cape Elizabeth, with Southern Residents detected from January through June and Northern Residents from July to September. These results show that Northern Residents use the southern parts of their range more frequently than previously thought. Both Transient populations were frequently detected throughout the year, suggesting habitat overlapping. / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2008. / "February 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-174). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M. Med. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1982. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-138).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Orientadora : Profª. Drª. Anita Nishiyama / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Fisiologia. Defesa: Curitiba, 29/08/2017 / Inclui referências / Resumo: A sepse é uma disfunção orgânica aguda complexa potencialmente fatal consequente de uma síndrome de resposta inflamatória sistêmica desencadeada por um quadro infeccioso. Os mecanismos subjacentes à fisiopatologia da sepse que envolve processos dinâmicos pró e anti-inflamatórios ainda permanecem mal compreendidos. As células do Natural Killers (NK) desempenham papel crucial na fisiopatologia da sepse, com íntima relação aos processos de inflamação exagerada decorrentes de sua resposta rápida e da produção de citocinas pró-inflamatórias, como o interferon gama (IFN-?). Vários estudos já mostraram que as células NK tem seus níveis reduzidos no plasma de sangue periférico de pacientes portadores de sepse. No entanto, nossa atual compreensão dos mecanismos por trás do seu tráfego celular, assim como, no seu papel no desenvolvimento da doença está restrita aos estudos em modelos animais de sepse. Neste estudo, buscamos comparar os níveis do subconjunto de células NK humanas (CD56bright e CD56dim) no plasma de sangue periférico e fluido de lavado broncoalveolar (LBA) de pacientes portadores de sepse pulmonar. Realizou-se um estudo caso-controle constituído por 10 pacientes saudáveis (controle) e 23 pacientes portadores de sepse pulmonar internados em Unidades de Terapia Intensiva do Hospital Universitário Cajuru da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná no período de 2013 a 2015. Embora pudéssemos confirmar observações anteriormente descritas de linfopenia do plasma de sangue periférico, não foram detectadas diferenças significativas nos níveis de células NK no LBA desses pacientes. Em geral, esses achados reforçam a evidência de que a redução dos níveis de células NK no plasma de sangue periférico pode estar associada à mecanismos de morte celular e apoptose consequentes da sepse. Palavras-chave: Células Natural Killers; sepse pulmonar; linfopenia; interleucinas; citocinas pró-inflamatórias; CD4; CD8; lavado broncoalveolar. / Abstract: Sepsis is a complex systemic inflammatory syndrome, the most common cause of which is attributed to systemic underlying bacterial infection. The complete mechanisms of the dynamic pro- and anti-inflammatory processes underlying the pathophysiology of sepsis remain poorly understood. Natural killer (NK) cells play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of sepsis, leading to exaggerated inflammation due their rapid response and production of proinflammatory cytokines such as interferon gamma (IFN- ?). Several studies have already shown that NK cells undergo lymphopenia in the peripheral blood of patients with sepsis. However, our understanding of the mechanisms behind its cellular trafficking and its role in disease development is restricted to studies in animal models. In this study, we aimed to compare the human NK cell subset (CD56bright or dim) levels in the peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of sepsis patients. We conducted a case-control study with a sample size consisting of 10 control patients and 23 sepsis patients enrolled at the Hospital Cajuru (Curitiba/PR, Brazil) from 2013 to 2015. Although we were able to confirm previous observations of peripheral blood lymphopenia, no significant differences were detected in NK cell levels in the BAL fluid of these patients. Overall, these findings strengthened the evidence that peripheral blood lymphopenia is likely to be associated with cell death as a consequence of sepsis. Keywords: natural killer cells; lung sepsis; lymphopenia; bronchoalveolar lavage.

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This study aimed to investigate possible functions of the sounds produced by herring-eating killer whales in the Northeast Atlantic. In this study, I investigated the whistle repertoire of killer whales, which had previously only been studied in British Columbia, where it appeared to be restricted to the audible range. However, I show that high frequency whistles (> 17 kHz) were detected in Northeast Atlantic populations but not in Northeast Pacific populations. These results indicated substantial intraspecific variation in whistle production in killer whales. Little variation was observed in high frequency whistles recorded from three different sites in the Northeast Atlantic, suggesting this signal has a similar function across locations. The estimated active space of high frequency whistles and burst-pulse calls suggested that these are short-range signals used for within-group communication. Source levels of burst-pulse calls were lower than what was previously described in British Columbia, which possibly reflected the fact that these sounds do not need to propagate far because distances between group members are generally short. Calls, high frequency whistles and herding calls produced at different depths did not appear to suffer effects due to increased pressure, such as changing frequency or duration characteristics. Feeding appeared to take place below 10 m of depth, as suggested by the localisation of depth of production of feeding-related sounds. These depths were consistent with those at which tailslaps were produced in Dtags attached to individual whales. Feeding periods were characterised by deep diving, increased sound production and highly non-directional movement. These findings suggested that killer whales in a herring spawning ground use a feeding strategy different from carousel feeding used in herring overwintering grounds. These findings showed that Northeast Atlantic killer whales have a different sound repertoire to other populations, and suggested that they may employ different feeding strategies depending on prey behaviour.

published_or_final_version / Pathology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy