Marine mammals and Good Environmental Status: Science, Policy and Society; Challenges and Opportunities

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive has become the key instrument for marine conservation in European seas. We review its implementation, focusing on cetacean biodiversity, using the examples of Spain and the Regional Seas Convention, OSPAR. The MSFD has been widely criticised for legal vagueness, lack of coordination, uncertainty about funding, and poor governance; its future role within EU Integrated Maritime Policy remains unclear. Nevertheless, the first stages of the process have run broadly to schedule: current status, environmental objectives and indicators have been described and the design of monitoring programmes is in progress, drawing on experience with other environmental legislation. The MSFD is now entering its critical phase, with lack of funding for monitoring, limited scope for management interventions, and uncertainty about how conservation objectives will be reconciled with the needs of other marine and maritime sectors, being among the main concerns. Clarity in governance, about the roles of the EU, Member States, Regional Seas Conventions and stakeholders, is needed to ensure success. However, even if (as seems likely) good environmental status cannot be achieved by 2020, significant steps will have been taken to place environmental sustainability centre-stage in the development of Integrated Maritime Policy for EU seas.Postprin

High Prevalence of Proposed Müllerian Duct RemnantCysts on the Spermatic Duct in Wild Eurasian Otters (Lutra lutra) from Sweden

The spermatic ducts (vasa deferentia) of 235 otters (Lutra lutra) found dead between 1999 and 2012 in Sweden were examined for presence of paraductular cysts. Single or multiple elongated uni- or bilateral cysts parallel to the spermatic duct were noted in 72% of the examined males. The cysts were adjacent to, but did not communicate with the lumen of the spermatic duct, and were usually located within a few centimeters of the testis and epididymis. The cysts are proposed to be congenital Müllerian duct remnants. Other morphologic abnormalities in the reproductive organs were not noted within this study. Possible causes of the incomplete regression of the embryonic female gonadal duct are exposure to environmental contaminants such as elevated concentrations of estrogen-like compounds (endocrine disrupting chemicals), inbreeding, or a naturally occurring anatomic defect. No obvious geographical pattern was observed for otters with or without cysts. This is the first study and description of cysts on the spermatic duct in otters

Lost populations and preserving genetic diversity in the lion Panthera leo: Implications for its ex situ conservation

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.comTwo of the eight recognized lion subspecies, North African Barbary lion (Panthera leo leo) and South African Cape lion (Panthera leo melanochaita), have become extinct in the wild in the last 150 years. Based on sequences of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (HVR1) extracted from museum specimens of four Barbary and one Cape lion, the former was probably a distinct population characterized by an invariable, unique mtDNA haplotype, whilst the latter was likely a part of the extant southern African lion population. Extinction of the Barbary line, which may still be found in "generic" zoo lions, would further erode lion genetic diversity. Therefore, appropriate management of such animals is important for maintaining the overall genetic diversity of the species. The mtDNA haplotype unique to the Barbary lion, in combination with the small size of the HVR1 analyzed (c. 130 bp), makes it possible and cost-effective to identify unlabelled Barbary specimens kept in museums and "generic" captive lions that may carry the Barbary line. An initial study of five samples from the lion collection of the King of Morocco, tested using this method, shows that they are not maternally Barbary. © Springer 2006.Ross Barnett, Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, Ian Barnes and Alan Coope