{"id":44994,"date":"2019-10-24T14:31:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T14:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baleines.wpengine.com\/avec-les-belugas-et-leur-gras\/"},"modified":"2019-10-30T13:38:35","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T13:38:35","slug":"with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/","title":{"rendered":"With the belugas… and their blubber"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Valerie Jolicoeur, master student at UQAM<\/em><\/p>\n

This fall, I embarked on a major Master\u2019s project that focuses on the health of our iconic St. Lawrence belugas. Although the river is undeniably beautiful, its high rate of industrialization exposes belugas to numerous contaminants. My supervisor, Professor Jonathan Verreault, has a particular interest in flame retardants, additives that can notably be found in furniture, clothing, electronics and firefighting gear. They are used to slow the spread of flames during fires. These contaminants are known to be endocrine disruptors in many species, meaning they can interfere with hormone system regulation. Thus, the focus of my project is the impact of these contaminants on the thyroid hormones of belugas. Why thyroid hormones? It is suspected that these kinds of hormones play a role in the calving process in belugas, and their disruption by contaminants may be the cause of the recent uptick in postpartum mortality of females and their newborns.<\/p>\n

Barely two weeks after embarking on my Master\u2019s degree at UQAM, I\u2019m already in Tadoussac for the sampling campaign that will be conducted over the course of the next three weeks. Our objective is to collect at least 30 biopsies from belugas, which will allow us to analyze the contaminants and hormones contained in their fat. In this context, I joined the crew on board GREMM\u2019s (Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals) research vessel Bleuvet<\/em>, a team that included Michel Moisan, captain and biopsy rifle sharpshooter, Tim Perrero, who pilots the drone used to locate and film the herds, as well as research assistants Mathieu Marzeli\u00e8re and Laurence Tremblay, both armed with binoculars and a camera to identify belugas and participate in photo-identification.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Valerie Jolicoeur, master student at UQAM This fall, I embarked on a major Master\u2019s project that focuses on the health of our iconic St. Lawrence belugas. Although the river is undeniably beautiful, its high rate of industrialization exposes belugas to numerous contaminants. My supervisor, Professor Jonathan Verreault, has a particular interest in flame retardants, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":44881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[401],"tags":[20,678,728,586],"class_list":["post-44994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-field-notes","tag-beluga-en","tag-biopsie-en","tag-contaminant-en","tag-ecotoxicology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWith the belugas... and their blubber - Baleines en direct<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Valerie Jolicoeur, master student at UQAM This fall, I embarked on a major Master\u2019s project that focuses on the health of our iconic St. Lawrence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With the belugas... and their blubber - Baleines en direct\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Valerie Jolicoeur, master student at UQAM This fall, I embarked on a major Master\u2019s project that focuses on the health of our iconic St. Lawrence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Baleines en direct\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/baleinesendirect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-24T14:31:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-30T13:38:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Biopsie_Valerie_Jolicoeur.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Collaboration Sp\u00e9ciale\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BaleineMagazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BaleineMagazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Collaboration Sp\u00e9ciale\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Collaboration Sp\u00e9ciale\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cbba808e142e138fb6f356d62d1b80b5\"},\"headline\":\"With the belugas… and their blubber\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-24T14:31:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-30T13:38:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":292,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/Biopsie_Valerie_Jolicoeur.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"B\u00e9luga\",\"biopsie\",\"contaminant\",\"ecotoxicology\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Field Notes\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/\",\"name\":\"With the belugas... and their blubber - Baleines en direct\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/Biopsie_Valerie_Jolicoeur.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-24T14:31:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-30T13:38:35+00:00\",\"description\":\"By Valerie Jolicoeur, master student at UQAM This fall, I embarked on a major Master\u2019s project that focuses on the health of our iconic St. Lawrence\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/Biopsie_Valerie_Jolicoeur.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/Biopsie_Valerie_Jolicoeur.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"With the belugas… and their blubber\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Baleines en direct\",\"description\":\"Tout savoir sur les baleines du Qu\u00e9bec\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Baleines en direct\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/logo.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":88,\"caption\":\"Baleines en direct\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/baleinesendirect\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/BaleineMagazine\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/BaleinesEnDirect\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cbba808e142e138fb6f356d62d1b80b5\",\"name\":\"Collaboration Sp\u00e9ciale\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e1fa725c479ca1494086cc03c218c777cfd75323f70f7e3a36ea0bf8468898da?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e1fa725c479ca1494086cc03c218c777cfd75323f70f7e3a36ea0bf8468898da?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e1fa725c479ca1494086cc03c218c777cfd75323f70f7e3a36ea0bf8468898da?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Collaboration Sp\u00e9ciale\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/collaboration-speciale\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"With the belugas... and their blubber - Baleines en direct","description":"By Valerie Jolicoeur, master student at UQAM This fall, I embarked on a major Master\u2019s project that focuses on the health of our iconic St. Lawrence","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"With the belugas... and their blubber - Baleines en direct","og_description":"By Valerie Jolicoeur, master student at UQAM This fall, I embarked on a major Master\u2019s project that focuses on the health of our iconic St. Lawrence","og_url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/","og_site_name":"Baleines en direct","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/baleinesendirect","article_published_time":"2019-10-24T14:31:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-10-30T13:38:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Biopsie_Valerie_Jolicoeur.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Collaboration Sp\u00e9ciale","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BaleineMagazine","twitter_site":"@BaleineMagazine","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Collaboration Sp\u00e9ciale","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/"},"author":{"name":"Collaboration Sp\u00e9ciale","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cbba808e142e138fb6f356d62d1b80b5"},"headline":"With the belugas… and their blubber","datePublished":"2019-10-24T14:31:42+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-30T13:38:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/"},"wordCount":292,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Biopsie_Valerie_Jolicoeur.jpeg","keywords":["B\u00e9luga","biopsie","contaminant","ecotoxicology"],"articleSection":["Field Notes"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/","name":"With the belugas... and their blubber - Baleines en direct","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Biopsie_Valerie_Jolicoeur.jpeg","datePublished":"2019-10-24T14:31:42+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-30T13:38:35+00:00","description":"By Valerie Jolicoeur, master student at UQAM This fall, I embarked on a major Master\u2019s project that focuses on the health of our iconic St. Lawrence","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Biopsie_Valerie_Jolicoeur.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Biopsie_Valerie_Jolicoeur.jpeg","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/with_the_belugas_and_their_blubber\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"With the belugas… and their blubber"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/","name":"Baleines en direct","description":"Tout savoir sur les baleines du Qu\u00e9bec","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#organization","name":"Baleines en direct","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/logo.png","width":300,"height":88,"caption":"Baleines en direct"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/baleinesendirect","https:\/\/x.com\/BaleineMagazine","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/BaleinesEnDirect"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cbba808e142e138fb6f356d62d1b80b5","name":"Collaboration Sp\u00e9ciale","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e1fa725c479ca1494086cc03c218c777cfd75323f70f7e3a36ea0bf8468898da?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e1fa725c479ca1494086cc03c218c777cfd75323f70f7e3a36ea0bf8468898da?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e1fa725c479ca1494086cc03c218c777cfd75323f70f7e3a36ea0bf8468898da?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Collaboration Sp\u00e9ciale"},"url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/author\/collaboration-speciale\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}