For decades “red tide” has been a nuisance along Florida’s Gulf coast and has had a significant impact on the economy, wildlife, and human health of many coastal regions of the U.S. It has been responsible for shellfish poisoning, fishery closures, loss of tourism and marine animal die-offs, including marine mammals. In recent years, several [...]

The goal of our work with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program is to better understand reproductive and whole-body thermoregulatory (body temperature regulation) function in bottlenose dolphins. The long-term, health-monitoring program for Sarasota Bay dolphins offers us a unique opportunity to study thermoregulation in wild cetaceans. Our current project is aimed at understanding how Sarasota Bay [...]

Much information has been collected on health problems of the bottlenose dolphin. Nevertheless, cetacean medicine is a relatively new science. Among other disciplines, the study of the cetacean immune system and the development of sero-diagnostic tests are lagging behind those animals more commonly assessed in traditional veterinary medicine. Of the different sero-diagnostic tests, the indirect [...]

Analyses of fatty acids in tissues of dolphins and their prey is no easy task because so many fatty acids are present. For example, dolphins have more than 100 different fatty acids present in their blubber, and some of their prey have approximately twice that number. As we have collected and analyzed samples, we decided [...]

This project is designed to provide a state-of-the-art assessment of the immunologic health of the dolphins in Sarasota Bay. Advanced techniques are being applied to peripheral blood samples to characterize and/or identify leukocyte (white blood cell) subpopulations, lymphocyte function and inflammatory mediators. Such measures complement the conventional immunologic data provided by a complete blood cell [...]

Veterinary Environmental Toxicology Services (VETS) and the new Wildlife Toxicology Laboratory at the Institute of Arctic Biology (IAB) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) have teamed up with Dr. Victoria Woshner to address selenium and mercury from a “functional” perspective in bottlenose dolphins sampled in the Sarasota Bay area. Selenium and mercury interact in [...]

Thousands of anthropogenic (man-made) chemicals have been detected in air, soil and water worldwide. Emerging compounds, such as perfluorinated chemicals, which are used in paints, adhesives, polishes, and fire-fighting foams as well as stain repellent for clothes, furnitures and carpets have recently been detected in human blood and wildlife. Perfluorinated compounds are known to be [...]

Man has had a large impact on the health of the marine ecosystem. Over-fishing, pollution, oil exploration and shipping activities, to name a few, have indirectly affected marine mammals throughout the world. Many of these impacts have been to affect the ‘health’ of the individuals in the population so that their reproductive capacity or survival [...]