Marine Mammals - Science topic

Marine mammals play crucial roles in marine ecosystem function yet are threatened by increasing pressures from anthropogenic activities within marine ecosystems. Area-based Management Tools (ABMT) are key for their conservation and protection, yet their effectiveness is often hindered by lack of resources, technical capacity and political support....

Обобщены результаты многолетних исследований авторов и данные научной литературы по изучению гельминтофауны шести видов птиц семейства Alcidae (чистиковые), обитающих в Баренцевоморском регионе, – люрика (Alle alle), гагарки (Alca torda), тупика (Fratercula arctica), атлантического чистика (Cepphus grylle), тонкоклювой (Uria aalge) и толстоклювой (...

Marine and freshwater mammals are increasingly threatened due to human activity. To improve conservation practice, decisions should be informed by the available evidence on the effectiveness of conservation actions. Using a systematically collated database of studies that test the effectiveness of actions to conserve marine and freshwater mammals,...

The tusk of the male narwhal is a prolonged canine tooth, reaching a size of up to 3 m in length. The tusk erupts through the young narwhal’s upper left lip and, over time, develops into an elongated structure composed of dentine growth layers with an outer coating of cementum. In this study, we utilized bomb radiocarbon (¹⁴C) to estimate the ages...

As influenza A(H5N1) of clade 2.3.4.4b continues to spread from wild birds to poultry and to both terrestrial and marine mammals, the recent cases in cattle highlight the critical importance of being prepared for and responding rapidly to spillover events and of planning for early detection and response at the country level, especially in countries...

Climate change-induced habitat alterations in the Arctic Ocean are expected to affect spatial and temporal occurrence patterns of seasonally migrating baleen whale species, leading to poleward range shifts and prolonged stays in Arctic waters. The aim of this study was to investigate occurrence patterns of blue (Balaenoptera musculus musculus) and...

Introduction: Elasmobranchs, such as sharks and rays, are among the world’s most endangered vertebrates, with over 70% loss in abundance over the past 50 years due to human impacts. Zooarchaeological baselines of elasmobranch diversity, distribution, and exploitation hold great promise for contributing essential historical contexts in the assessmen...

The spotted seal (Phoca largha) is the sole pinniped species that can reproduce in China and has been classified as the First-Grade State Protection animal. The conventional method for the protection and maintenance of the spotted seal population is the captive maintenance of the species in artificially controlled environments. Nevertheless, the ef...

Residency (R) and site fidelity (SF) are important parameters in population ecology, yet their quantification poses challenges in marine mammals. Based on a previous review, this study used simulated and empirical mark-resight data to assess the variations and performance of the most used R (n = 8) and SF (n = 11) indices in peer-reviewed literatur...

The Mid-Atlantic region is set to be one of the first and largest contributors to the offshore wind energy goals of the United States. Yet, the same region is home to a diverse marine ecosystem comprising important marine species such as the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW). To support the responsible development and operatio...

Odontocetes are globally distributed and are foundational to the structure and function of marine food webs, and hence by-catch impacts from gillnet fishing need to be considered in the context of their conservation and population viability. Currently, global gillnet bycatch numbers are unknown yet are estimated to be greatest in Asia, East Africa,...

Marine mammals near coastlines are highly vulnerable to human activities like rapid industrialisation, port construction, and sea reclamation, which can alter their habitat use. This study examines changes in the habitat use of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in the western Pearl River Estuary (WPRE) by employing a kernel density estimation model th...

The Canary Islands are considered a hot spot for marine species biodiversity. Each stranded cetacean has provided important scientific, biological and pathological information. The morphological identification of parasites in these stranded cetaceans is the main aim of the present article. An investigation to identify parasites was carried out in 2...

Marine harmful algal blooms (HAB) have been implicated in marine mammal die-offs; but the relationship between sub-lethal algal toxicity and marine mammal vulnerability to human activities has not been assessed. HAB toxins can result in compromised neurological or muscular systems and we posit these conditions can expose marine mammals to increased...

Acoustic monitoring is increasingly used to assess marine mammals and terrestrial animals that vocalize, such as birds. An acoustic complexity index (ACI) has been used as a measure of biodiversity but rarely applied to measure biodiversity in reef communities. Here we use passive acoustic recordings at select reefs in GRNMS from 2017 to demonstrat...

Marine wildlife, particularly marine mammals and fish, depend on a healthy benthos (seabed) to thrive. Natural seasonal variations, climate change, and offshore wind and the associated transmission development affects these key species and habitats. This report provides recommendations for developers and decision makers to balance the need for tran...

Maternal age can influence reproductive success and offspring fitness, but the timing, magnitude and direction of those impacts are not well understood. Evolutionary theory predicts that selection on fertility senescence is stronger than maternal effect senescence, and therefore, the rate of maternal effect senescence will be faster than fertility...

Genetically diverse avian influenza viruses (AIVs) are maintained in wild aquatic birds with increasingly frequent spillover into mammals, yet these represent a small proportion of the overall detections. The isolation of AIVs in marine mammals, including seals, has been reported sporadically over the last 45 years. Prior to 2016, all reports of AI...

Investigating anthropogenic acoustic disturbance and sound exposure in marine mammals requires evaluation of experimental approaches used to measure the sound levels experienced by the subjects. In previous research, exposure of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) to eight narrow noise bands was estimated as the mean sound pressure level...

Alava, J.J., Moreno-Báez, M. & Avila, I.C. 2024. Towards a Microplastic Pollution Exposure Index for Cetaceans in the Global Ocean: A Geospatial Approach for the Ocean Microplastic Footprint on Baleen Whales’ Native Range Distribution. Abstract ID SMM2024876. 25th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Nov 11-15, 2024. Perth, Austral...

Aerial images are increasingly adopted and widely used in various research areas. In marine mammal studies, these imagery surveys serve multiple purposes: determining population size, mapping migration routes, and gaining behavioral insights. A single aerial scan using a drone yields a wealth of data, but processing it requires significant human ef...

El palangre de superficie es un arte pesca dirigido a la captura de peces pelágicos, el cual puede enganchar especies vulnerables como tiburones, tortugas, aves y mamíferos marinos. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue analizar la incidencia de estos grupos en la pesca de barcos nodrizas ecuatorianos. La base de datos fue proporcionada por el Insti...

Gomez, A., Avila, I.C. & Sepulveda, M. 2024. Identification of risk areas for marine mammals in Chile Abstract ID SMM2024456. 25th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Nov 11-15, 2024. Perth, Australia.

Studying marine mammal's bones is often constrained by limited access to original skeletal material which limits the possibility of using osteological material for educational and scientific purposes. While high-definition scanners represent valuable tools, their high costs, combined with the challenges of manipulation and transport, poses signific...

Demographic data are essential to construct mechanistic models to understand how populations change over time and in response to global threats like climate change. Existing demographic data are either lacking or insufficient for many species, particularly those that are challenging to obtain direct measurements from that can be used to estimate de...

It is vital that we monitor the gut microbiota of sentinel species such as spotted seals (Phoca largha) and their association with habitat microbiomes, which can provide critical data for assessing the health of marine mammals and their potential ecological influences. In this study, PacBio technology was used to sequence the full-length bacterial...

An Underwater Wireless Sensor Network (UWSN) is a wireless communication network designed to monitor underwater applications using sensor nodes. These sensor nodes monitor various acoustic properties, such as pH, temperature, salinity, hardness and pressure. UWSNs are used to monitor underwater animals, assess the health of marine mammals, and trac...

The common bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ) is a key marine mammal species in the northern Gulf of Mexico, playing an essential role as a top predator. This study focuses on the genetic diversity and population structure of bottlenose dolphins stranded in the Mississippi Sound from 2010 to 2021. A total of 511 tissue samples (muscle, liver...

El objetivo del presente trabajo es informar sobre los avistamientos de mamíferos marinos registrados en la costa de la comuna de Purranque, Región de Los Lagos, durante los años 2019 al 2024.

Avila, I.C. & Kaschner, K. 2024. Global risk of incidental catch and fishing gear interactions on marine mammals: where to prioritize management actions. Abstract ID SMM2024132. 25th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Nov 11-15, 2024. Perth, Australia. Marine mammals’ species are known to be affected by fisheries activities. To...

H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza virus has killed thousands of marine mammals in South America since 2022. Here we report epidemiological data and full genome characterization of clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 HPAI viruses associated with a massive outbreak in southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) at Península Valdés, Argentina, in October 2023. W...

Reliable estimates of population abundance and demographics are essential for managing harvested species. Ice‐associated phocids, “ice seals,” are a vital resource for subsistence‐dependent coastal Native communities in western and northern Alaska, USA. In 2012, the Beringia distinct population segment of the bearded seal, Erignathus barbatus nauti...

The world is currently facing a biodiversity crisis and for many species, this is exacerbated by historic exploitation. Monitoring programs provide an integral tool to understand changes in abundance and the impact of threats informing conservation actions. However, measures of absolute abundance for management can be misleading, particularly when...

Marine biodiversity worldwide is rapidly declining, and nowhere is this more evident than in coastal ecosystems where the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities concentrate. The ongoing biodiversity crisis affects all components of the marine food web, but data required to monitor biodiversity shifts at continental scales are scarce...

Cetaceans are a unique group of marine mammals that have evolved from terrestrial to fully aquatic life. In aquatic environments, they face the risk of decompression sickness due to diving. The MMPs gene family encodes matrix metalloproteinases, which are involved in collagen degradation. We analyzed 1,058 genes from 46 species, focusing on cetacea...

Article history: This review article effectively highlights the critical issue of microplastics, emphasizing their global prevalence and significant impact on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Categorizing microplastics into primary and secondary particles underscores the urgent need for research and action to address the growing plastic pollutio...

Underwater passive acoustics is used worldwide for multi-year monitoring of marine mammals. Yet, the large amount of audio recordings raises the need to automate the detection of acoustic events. For instance, the increasing number of Offshore Wind Farms (OWF) raises key environmental and societal issues relating to their impacts on wildlife. In th...

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b continue to have unprecedented global impacts on wild birds and mammals, with especially significant mortality observed in colonial surface-nesting seabirds and in some marine mammal species. In July of 2023 H5N1 HPAIV 2.3.4.4b was detected in Caspian terns nesting on Rat Island,...

Neurodegeneration involves a wide range of neuropathological alterations affecting the integrity, physiology, and architecture of neural cells. Many studies have demonstrated neurodegeneration in different animals. In the case of Alzheimer's disease (AD), spontaneous animal models should display two neurohistopathological hallmarks: the deposition...

The East Asian finless porpoise, Neophocaena asiaeorientalis sunameri, is an endangered species that inhabits the coastal marine environments of East Asia. In the present study, we investigated the overall infection status of anisakid nematodes in East Asian finless porpoises from three sea sectors off the Korean Peninsula. The genetic diversity an...

Plastic waste has become a critical environmental issue, particularly within marine ecosystems where it significantly impacts both biodiversity and human health. This study aims to evaluate the environmental and health repercussions of plastic pollution in marine environments, focusing on the degradation of marine ecosystems, contamination of food...

Bycatch is the most significant threat to marine mammals globally. There are increasing requirements for national governments to fulfil their obligations to international agreements and treaties to assess fisheries catch and bycatch of non-target species. Questionnaire surveys represent one low-cost method to collect data to estimate fisheries catc...

Air-breathing vertebrates must balance their response to diel shifts in prey accessibility with physiological thresholds and the need to surface after each dive. Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) dive behaviors were tracked across the year under rapidly-changing light regimes in the Ross Sea, Antarctica ( ~ 75-77°S). This provides a ‘natural e...

Extreme environments, characterized by challenges such as sub-zero temperatures, limited sunlight and scarce resources, pose great challenges to organisms, including marine mammals. Marine mammals have evolved to live in extreme environments.These mammals are highly tolerant of cold and stress and can continue to breathe for long periods of time. T...

Brucella species are facultative intracellular bacterial pathogens that cause the contagious zoonotic disease, brucellosis. Brucella spp. infect a wide range of animals, including livestock, wild animals, and marine mammals. Compared with other invasive bacterial pathogens, partial information is available on the virulence factors of Brucella that...

Climate change is impacting marine ecosystems throughout the circumpolar Arctic, altering seasonal habitats and the food bases for fishes, seabirds, and marine mammals. Arctic and Subarctic regions provide resources for resident species and for species that migrate to the north from more southerly regions. Changes in northerly latitudes thus impact...

Following the X-Press Pearl maritime disaster off the coast of Sri Lanka, a stranded spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) was recovered, and the cause of death was investigated. Post-mortem examinations revealed evidence of by-catch, but a natural coinfection with dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) and gammaherpesvirus was detected by further analyses,...

Climate change is rapidly reshaping species distributions in the Arctic, which could profoundly impact ecosystem structure and function. While considerable effort has focused on projecting future species distributions, assessing the impacts of range-shifting species on recipient communities and subsequent disruptions to food webs remains largely un...

Despite strong interest in how noise affects marine mammals, little is known for the most abundant and commonly exposed taxa. Social delphinids occur in groups of hundreds of individuals that travel quickly, change behaviour ephemerally and are not amenable to conventional tagging methods, posing challenges in quantifying noise impacts. We integrat...

Traditional methods for quantifying the internal temperature of marine mammals require handling live animals, which is not practical for free-swimming baleen whales. Developing a less invasive, more repeatable method would significantly improve our understanding of whale health and thermal physiology. Infrared thermography (IRT) devices compatible...

Download pdf (free): http://www.oceancare.org/trawlsupremacy --- Trawling is a type of fishing characterized by the active towing of nets by a moving boat. Trawl nets vary greatly in size and shape, and they target a wide variety of species, including bottom-dwelling fish, crustaceans and molluscs, pelagic and semi-pelagic schooling fish, and deep-...

Mites in the family Halarachnidae are common endoparasites infesting the nasal tissues of a variety of marine mammals. These mites are easily transmissible and compromise the health of their hosts, especially in captive environments. While these mites are noted by marine mammal caretakers, they may easily be misidentified due to repeated revisions...

Le 2 février 2021, une baleine à bec de Cuvier ( Ziphius cavirostris ) s’échoue sur l’île de Ré (Atlantique nord-est, France). Les analyses préliminaires révèlent que la mort de l’animal est vraisemblablement liée à des bruits anthropiques. Le lieu probable de la mort de l’animal se situe à proximité directe d’une zone où un navire militaire effect...

In the Southern Ocean, myctophids (family Myctophidae) are speciose, dominate the mesopelagic fish biomass, and are important in the diets of many fishes, squids, seabirds, and marine mammals. Consequently, they play a key role in carbon export and energy transfer from primary consumers to top predators. However, they are delicate and rarely found...

The Messinian salinity crisis and its precursor events have been the greatest environmental perturbation of the Mediterranean Sea to date, offering an opportunity to study the response of marine ecosystems to extreme hydrological change and a large-scale biological invasion. The restriction of the marine connection between the Mediterranean and the...

Dentro todos los mamíferos marinos, la ballena jorobada (Megaptera novaeangliae) ocupa un lugar muy especial ya que, de las ballenas barbadas, es la más espectacular por los grandes saltos que realiza, los golpeteos con su cola o con las aletas, así como por la alta filopatría a sus zonas de alimentación y crianza. Lo anterior la ha vuelto un atrac...

White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are among the most widespread, charismatic, and studied predators in the ocean. However, their conservation status is concerning in many ocean sectors, most notably the Mediterranean Sea, which hosts one of the least known and most endangered populations globally. Though they were historically abundant and wide...

Tetrapods have evolved from aquatic vertebrates and have conquered and diversified in the terrestrial habitat. While most species have well adapted to inland forms, some of them have returned to the aquatic environment due to increasing competition on Earth’s surface. Studies regarding these species have been focused on hearing anatomy and auditory...

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) has developed rapidly over the past few decades, the new generation of AI, Large Language Models (LLMs) trained on massive datasets, has achieved ground-breaking performance in many applications. Further progress has been made in multimodal LLMs, with many datasets created to evaluate LLMs with vision abilities. Howe...

The selection of relevant features is a critical step in many machine learning and data analysis tasks, as it can significantly impact the performance and inter-pretability of the resulting models. In this work, we introduce a novel feature selection approach that draws inspiration from the unique movement patterns of the narwhal, a fascinating mar...

Arctic marine ecosystems have undergone notable reconfigurations in response to Holocene environmental shifts. Yet our understanding of how marine mammal occurrence was impacted remains limited, due to their relative scarcity in the fossil record. We reconstructed the occurrence of marine mammals across the past 12,000 years through genetic detecti...

Here we present the first basin scale implementation of the new EU Technical Group on Underwater Noise framework for assessing the environmental status of low frequency continuous noise. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate the efficiency of the framework for assessment of the effects of low frequency continuous noise on marine life in the B...

The purpose of this paper is to review and evaluate published literature on the production, management and impact of microplastic contamination on marine species and marine environments. A systematic method was utilized to access research works of literature on "production, management and impact of microplastic contamination on marine species and m...

This paper aims to review and evaluate published literature on the impact of anthropogenic sound on marine mammals. A systematic method was utilized to access research works of literature on "Impact of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammals". A total of seventy-seven (77) research papers published between the years 1959 to 2022 were accumulated and...