Cetacean strandings in Italy: an unusual mortality event along the Tyrrhenian Sea coast in 2013

Abstract

An unusual mortality event (UME) involving cetaceans, mainly striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833), occurred along the Tyrrhenian Sea coast of Italy during the first 3 months of 2013. Based on post-mortem analyses carried out according to body condition on 66 dolphins (54% of stranded animals), several hypotheses to explain the causes of this mortality event were proposed. Although no definitive conclusions can be drawn, dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) was deemed the most likely cause though other infectious (including Photobacterium damselae damselae and Herpesvirus) or non-infectious agents may also have contributed to this recent mortality event