Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Characterization of blubber fatty acid signatures in northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) over the postweaning fast

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Comparative Physiology B Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Phocids routinely fast for extended periods. During these fasts, energetic requirements are met primarily through the catabolism of blubber lipid. To assess whether fatty acid (FA) composition changes during the postweaning fast in northern elephant seals, blubber biopsies were acquired longitudinally from 43 pups at 2.3 ± 1.5 and 55.2 ± 3.7 days postweaning in 1999 and 2000. At weaning, short-chain monounsaturated FA (SC-MUFA, ≤18 carbons) dominated the blubber while saturated FA (SFA) were found in the next highest proportion. The major FA (all ≥1 % by mass) comprised approximately 91 % of total blubber FA. In both years, 18:1n-9 and 16:0 were the most prevalent FA. Major FA mobilized during the fast consisted of polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), SFA, and SC-MUFA. Long-chain MUFA (>18 carbons) tended to be conserved. The fractional mobilization value of 20:5n-3 was the highest, resulting in significant reductions of this PUFA. Although concentrations of some blubber FA changed significantly during the postweaning fast, the general FA signature of blubber was similar at weaning and near the end of the fast. Changes in some FA differed across years. For example, the concentration of 20:4n-6, a minor PUFA, was significantly reduced in 1999 but not in 2000. FA mobilization patterns in northern elephant seal pups are somewhat similar to those reported previously for other fasting phocids and terrestrial mammals, though there are some notable differences. Differences in FA mobilization patterns across mammalian species may be related to differences in diets, geographical distribution, environmental factors, physiological adaptations, and life history stage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ackman RG, Eaton CA, Jangaard PM (1965) Lipids of the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) from north Atlantic waters. I. Fatty acid composition of whole blubber and blubber sections. Can J Biochem 43:1513–1520

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ackman RG, Hingley JH, Eaton CA, Sipos JC, Mitchell ED (1975a) Blubber fat deposition in mysticeti whales. Can J Zool 53:1332–1339

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ackman RG, Hingley JH, Eaton CA, Logan VH, Odense PH (1975b) Layering and tissue composition in the blubber of the northwest Atlantic sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis). Can J Zool 53:1340–1344

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aguilar A, Borrell A (1990) Patterns of lipid content and stratification in the blubber of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus). J Mammal 71:544–554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Society of Mammalogists—Society’s Committee on Marine Mammals, Scheffer VB (ed) (1967) Standard measurements of seals. J Mammal 48: 459–462

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnbom T, Fedak MA, Boyd IL, McConnell BJ (1993) Variation in weaning mass of pups in relation to maternal mass, postweaning fast duration, and weaned pup behaviour in southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) at South Georgia. Can J Zool 71:1772–1781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson G (2001) Analysis of repeated measurements in physical therapy research. Phys Ther Sport 2:194–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Best NJ, Bradshaw CJA, Hindell MA, Nichols PD (2003) Vertical stratification of fatty acids in the blubber of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina): implications for diet analysis. Comp Biochem Physiol B 134:253–263

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw CJA, Hindell MA, Best NJ, Phillips KL, Wilson G, Nichols PD (2003) You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina): using blubber fatty acids. Proc R Soc Lond B 270:1283–1292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryden MM, Stokes GB (1969) Metabolism of fatty acids in the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina (L.). Can J Biochem 47:757–760

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Castellini MA, Costa DP, Huntley AC (1987) Fatty acid metabolism in fasting elephant seal pups. J Comp Physiol B 157:445–449

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Castellini MA, Trumble SJ, Mau TL, Yochem PK, Stewart BS, Koski MA (2009) Body and blubber relationships in Antarctic pack ice seals: implications for blubber depth patterns. Physiol Biochem Zool 82:113–120

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conner WE, Lin DS, Colvis C (1996) Differential mobilization of fatty acids from adipose tissue. J Lipid Res 37:290–298

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Costa DP (1993) The relationship between reproductive and foraging energetics and the evolution of the Pinnipedia. In: Boyd IL (ed) Marine mammals: advances in behavioural and population biology, vol 66. Symposium Zoological Society of London, Oxford University Press, New York, pp 293–314

    Google Scholar 

  • Crocker DE, Williams JD, Costa DP, Le Boeuf BJ (2001) Maternal traits and reproductive effort in northern elephant seals. Ecol 82:3541–3555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crocker DE, Costa DP, Le Boeuf BJ, Webb PM, Houser DS (2006) Impact of El Niño on the foraging behavior of female northern elephant seals. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 309:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Desvergne B, Wahli W (1999) Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors: nuclear control of metabolism. Endocrine Rev 20:649–688

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch CJ, Crocker DE, Costa DP, Le Boeuf BJ (1994) Sex- and age-related variation in reproductive effort of northern elephant seals. In: Le Boeuf BJ, Laws RM (eds) Elephant seals: population ecology, behavior and physiology. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 169–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Filzmoser P, Hron K, Reimann C (2009) Univariate statistical analysis of environmental (compositional) data: problems and possibilities. Sci Total Environ 407:6100–6108

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Folch J, Lees M, Sloan-Stnaley GH (1957) A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipides from animal tissues. J Biol Chem 226:497–509

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Groscolas R, Robin J-P (2001) Long-term fasting and re-feeding in penguins. Comp Biochem Physiol A 128:645–655

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guglielmo CG (2010) Move that fatty acid: fuel selection and transport in migratory birds and bats. Integr Comp Biol 50:336–345

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Irving L, Schmidt-Nielsen K, Abrahamsen NSB (1957) On the melting points of animal fats in cold climates. Physiol Zool 30:93–105

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iverson SJ (2002) Blubber. In: Perrin WF, Wursig B, Thewissen HGM (eds) Encyclopedia of marine mammals. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 107–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Iverson SJ, Sampugna J, Oftedal OT (1992) Positional specificity of gastric hydrolysis of long- chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids of seal milk triglycerides. Lipids 27:870–878

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iverson SJ, Oftedal OT, Bowen WD, Boness DJ, Sampugna J (1995) Prenatal and postnatal transfer of fatty acids from mother to pup in the hooded seal. J Comp Physiol B 156:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iverson SJ, Arnould JPY, Boyd IL (1997a) Milk fatty acid signatures indicate both major and minor shifts in the diet of lactating Antarctic fur seals. Can J Zool 75:188–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iverson SJ, Frost KJ, Lowry LF (1997b) Fatty acid signatures reveal fine scale structure of foraging distribution of harbor seals and their prey in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 151:255–271

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iverson SJ, Lang SLC, Cooper M (2001) Comparison of the Bligh and Dyer and Folch methods for total lipid determination in a broad range of marine tissue. Lipids 36:1283–1287

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iverson SJ, Field C, Bowen WD, Blanchard W (2004) Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis: a new method of estimating predator diets. Ecol Monogr 74:211–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Käkelä R, Hyvärinen H (1996a) Fatty acids in extremity tissues of Finnish beavers (Castor canadensis and Castor fiber) and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus). Comp Biochem Physiol B 113:113–124

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Käkelä R, Hyvärinen H (1996b) Site-specific fatty acid composition in adipose tissues of several northern aquatic and terrestrial mammals. Comp Biochem Physiol B 115:501–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirsch PE, Iverson SJ, Bowen WD (2000) Effect of a low-fat diet on body composition and blubber fatty acids of captive juvenile harp seals (Phoca groenlandica). Physiol Biochem Zool 73:45–59

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lockyer C (1991) Body composition of the sperm whale, Physeter catodon, with special reference to the possible functions of depot fats. Rit Fisk 12:1–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockyer CH, McConnell LC, Waters TD (1984) The biochemical composition of fin whale blubber. Can J Zool 62:2553–2562

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mustonen A-M, Käkelä R, Käkelä A, Pyykönen T, Aho J, Nieminen P (2007a) Lipid metabolism in the adipose tissue of a carnivore, the raccoon dog, during prolonged fasting. Exp Biol Med 232:58–69

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mustonen A-M, Asikainen J, Aho J, Nieminen P (2007b) Selective seasonal fatty acid accumulation and mobilization in the wild raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides). Lipids 42:1155–1167

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nieminen P, Käkelä R, Pyykönen T, Mustonen A-M (2006) Selective fatty acid mobilization in the American mink (Mustela vison) during food deprivation. Comp Biochem Physiol B 145:81–93

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Noren DP (2002) Body energy reserve utilization during the postweaning fast of northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris): implications for survival dissertation. University of California, Santa Cruz

    Google Scholar 

  • Noren DP, Crocker DE, Williams TM, Costa DP (2003) Energy reserve utilization of northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) pups during the postweaning fast: size does matter. J Comp Physiol B 173:443–454

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ortiz CL, Costa D, Le Boeuf BJ (1978) Water and energy flux in elephant seal pups fasting under natural conditions. Physiol Zool 51:166–178

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pernia SD (1984) Protein turnover and nitrogen metabolism during long term fasting in northern elephant seal pups dissertation. University of California, Santa Cruz

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettinger JD (2000) Fatty acid signatures as indicators of foraging ecology of northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris). MSc Thesis, University of California, Santa Cruz

  • Phinney SD, Tang AB, Johnson SB, Holman RT (1990) Reduced adipose tissue 18:3n-3 with weight loss by very low calorie dieting. Lipids 25:798–806

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pond CM (1978) Morphological aspects and the ecological and mechanical consequences of fat deposition in wild vertebrates. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 9:519–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price ER, Krokfors A, Guglielmo CG (2008) Selective mobilization of fatty acids from adipose tissue in migratory birds. J Exp Biol 211:29–34

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raclot T (2003) Selective mobilization of fatty acids from adipose tissue triacylglycerols. Prog Lipid Res 42:257–288

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raclot T, Groscolas R (1995) Selective mobilization of adipose tissue fatty acids during energy depletion in the rat. J Lipid Res 36:2164–2173

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rea L, Groscolas R, Mioskowski E, Castellini M (1997) Changes in plasma fatty acids indicate change in nutritional status in developing Weddell seal pups. Polar Biol 18:351–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reilly JJ (1991) Adaptations to prolonged fasting in free-living weaned gray seal pups. Am J Physiol 260:R267–R272

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ryg M, Smith TG, Øritsland NA (1988) Thermal significance of the topographical distribution of blubber in ringed seals (Phoca hispidia). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 45:985–992

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith WL, Murphy RC (2002) The eicosanoids: cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase and epoxygenase pathways. In: Biochemistry of lipids, lipoproteins and membranes. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 341–371

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sokolov W (1962) Adaptations of the mammalian skin to the aquatic mode of life. Nature 195:464–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strandberg U, Käkelä A, Lydersen C, Kovacs KM, Grahl-Nielsen O, Hyvärinen H, Käkelä R (2008) Stratification, composition, and function of marine mammal blubber: the ecology of fatty acids in marine mammals. Physiol Biochem Zool 81:473–485

    Google Scholar 

  • Strandberg U, Sipilä T, Koskela J, Kunnasranta M, Käkelä R (2011) Vertical fatty acid profiles in blubber of a freshwater ringed seal—Comparison to a marine relative. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 407:256–265

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trumble SJ, Kanatous SB (2012) Fatty acid use in diving mammals: more than merely fuel. Front Physiol 3:184. doi:10.3389/fphys.2012.00184

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trumble SJ, Noren SR, Cornick LA, Hawke TJ, Kanatous SB (2010) Age-related differences in skeletal muscle lipid profiles of Weddell seals: clues to developmental changes. J Exp Biol 213:1676–1684

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wheatley KE, Nichols PD, Hindell MA, Harcourt RG, Bradshaw CJA (2008) Differential mobilization of blubber fatty acids in lactating Weddell seals: evidence of selective use. Physiol Biochem Zool 81:651–662

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Worthy GAJ, Lavigne DM (1983) Energetics of fasting and subsequent growth in weaned harp seal pups, Phoca groenlandica. Can J Zool 61:447–456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worthy GAJ, Lavigne DM (1987) Mass loss, metabolic rate, and energy utilization by harp and gray seal pups during the postweaning fast. Physiol Zool 60:352–364

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

D. Crocker, P. Webb, S. Hayes, J. Burns, and many graduate and undergraduate students provided assistance in the field. The rangers and staff at Año Nuevo State Reserve, California State Park were invaluable to the completion of the project. J. Pettinger and A. Banks provided assistance in the laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz; and S. Lang, C. Beck and others provided assistance in the laboratory at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. This project was supported by grants to D.P. Noren from the American Museum of Natural History (Lerner-Gray Fund for Marine Research), Friends of Long Marine Laboratory, and University of California Natural Reserve System (Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant). Further support was provided by National Science Foundation grants to T.M. Williams (OPP-9909862) and to D.P. Costa and M.E. Goebel (OPP-9500072). Grants to S.J. Iverson through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research council (NSERC) of Canada provided additional support. D.P. Noren was supported in part by NSF grant 9730462 to H. Kibak and D.P. Costa and by a Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need Fellowship, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). A portion of this work was performed while D.P. Noren was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, Washington. All procedures comply with the current laws of the United States of America. Research was approved by the Chancellor’s Animal Research Committee (UCSC) and conducted under U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service permit 836. Two anonymous reviewers provided constructive comments on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

    Dawn P. Noren, Daniel P. Costa & Terrie M. Williams

  2. Conservation Biology Division, NOAA NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2725 Montlake Blvd. East, Seattle, WA, 98117, USA

    Dawn P. Noren

  3. Canadian Institute of Fisheries Technology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3J 2X4, Canada

    Suzanne M. Budge

  4. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada

    Sara J. Iverson

  5. Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, La Jolla, CA, 92038, USA

    Michael E. Goebel

Authors
  1. Dawn P. Noren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Suzanne M. Budge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sara J. Iverson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael E. Goebel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Daniel P. Costa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Terrie M. Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dawn P. Noren.

Additional information

Communicated by H.V. Carey.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Noren, D.P., Budge, S.M., Iverson, S.J. et al. Characterization of blubber fatty acid signatures in northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) over the postweaning fast. J Comp Physiol B 183, 1065–1074 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-013-0773-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-013-0773-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation