Dear colleagues, I am pleased to announce the following new articles regarding exposure of marine mammals in US coastal waters to harmful algal blooms. For further details please feel free to contact me (spencer.f...@noaa.gov).
Fire, Spencer E., Zhihong Wang, Meridith Byrd, Heidi R. Whitehead, Jeff Paternoster, Steve L. Morton, Co-occurrence of multiple classes of harmful algal toxins in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) stranding during an unusual mortality event in Texas; USA. Harmful Algae, DOI:10.1016/j.hal.2010.12.001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2010.12.001 During February-April 2008, an unusual mortality event occurred in Texas coastal waters that resulted in over 100 bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) deaths. This mortality event overlapped spatially and temporally with a harmful algal bloom (HAB) composed of the toxin-producing genera Dinophysis spp. and Prorocentrum spp., and was associated with shellfish bed closures due to HAB toxins. A bloom of the toxin-producing diatom Pseudo-nitzschia pungens was also detected in Texas coastal waters in early April, towards the end of the dolphin mortality event. Analysis of dolphin gastrointestinal contents collected during this event demonstrated the presence of the HAB toxins domoic acid and okadaic acid in association with these blooms, as well as evidence of brevetoxin exposure in the absence of an associated K. brevis bloom. Historical dolphin stranding data for Texas waters indicate seasonal stranding peaks similar to the present study, indicating a need for investigating potential HAB involvement in mass strandings in previous years and in future events. This study marks the first reported occurrence of okadaic acid in marine mammals, and documents a unique co-occurrence of multiple HAB toxins associated with an unusual mortality event. Texas waters harbor a high diversity of HAB events relative to other coastal regions, and this study highlights the importance of efforts to understand the impacts of such HAB events on the health of Texas marine wildlife. Fire, Spencer E., Zhihong Wang, Michelle Berman, Gregg W. Langlois, Steve L. Morton, Emily Sekula-Wood, Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson (2010). Trophic transfer of the harmful algal toxin domoic acid as a cause of death in a minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) stranding in southern California. Aquatic Mammals 36: 342-350. DOI: 10.1578/am.36.4.2010.342 Unusually high concentrations of the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA) were detected in a minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) carcass recovered during a severe harmful algal bloom (HAB), which occurred in southern California in April 2007. Cell fragments of the toxigenic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia australis were observed in whale gastric fluid and feces, corresponding to a dominance of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. in the phytoplankton community at the time of stranding. A high abundance of otoliths from a prominent DA vector, the northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), were recovered in whale stomach contents, indicating trophic transfer of DA via the food web. Whale feces contained 258 μg DA per gram sample, exceeding DA concentrations reported for any marine mammal. DA intoxication was identified as the cause of mortality of this animal, expanding on the limited understanding of the impacts of DA-producing HABs on large whales. Happy new year, Spencer Fire NOAA Marine Biotoxins Program <http://www.chbr.noaa.gov/habar/eroart.aspx> 219 Fort Johnson Road Charleston, SC 29412 843.762.8574 spencer.f...@noaa.gov
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