SGER: Blow-sampling: A non-invasive method for assessing diet, reproductive status and genetics in cetaceans

详细了解顶级海洋捕食者的饮食、亲属关系、健康和荷尔蒙状况对了解基本的鲸类生物、生态学、生活史和进化至关重要，并且可以为管理和保护工作做出重大贡献。然而，在不施加压力、伤害和/或捕获动物的情况下，获得这些信息是极其困难的。本研究开发了一种新的非侵入性方法（吹取样），包括收集从吹孔呼出的液体，并将探索这种生物样本的全部潜力。自1984年以来，对澳大利亚鲨鱼湾1200多只印度洋宽吻海豚的个体生活史、繁殖、行为、遗传和生态进行了监测。此外，五只成年猴子和它们的后代每天都会去海滩（猴子米娅）接受人类送的鱼。每天从这些个体身上收集的吹风样本将用于开发生殖状态、亲缘关系和饮食的分析，然后可以应用于在更大的人群中评估这些变量。在2008年的一项试点研究中，收集了90个来自供应和非供应海豚的吹风样本，并从它们的吹风中提取了mtDNA（母系遗传）。这些样本将用于通过激素来确定生殖状态，通过脂肪酸来确定饮食，通过疾病来确定健康状况，通过mtDNA和核DNA来确定亲属关系，然后将其与年龄、性别、行为、生殖模式和生存相关联。这项创新和非侵入性的项目将获得改善海豚福利所需的数据，并有可能为鲸类动物的生物采样设定新的标准。

Detailed knowledge concerning the diet, kinship, health, and hormonal status of top marine predators is critical to understanding basic cetacean biology, ecology, life history, and evolution, and can contribute substantially to management and conservation efforts. However, such information is extremely difficult to obtain without stressing, harming, and/or capturing animals. This study develops a new, non-invasive method (blow-sampling) that involves collecting fluid exhaled from the blowhole and will explore the full potential of this biological sample. The individual life histories, reproduction, behavior, genetics, and ecology of more than 1200 Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia have been monitored since 1984. In addition, five adults and their offspring visit a beach (Monkey Mia) daily to receive fish from humans. Blow samples collected daily from these individuals will be used to develop assays of reproductive states, relatedness and diets, which can then be applied to evaluate these variables in the larger population. In a 2008 pilot study 90 blow samples from provisioned and non-provisioned dolphins were collected and mtDNA (maternally inherited) was extracted from their blow. These samples will be used to identify reproductive state through hormones, diet through fatty acids, health through disease presence, and kinship through mtDNA and nuclear DNA, which can then be correlated with age, sex, behavior, reproductive patterns and survival. This innovative and non-invasive project will acquire much-needed data for improving dolphin welfare, and can potentially set a new standard for biological sampling of cetaceans.