James L. Sumich

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Verified

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• Ph.D.
• Affiliate Faculty MMI at Oregon State University

Describing individual morphology and growth is key for identifying ecological niches and monitoring the health and fitness of populations. Eastern North Pacific ((ENP), approximately 16 650 individuals) gray whales primarily feed in the Arctic/sub-Arctic regions, while a small subgroup called the Pacific Coast Feeding Group (PCFG, approximately 212...

Growth of structural mass and energy reserves influences individual survival, reproductive success, population and species life history. Metrics of structural growth and energy storage of individuals are often used to assess population health and reproductive potential, which can inform conservation. However, the energetic costs of tissue depositio...

A bioenergetic model is developed from empirically derived equations of morphometric, ventilatory and thermoregulatory variables to compare estimated field metabolic rates (FMR) of gray whale calves to estimates of unregulated body heat losses and consequent required thermogenesis at birth, natal lagoon departure, and weaning. Estimates of FMR are...

Baleen whales store energy gained on foraging grounds to support reproduction and other metabolic needs while fasting for long periods during migration. Whale body condition can be used to monitor foraging success, and thus better understand and anticipate individual‐ and population‐level trends in reproduction and survival. We assessed the body co...

What is marine biology and why is it important? The Eleventh Edition of Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life answers these questions and inspires students to appreciate marine life and ocean ecosystems. Assuming no prior knowledge of marine biology, this entertaining text covers the essentials to a foundational understanding of marine organis...

Marine mammals have long captured the attention of humans. Ancient peoples etched seals and dolphins on the walls of Paleolithic caves; today, engineers develop microprocessors to track these denizens of the deep. This groundbreaking book from highly respected marine mammal paleontologist Annalisa Berta delves into the story of the extraordinary ad...

The overexploitation of whales, seals, sea cows, and sea otters has resulted in seriously reduced population sizes, the extinction of several species, and the endangered status of several others. The recognition of marine mammals as crucial natural resources and valued ecosystem components that require protection has resulted in the establishment o...

Marine mammals are defined and their adaptations reviewed in this introductory chapter. Extant marine mammals include more than 125 species with representatives in three mammalian orders: Carnivora: pinnipeds, marine otters, and polar bears; Cetacea: whales, dolphins, and porpoises; and Sirenia: manatees and dugongs. Objectives are identified and t...

Introduction is provided to the basic terminology and concepts involved in systematics and reconstruction of the evolutionary history of marine mammals. The construction of phylogenetic trees is reviewed as are methods for testing phylogenetic hypotheses. Also explored is the application of phylogenetic trees to elucidate evolutionary and ecologica...

Species identification and status is reviewed as is the process of speciation (allopatry, sympatry, parapatry, and hybridization) using marine mammal examples. Ecological requirements of marine mammals including biotic factors such as food availability and abiotic factors such as water temperature and salinity are examined. Past and present distrib...

While sophisticated tools are used to monitor behavioral changes of large marine vertebrates, determining whether these changes are meaningful for management and conservation is challenging. The Population Consequences of Disturbance model proposed a bioenergetics model to detect biologically meaningful population responses, where disturbance costs...

Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology, Third Edition is a succinct, yet comprehensive text devoted to the systematics, evolution, morphology, ecology, physiology, and behavior of marine mammals. Earlier editions of this valuable work are considered required reading for all marine biologists concerned with marine mammals, and this text continues that...

Patterns of gray whale growth in body length and weight with age are evaluated using published values of foetal and post-natal body dimensions at reported ages, supplemented with previously unpublished measured lengths of 88 mid-gestation foetuses, 82 first-summer calves and 30 second-summer whales taken in the summer/autumn Chukotkan native subsis...

A stranding of sperm whales (Physeter catodon) on the central Oregon coast enabled measurement of the total plasma volume of one female whale. The total blood volume was calculated to be about 20% of the total body weight based on the measured total plasma volume and hematocrit and the estimate of total body weight.

This study was conducted to determine the swimming velocities and breathing patterns of south-migrating gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) and to estimate their minimum costs of transport during migration. Swimming velocities and breathing patterns were monitored with theodolite techniques from a coastal vantage point on Point Loma, San Diego Coun...

Through most of their annual migration, gray whales, Eschrichtius robustus, remain within 10 km of shore, but in the Southern California Bight many individuals migrate much farther from shore. This paper summarizes aerial survey and photogrammetric efforts to determine body lengths and temporal and spatial distributions of migratory gray whales in...

Swimming velocities and breathing rates were measured for migrating gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus (Lilljeborg, 1861)) at Costa Azul, Baja California, to compare swimming effort of southbound whales, northbound whales without calves, and northbound mothers and calves. From December 2004 to May 2005, whales were followed using a theodolite to de...

This chapter focuses on comparing and considering variations in the musculoskeletal anatomy of the major marine mammal groups, especially as it relates to locomotion. Propulsion for swimming in marine mammals is derived from paired flipper movements or vertical movements of the caudal flukes. Paired flipper propulsion is more efficient at low speed...

This chapter deals with the production, transmission, and reception of the sounds produced by vocalizing marine mammals in air and under water. The manner in which vocalizations are produced and received differs in the marine mammal taxa and also according to the medium in which vocalizations are produced. The purpose of vocalizations includes comm...

This chapter summarizes the functional anatomy and physiology of the integumentary and sensory systems of marine mammals. The review of the integumentary system includes a description of the components of the system. A discussion of the nervous system highlights how relative brain size is measured and how enlargements of different segments of the s...

Attempts to understand the ecology of marine mammals and the ecological roles they play in marine ecosystems necessitate the knowledge of their abundance and the trends in their numbers. Yet, despite the high levels of interest in these animals, few good estimates exist for the population sizes of marine mammals. Many marine mammal populations are...

Systematics is the study of biological diversity that emphasizes the reconstruction of phylogeny—the evolutionary history of a particular group of organisms. Systematic knowledge provides a framework for interpreting biological diversity, and it can also be used to test hypotheses of adaptation. An understanding of the evolutionary relationships am...

This chapter examines the diets of marine mammals, and several of the more obvious structural and behavioral specializations employed by marine mammals to capture their prey. The foraging energetics and the anatomy and physiology of digestion are also examined. Marine mammal diets and foraging strategies are direct consequences of the patterns of p...

Cetaceans, together with sirenians, are the earliest recorded marine mammals—appearing in the Eocene about 53–54 Ma. Cetaceans are also the most diverse mammalian group to adapt to a marine existence. New discoveries of fossil whales provide compelling evidence for both the phylogenetic connections of cetaceans as well as the evolutionary transform...

This chapter focuses on the major patterns of energy expenditures by individuals, including basal metabolism, thermoregulation, swimming, and osmoregulation. Benefits are typically expressed as improved performance or as additional tissue building, either through growth or through reproduction. The field of marine mammal energetics employs a variet...

This chapter explores some basic patterns that are seen among marine mammals with respect to diving. The details of diving behavior are often difficult to observe and interpret, for they usually occur well below the sea surface. Measured as either the maximal achieved depth or the maximal duration of a dive, the diving capabilities of marine mammal...

All groups of marine mammals share several features of reproduction that stem from their placental mammalian heritage. This chapter explores the basic conditions of reproduction, which are reflected in the strategies for care and nourishment of the young and in the resulting life histories of these animals. Some species often remain in limited home...

This chapter explores the understanding of pinniped origin, diversification, and morphology. Characters defining the major groups of pinnipeds are listed for reference. The chapter also considers controversies regarding the relationship of pinnipeds to other carnivores; relationships among pinnipeds; and the alliance of an extinct pinniped group, d...

The mammalian order Sirenia, or sea cows, includes two extant families: the Trichechidae (manatees) and the Dugongidae (the dugong). Manatees include three living species and are known from the early Miocene (15 Ma) to the recent time in the New World tropics. The dugong is represented by a single extant species: Dugong dugon of the Indo-Pacific. S...

This chapter discusses a species' ecological requirements, including both biotic and abiotic factors. The chapter also explores the distribution of species, the impact of geologic events on the distribution, and the reason for some species' being confined to a region while others are widely separated and even found on opposite sides of the world. U...

A bstract Mean body lengths of gray whale calves were found to increase linearly from 4.6 m at birth to 7 m by weaning at six mo. After weaning, rates of length increase diminish, with calves reaching 8 m by one yr of age and 9 m by two yr. Evaluations of the weights of nine gray whales as functions of their measured lengths and girths reduce the e...

Berta and Sumich have succeeded yet again in creating superior marine reading! This book is a succinct yet comprehensive text devoted to the systematics, evolution, morphology, ecology, physiology, and behavior of marine mammals. The first edition, considered the leading text in the field, is required reading for all marine biologists concerned wit...

Three sets of portable horizontal acoustic arrays were deployed during a week in February 2005 to gather acoustic recordings of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in Laguna San Ignacio, one of the three major breeding/calving lagoons in Baja California, Mexico. These arrays, which were constructed by attaching a pair of autonomous flash-memory aco...

This study investigated the influence of whalewatching boats on the behaviour of gray whales on their migratory route in Todos Santos Bay, near the port of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. The objectives were: (1) to compare the swimming direction and velocity of whales in the presence and absence of whalewatching vessels, and when other boats we...

A gray whale neonate, JJ, stranded on January 10, 1997 and held for rehabilitation at SeaWorld, San Diego, was studied to: (1) characterize respiratory patterns for the purpose of remotely monitoring changes in ventilation and oxygen extraction rates over short time-frames and (2) estimate the meta- bolic rate compared to unrestrained calves in a w...

The pattern and rate of growth of baleen plates in a rehabilitating gray whale calf (Eschrichtius robustus) was monitored by making 35-mm film and Hi-8 mm video images of each side of 'JJ's' head when she surfaced and exposed her mouth. From selected film and video images of baleen and rostral surface features, I measured the lengths of baleen plat...

Includes abstract. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 1986. Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-188). Photocopy.

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) distribution and relative abundance along the Oregon coast were studied during the summers of 1977-1980. Shore-based observations along the entire Oregon coast were made in 1977. In 1978-1980, detailed studies of whale distribution, activities, and body size were made along the central coast only; they were supple...

Allocentrotus fragilis (Jackson) was obtained from six stations at depths of 100 to 1,260 m on the continental shelf and upper slope off Newport, Oregon. Ages and growth rates of A. fragilis were determined by two methods: (1) from size-frequency distributions of trawl collections from 200 m, and (2) from growth zones on skeletal test plates. Colle...

Calcium-magnesium ratios in test plates of the sea urchin Allocentrotus fragilis (Jackson) are age-dependent and not temperature-dependent.

We describe the growth of a female gray whale calf (JJ) during her rehabilitation at SeaWorld of San Diego and compare its growth with that of another gray whale calf (Gigi II) previously maintained at SeaWorld of San Diego in 1971–1972. We repeat-edly measured JJ's length, girth, and body mass between 11 January 1997 (when she was judged to be 3–7...