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How to tell when there’s a baby whale on the way

Pregnancy test measures progesterone in humpback blubber.
A humpback whale and her calf

The presence of a calf was previously the only non-lethal way to confirm a humpback whale's pregnancy. Credit: Vanessa Mignon/Barcroft Media/Getty

Whale biologists have had no benign and reliable way to tell whether a female humpback is pregnant, thanks to the animals’ ample, rounded physiques. But researchers led by Logan Pallin, formerly at Oregon State University in Newport, have now developed a humpback pregnancy test.

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Nature 559, 155 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05580-5

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