Wildlife Conservation Research at AZA-Accredited Public Aquariums in North America

Zoos and Aquariums in North America have evolved over the past few decades from institutions that exhibit animals primarily for public enjoyment to conservation organizations whose mission is to inspire and contribute significantly to wildlife conservation. The Association of Zoo and Aquariums, AZA, accredits public institutions in North America that house wildlife based on strict industry standards of exhibitry, husbandry, veterinary medicine and education. The role of conservation research has evolved in AZA facilities from just a handful of staff participating in a few projects to many facilities now having entire departments dedicated to conservation research. In 2003, AZA institutions reported in the Annual Report on Conservation Science (ARCS) that 83% of its member’s participated in over 2,370 conservation projects in 107 countries and spent $77 million (AZA ARCS 2003). More recently the 2014 ARCS report stated that AZA institutions dramatically increased their conservation efforts from 2010 with 88% of members participating in conservation projects and spending 154 million. Many of the top accredited aquariums have strong conservation programs and are spending at least 3% of their budgets on conservation efforts with projects focusing on species and ecosystems and topics of global concern such as climate change and marine debris.

Spatial epidemiological patterns suggest mechanisms of land-sea transmission for Sarcocystis neurona in a coastal marine mammal.

Sarcocystis neurona was recognised as an important cause of mortality in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) after an outbreak in April 2004 and has since been detected in many marine mammal species in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Risk of S. neurona exposure in sea otters is associated with consumption of clams and soft-sediment prey and is temporally associated with runoff events. We examined the spatial distribution of S. neurona exposure risk based on serum antibody testing and assessed risk factors for exposure in animals from California, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. Significant spatial clustering of seropositive animals was observed in California and Washington, compared with British Columbia and Alaska. Adult males were at greatest risk for exposure to S. neurona, and there were strong associations with terrestrial features (wetlands, cropland, high human housing-unit density). In California, habitats containing soft sediment exhibited greater risk than hard substrate or kelp beds. Consuming a diet rich in clams was also associated with increased exposure risk. These findings suggest a transmission pathway analogous to that described for Toxoplasma gondii, with infectious stages traveling in freshwater runoff and being concentrated in particular locations by marine habitat features, ocean physical processes, and invertebrate bioconcentration

Nine years of rockfish surveys in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

For decades, biologists from the Seattle Aquarium have been informally monitoring bottom fish on rocky reefs in Neah Bay, Washington. Based on increasing concern over the long term stability of bottom fish populations in this area by both state and federal agencies, the Aquarium formalized monitoring in 2005 with diver-based video surveys to quantify bottom fish (rockfish and lingcod) diversity and abundance over time. Divers performed 100-meter video transects, devised to be non-invasive and repeatable, to assess diurnally active and relatively sessile bottom fishes over time. Transects were conducted in the Strait of Juan de Fuca each year in August from 2005-2013 at five permanently marked sites. Density and diversity of bottom fish species were determined by biologists counting fish via the archived video. Over the past nine years, there has been no significant difference in diversity and density of adult rockfish among sites or years, but there have been significant young of the year (YOY) rockfish recruitment events in 2006, 2008 and 2010, termed “jackpot recruitment events”. We also found that young of the year rockfish densities in the “jackpot” years were significantly correlated with lower sea surface temperatures. Rockfish recruitment may be generally poor because larval survival and settlement are dependent upon changing conditions such as climate, abundance of predators, oceanic currents, and chance events. Being long-lived allows the adult population to persist through many years of poor reproduction until a good recruitment year occurs, as in 2006, 2008 and 2010.This study may elucidate significant trends in rockfish diversity and abundance, that will influence long term management plans for rockfish conservation

Assessment of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites of cortisol and corticosterone in captive sea otters, Enhydra lutris

Glucocorticoid hormones in blood are frequently measured as indicators of vertebrate stress response. Sea otters (Enhydra lutris), common in zoos and aquariums, have been documented to secrete both cortisol and corticosterone from adrenal glands. Animals under human care allow for longitudinal study, and non-invasive collection of samples are a priority to the Seattle Aquarium. Glucocorticoid hormones are secreted, metabolized, and excreted in feces. Fecal samples can be collected opportunistically without contaminating the sample with a stress response from handling or taking blood. These samples are often coupled with extensive environmental and medical health notes, which can retrospectively link peaks with major events. The goal of this study was to determine baseline levels for individual sea otters of both sexes and a variety of ages. At the Seattle Aquarium, hormone metabolite groups were measured using commercially available ELISA kits, and validation was achieved by parallelism and accuracy tests. The aquarium has a multiyear dataset of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites for captive sea otters and there was high variation between individuals. Total overall, baseline and peak levels varied over time for each animal. Female otters baseline cortisol levels ranged from 30 - 66 ng/gr dry weight (dw), while corticosterone levels ranged from 45 – 71 ng/gr dw. Male otter baseline cortisol levels ranged from 33 – 59 ng/gr dw, while corticosterone levels ranged from 30 – 41 ng/gr dw. Differences between animals indicate individual responses to stimuli and peaks above baseline for each animal indicate specific adrenal responses. These values can provide insight for husbandry and welfare of these marine mammals as baseline levels are unknown for this species and sample type

A Temporal Analysis of Water Quality Variability at the Seattle Aquarium in Elliott Bay, Puget Sound, WA

The Seattle Aquarium is centrally located on Elliott Bay in Puget Sound, built on a pier along the central waterfront in Seattle, WA, USA. The Seattle Aquarium Water Quality Laboratory regularly measures water quality metrics on incoming saltwater pumped directly from Elliott Bay for use in the animal exhibits. This study provides a descriptive temporal analysis of variability in the incoming saltwater conducted from 2007 through 2016. Parameters measured on a weekly basis include ammonia (NH3), nitrite (NO2), pH and fecal coliform bacteria. Ammonia mean throughout the dataset was 0.02 mg/l (SE ± 0.0005), with clear seasonal trends of higher ammonia levels during the summer months (May, June and July) annually. Nitrite mean was 0.01 mg/l (SE ± 0.002), with clear seasonal trends of this nutrient with bi-annual peaks in spring and fall (May and September). Saltwater pH mean was 7.81 (SE ± 0.004), trending lower in winter and spring and higher in summer and fall. Fecal coliform bacteria mean over the 10-year period was 20 colony-forming units (CFU) per 100 ml of water. Overall, Elliott Bay water quality remained relatively stable from 2007 to 2016, and if remains unchanged, will continue to be a reliable source of saltwater with known water quality parameters for use in animal exhibits in the Seattle Aquarium

Developing Guidelines for Including Mobility-Based Performance Specifications in Highway Construction Contracts

Construction zones can greatly affect the traffic flow on roadways, especially when lane closures are required. Traditionally, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has used traffic management specifications that only allow lane closures and road work to be done during predetermined hours or specifications that require a certain number of lanes to be open at all times. Recently, mobility-based work-zone traffic flow maintenance has been considered. This method requires continuous monitoring of mobility-based performance data and a mechanism to send alerts to the contractors when the mobility data does not meet the standards set by the specifications. UDOT recently tested mobility-based performance specifications at an urban arterial work zone and studied issues related to implementation of mobility-based performance specifications. Parallel to this experiment, UDOT funded a study to develop guidelines for implementing mobility-based performance specifications to manage traffic flow in work zones. Dynamically collecting mobility-based data such as travel time and speed is now feasible using technologies such as Bluetooth and microwave sensors. The core benefit of using mobility-based performance specifications is that they can give the contractor more flexibility in construction work scheduling while maintaining an acceptable level of traffic flow. If the level of traffic flow is not maintained, then the contractor is assessed a financial penalty. The penalty is determined by the amount of time where the flow is not maintained at a predetermined condition. To discuss issues and develop guidelines, a task force consisting of UDOT representatives, several representatives from the construction industry, and researchers from Brigham Young University was formed. Through three task force meetings, a set of 12 guidelines were developed, including guidelines about when mobility-based performance specifications should be used and which mobility data should be used. Some of the issues were difficult for the task force members to agree on, and a decision-making theory called the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used to find best approaches to deal with some of the difficult issues associated with the implementation of mobility-based performance specifications in highway construction contracts. These guidelines should be reviewed as appropriate in the future as UDOT accumulates experience in using these types of specifications

Are otters toxic? A trial in using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) to measure contaminants in sea and river otter diet and feces

The Puget Sound has been inundated with toxic contaminants for decades. As a highly urbanized body of water, contaminants are easily brought into the ecosystem through a variety of methods including runoff, air transport, industrial and residential use. The Seattle Aquarium is located centrally within downtown Seattle, and utilizes sand filtered Puget Sound seawater for use in the sea otter exhibit, and sand and carbon filtered ozonated freshwater for the river otter exhibit. This study was a trial in using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) to measure four chemicals in captive sea otter and river otter feces, a variety of diet items, sediment and water. Four chemicals were chosen for testing and included polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs, a flame retardant used in furniture and electronics, many forms currently banned in WA), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, an industrial chemical banned in 1979 but persists in the environment to this day), glyphosate (Round Up, a common household herbicide) and pyrethroids (a common insecticide). Diet items include restaurant quality fish, clams and mussels sourced from around the world. Each of the samples were mixed, dried, methanol extracted and run on each ELISA test. Preliminary results show that river otter fecal samples have slightly higher values than sea otters, across the four metrics. Of the diet samples, capelin have higher PCB values (average 408 ppb), surf clams have higher pyrethroid values (average 2,815 ppb), and mussels have higher glyphosate (12 ppb) and PBDE values (288 ppb). Next steps include validation with using GC/MS. Ultimately, the Seattle Aquarium will use this data for animal healthcare, but also to inform the public about contaminants in Puget Sound and the hazards to wildlife