Results showed that free-ranging Sarasota Bay bottlenose dolphins had significantly higher mean circulating IgG levels (9.1 mg/ml) when compared to 2 separate managed collection populations housed in closed pool systems (5.7 mg/ml) and open bay netted enclosures (6.2 mg/ml).

The fact that the majority of the live sea birds and sea turtles sampled during these red tide events were positive for the red tide toxin indicates that red tide intoxication plays a larger role in the morbidity and mortality of sea birds and sea turtles off the west coast of Florida than was previously recognized

The strong association between blood mercury and serum selenium, in conjunction with a lack of significant correlation between blood mercury and glutathione peroxidase, implies that a substantial proportion of blood mercury is affiliated with another selenium-containing moiety or is related to recent dietary intakes.

The resident community of bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida, provides unparalleled opportunities to investigate relationships between organochlorine contaminant residues and dolphin life history, health and reproductive parameters, by examining correlations between contaminant concentrations and sublethal effects.

Limits to costs of diving may be set by the inability of yearlings to produce large amounts of thrust for swimming due to diminutive body size and underdeveloped locomotor muscles.

Through the use of advanced molecular diagnostics, our laboratory has recently isolated a novel parainfluenza virus and an enterovirus never before described in bottlenose dolphins. The parainfluenza virus (TtPIV-1), closely related to human and bovine parainfluenza viruses, was isolated from a dolphin with respiratory disease. Serosurveys for TtPIV-1 of Sarasota Bay dolphins indicated the presence [...]

This finding suggests that higher IgG levels in free-ranging dolphins are most likely attributable to a higher internal parasitic load.

Since POC mixtures differ in toxicity, there may be health implications associated with the shifts in contaminant profiles throughout the lifetime of Sarasota bottlenose dolphins.