Behavioral reactions of northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus)to biopsy darting and tag attachment procedures

The effects of invasive or intrusive research techniques need to be thoroug hly documented in order to satisfy appropriate standards of animal care. Ho w cetaceans react to either biopsy darting ol tag attachment procedures has been studied for several species, and considerable interspecific variabili ty in responses has been demonstrated: however; few studies have compared r eactions to both techniques. In the family Ziphiidae (the beaked whales) no thing has been previously reported on responses to either technique. We exa mined and compared the reactions of northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus) to biopsy darting and tagging. Reactions to both these procedur es were generally low-level and short-lived; stronger responses were given to hits than to misses. There was no statistical difference in observed res ponse to tag versus biopsy hits. The prior behavioral state of the whales a ppealed to influence the magnitude of reaction to both hits and misses and thus may be an important Factor to consider in such impact assessment. Whal es lying still at the surface showed stronger reactions than traveling or m illing animals. Sea state appeared to affect whether there was a reaction t o misses, Whales were more likely to respond to a miss in calm sea conditio ns. No avoidance of the research vessel was observed following a tag or bio psy attempt, and in moat cases whales approached the research vessel again within several minutes.