61 research outputs found

    Rope trauma, sedation, disentanglement, and monitoring-tag associated lesions in a terminally entangled North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)

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    Author Posting. © Society for Marine Mammalogy, 2012. Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Terms and Conditions set out at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/onlineopen#OnlineOpen_Terms. The definitive version was published in Marine Mammal Science 29 (2013): E98–E113, doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2012.00591.x.A chronically entangled North Atlantic right whale, with consequent emaciation was sedated, disentangled to the extent possible, administered antibiotics, and satellite tag tracked for six subsequent days. It was found dead 11 d after the tag ceased transmission. Chronic constrictive deep rope lacerations and emaciation were found to be the proximate cause of death, which may have ultimately involved shark predation. A broadhead cutter and a spring-loaded knife used for disentanglement were found to induce moderate wounds to the skin and blubber. The telemetry tag, with two barbed shafts partially penetrating the blubber was shed, leaving barbs embedded with localized histological reaction. One of four darts administered shed the barrel, but the needle was found postmortem in the whale with an 80º bend at the blubber-muscle interface. This bend occurred due to epaxial muscle movement relative to the overlying blubber, with resultant necrosis and cavitation of underlying muscle. This suggests that rigid, implanted devices that span the cetacean blubber muscle interface, where the muscle moves relative to the blubber, could have secondary health impacts. Thus we encourage efforts to develop new tag telemetry systems that do not penetrate the subdermal sheath, but still remain attached for many months.Funding from NOAA Cooperative Agreement NA09OAR4320129, PO EA133F09SE4792, M. S. Worthington Foundation, North Pond Foundation, Sloan and Hardwick Simmons, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Mammal Center

    Lobomycosis in Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), North Carolina

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    Lacazia loboi, a cutaneous fungus, is found in humans and dolphins from transitional tropical (Florida) and tropical (South America) regions. We report 2 cases of lobomycosis in stranded bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and 1 case of lobomycosis-like disease in 1 free-swimming, pelagic, offshore bottlenose dolphin from North Carolina, where no cases have previously been observed

    Bartonella species detection in captive, stranded and free-ranging cetaceans

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    We present prevalence of Bartonella spp. for multiple cohorts of wild and captive cetaceans. One hundred and six cetaceans including 86 bottlenose dolphins (71 free-ranging, 14 captive in a facility with a dolphin experiencing debility of unknown origin, 1 stranded), 11 striped dolphins, 4 harbor porpoises, 3 Risso's dolphins, 1 dwarf sperm whale and 1 pygmy sperm whale (all stranded) were sampled. Whole blood (n = 95 live animals) and tissues (n = 15 freshly dead animals) were screened by PCR (n = 106 animals), PCR of enrichment cultures (n = 50 animals), and subcultures (n = 50 animals). Bartonella spp. were detected from 17 cetaceans, including 12 by direct extraction PCR of blood or tissues, 6 by PCR of enrichment cultures, and 4 by subculture isolation. Bartonella spp. were more commonly detected from the captive (6/14, 43%) than from free-ranging (2/71, 2.8%) bottlenose dolphins, and were commonly detected from the stranded animals (9/21, 43%; 3/11 striped dolphins, 3/4 harbor porpoises, 2/3 Risso's dolphins, 1/1 pygmy sperm whale, 0/1 dwarf sperm whale, 0/1 bottlenose dolphin). Sequencing identified a Bartonella spp. most similar to B. henselae San Antonio 2 in eight cases (4 bottlenose dolphins, 2 striped dolphins, 2 harbor porpoises), B. henselae Houston 1 in three cases (2 Risso's dolphins, 1 harbor porpoise), and untyped in six cases (4 bottlenose dolphins, 1 striped dolphin, 1 pygmy sperm whale). Although disease causation has not been established, Bartonella species were detected more commonly from cetaceans that were overtly debilitated or were cohabiting in captivity with a debilitated animal than from free-ranging animals. The detection of Bartonella spp. from cetaceans may be of pathophysiological concern

    Deadly diving? Physiological and behavioural management of decompression stress in diving mammals

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    © The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 279 (2012): 1041-1050, doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2088.Decompression sickness (DCS; ‘the bends’) is a disease associated with gas uptake at pressure. The basic pathology and cause are relatively well known to human divers. Breath-hold diving marine mammals were thought to be relatively immune to DCS owing to multiple anatomical, physiological and behavioural adaptations that reduce nitrogen gas (N2) loading during dives. However, recent observations have shown that gas bubbles may form and tissue injury may occur in marine mammals under certain circumstances. Gas kinetic models based on measured time-depth profiles further suggest the potential occurrence of high blood and tissue N2 tensions. We review evidence for gas-bubble incidence in marine mammal tissues and discuss the theory behind gas loading and bubble formation. We suggest that diving mammals vary their physiological responses according to multiple stressors, and that the perspective on marine mammal diving physiology should change from simply minimizing N2 loading to management of the N2 load. This suggests several avenues for further study, ranging from the effects of gas bubbles at molecular, cellular and organ function levels, to comparative studies relating the presence/absence of gas bubbles to diving behaviour. Technological advances in imaging and remote instrumentation are likely to advance this field in coming years.This paper and the workshop it stemmed from were funded by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Mammal Centre

    Place attachment, perception of place and residents' support for tourism development

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    Although place attachment is a critical factor shaping residents' attitudes toward tourism development, the relationship between the perceived qualities of a place (place image) and attachment to it has been under-explored within the context of tourism. This study proposes a model which integrates both place attachment and perception of place and examines their effect on the perceived tourism impacts and on residents' support for tourism development. Findings suggest that (a) place attachment precedes perception of place; (b) perception of place positively affects perceived impacts; (c) perception of impacts positively affects support for tourism development. The study extends prior work on tourism development by incorporating both emotional and physical evaluations of a place when modelling residents’ attitudes toward tourism. The study also offers practical implications that are particularly important for the formation of sustainable tourism development programs

    Development of a Unifying Target and Consensus Indicators for Global Surgical Systems Strengthening: Proposed by the Global Alliance for Surgery, Obstetric, Trauma, and Anaesthesia Care (The G4 Alliance)

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    Stark effect in complex spectra.

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    The experimental facts of the stark-effect in hydrogen and helium are quite well known. In 1913 J. stark discovered that the spectral lines emitted by a gas were broadened, and in some cases were actually split if the gas was subjected to a high electric field. This effect, named after its discoverer, has been examined in great detail by many later workers.Stark and his collaborators used a modified canal-ray tube in which the electric field was produced between the usual perforated cathode and an auxiliary oathode placed a few millimetres away. [...
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