Time courses for NH₄⁺ concentration in fecal suspensions from the Bay of Fundy right whale.

<p>Time courses for NH₄⁺ concentration in fecal suspensions from the Bay of Fundy right whale.</p

Uptake experiment using natural ¹⁵NH₄⁺ tracer obtained from right whale fecal matter suspension filtrates.

<p>Change in NH₄⁺ concentration over incubation time (a); change in PON (b); change in Chl <i>a</i> (c), changes in δ¹⁵N for NH₄⁺ and PON (d).</p

N analyses on frozen archived samples provided by colleagues from the New England Aquarium (NEA), and the University of Alaska, Sitka (UAS).

<p>BOF is Bay of Fundy; SeC Seymour Canal, AK; SiS Sitka Sound, AK;</p

Regression analysis of release rates for NH₄⁺ and PO₄^3- for right whale feces.

<p>Rates were calculated for the period between the initial sampling and the first time point during the fecal suspension incubation experiments, R² = 0.63.</p

Rates of NH₄⁺released vs. PON concentration for fecal suspensions.

<p>Data for initial ~20h of incubation, combining results for right whales (circles •, this study) and published data for humpback whales on Stellwagen Bank (diamonds ◆) [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0156553#pone.0156553.ref004" target="_blank">4</a>].</p

Regression analysis of dissolved NH₄⁺ and PO₄^3- concentrations in whale feces filtrate at initial sampling.

<p>For all species combined, R² = 0.73.</p

Whale fecal sampling locations in the Bay of Fundy.

<p>Sampling methods followed the protocols described by Roman and McCarthy [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0156553#pone.0156553.ref004" target="_blank">4</a>].</p

A surface-active group of at least five North Atlantic right whales in the Bay of Fundy.

<p>Fecal material is suspended in the surface water. Photo courtesy of New England Aquarium.</p

Time courses of δ¹⁵N NH₄⁺ in fecal suspensions from the Bay of Fundy right whale.

<p>Time courses of δ¹⁵N NH₄⁺ in fecal suspensions from the Bay of Fundy right whale.</p

Whale fecal material sampling details and analytical results for dissolved nutrients, PON concentration, and N stable isotope ratios for PON and NH₄⁺ at the first time point, 5–7 h after sampling.

<p>Whale fecal material sampling details and analytical results for dissolved nutrients, PON concentration, and N stable isotope ratios for PON and NH₄⁺ at the first time point, 5–7 h after sampling.</p