Patterns of seabird and marine mammal carcass deposition along the central California coast, 1980–1986

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 1149-1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Bodkin ◽  
Ronald J. Jameson
Keyword(s):  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Marine Mammal ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Central California ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Common Murres ◽  
Local Patterns ◽  
Species Specific

At monthly intervals from February 1980 through December 1986, a 14.5-km section of central California coastline was systematically surveyed for beach-cast carcasses of marine birds and mammals. Five hundred and fifty-four bird carcasses and 194 marine mammal carcasses were found. Common murres, western grebes, and Brandt's cormorants composed 45% of the bird total. California sea lions, sea otters, and harbor seals composed 90% of the mammal total. Several factors appeared to affect patterns of carcass deposition. The El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) of 1982–1983 was the dominant influence in terms of interannual variation in carcass deposition. During this ENSO, 56% of the seabirds and 48% of the marine mammals washed ashore. Patterns of intra-annual variation were species specific and were related to animal migration patterns, reproduction, and seasonal changes in weather. Nearshore currents and winds influenced the general area of carcass deposition, while beach substrate type and local patterns of sand deposition influenced the location of carcass deposition on a smaller spatial scale. Weekly surveys along a 1.1-km section of coastline indicated that 62% of bird carcasses and 41% of mammal carcasses remained on the beach less than 9 days. Cause of death was determined for only 8% of the carcasses. Oiling was the most common indication of cause of death in birds (6%). Neonates composed 8% of all mammal carcasses.

scholarly journals The Protection of Animals During Warfare

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 272-276
Author(s):  
Jérôme de Hemptinne
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
Rapid Rate ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Protected Species ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Sea Lions

In times of war, the first instinct is to relieve the suffering of human beings. Environmental and animal interests are always pushed into the background. However, warfare strongly affects natural resources, including animals, which makes animal issues a matter of great concern. Certain species have been vanishing at a rapid rate because of wars, often with disastrous effects on the food chain and on the ecological balance. Indeed, belligerents rarely take into account the adverse consequences of their military operations on animals. They even take advantage of the chaotic circumstances of war in order to poach protected species and to engage in the trafficking of expensive animal products. While generating billions of dollars each year, such poaching and trafficking allows armed groups to grow and to reinforce their authority over disputed territory. States have also trained, and continue to train, certain animals—principally marine mammals such as bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions—to perform military tasks, like ship and harbor protection, or mine detection and clearance. Millions of horses, mules, donkeys, camels, dogs, and birds are obliged to serve on various fronts (transport, logistics, or communications) and become particularly vulnerable targets.

scholarly journals Epidemiological models to control the spread of information in marine mammals

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1844) ◽  
pp. 20162037 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary A. Schakner ◽  
Michael G. Buhnerkempe ◽  
Mathew J. Tennis ◽  
Robert J. Stansell ◽  
Bjorn K. van der Leeuw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Social Transmission ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Diffusion Analysis ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

Socially transmitted wildlife behaviours that create human–wildlife conflict are an emerging problem for conservation efforts, but also provide a unique opportunity to apply principles of infectious disease control to wildlife management. As an example, California sea lions ( Zalophus californianus ) have learned to exploit concentrations of migratory adult salmonids below the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam, impeding endangered salmonid recovery. Proliferation of this foraging behaviour in the sea lion population has resulted in a controversial culling programme of individual sea lions at the dam, but the impact of such culling remains unclear. To evaluate the effectiveness of current and alternative culling strategies, we used network-based diffusion analysis on a long-term dataset to demonstrate that social transmission is implicated in the increase in dam-foraging behaviour and then studied different culling strategies within an epidemiological model of the behavioural transmission data. We show that current levels of lethal control have substantially reduced the rate of social transmission, but failed to effectively reduce overall sea lion recruitment. Earlier implementation of culling could have substantially reduced the extent of behavioural transmission and, ultimately, resulted in fewer animals being culled. Epidemiological analyses offer a promising tool to understand and control socially transmissible behaviours.

scholarly journals Evidence of a ‘dinner bell’ effect from acoustic transmitters in adult Chinook salmon

2020 ◽  
Vol 641 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
AM Wargo Rub ◽  
BP Sandford
Keyword(s):  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Acoustic Transmitter ◽  
Archival Tags ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Survival Differences

The ‘dinner bell’ hypothesis posits that marine mammals hear or otherwise sense soundwaves produced by acoustic transmitters and use the signal to selectively prey on fish carrying them. A dual tagging study conducted during 2010 and 2011 supports this hypothesis. Results from this study revealed a significant difference in the survival of fish marked with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and those marked with active acoustic transmitters. Our objective had been to use both types of tags to study behavior and survival of migrating adult spring Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha at 2 different spatial scales. We tagged fish as they entered the Columbia River, USA, and monitored their survival and progress over a 193 km reach to Bonneville Dam (river km 234), its lowest impoundment. In 2010, estimated survival was 0.74 (95% CI, 0.62-0.86) for PIT-tagged fish but only 0.30 (0.15-0.45) for acoustic-tagged fish. Therefore, in 2011, we included archival tags and a sham acoustic transmitter group to help identify causes of the survival discrepancy. Survival was 0.75 (0.54-0.97) for sham transmitter fish and 0.73 (0.60-0.86) for PIT fish, but only 0.10 (0.00-0.24) for active acoustic transmitter fish. Our study area was replete with harbor seals Phoca vitulina, California sea lions Zalophus californianus, and Steller sea lions Eumetopias jubatus during both years. We suspect the most likely cause of survival differences between tag treatment groups was pinniped predation. Using temperature data from archival tags, we found evidence of such predation and support for a ‘dinner bell’ effect from acoustic transmitter tags.

Metabolic rates of seals and whales

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Lavigne ◽  
S. Innes ◽  
G. A. J. Worthy ◽  
K. M. Kovacs ◽  
O. J. Schmitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Marine Mammal ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Fur Seals

A critical review of metabolic rate determinations for pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, fur seals, and walrus) and cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) does not support the widely accepted generalization that they have higher metabolic rates than terrestrial mammals of similar size. This finding necessitates a rethinking of the thermoregulatory adaptations of these marine mammals for an aquatic existence and has important implications in comparative studies of mammals, which frequently omit marine forms because they are perceived to be "different" from other mammals. It also suggests that numerous studies have overestimated food consumption by marine mammal populations.

scholarly journals Impact of the 2015 El Niño-Southern Oscillation on the Abundance and Foraging Habits of Guadalupe Fur Seals and California Sea Lions from the San Benito Archipelago, Mexico

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e0155034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando R. Elorriaga-Verplancken ◽  
Gema E. Sierra-Rodríguez ◽  
Hiram Rosales-Nanduca ◽  
Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse ◽  
Julieta Sandoval-Sierra
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
El Niño Southern Oscillation ◽  
El Nino Southern Oscillation ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Fur Seals

Long-Term Effectiveness, Failure Rates, and “Dinner Bell” Properties of Acoustic Pingers in a Gillnet Fishery

2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 7-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
James V. Carretta ◽  
Jay Barlow
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammal ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Fishing Gear ◽  
Common Dolphin ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Delphinus Delphis ◽  
Thresher Shark ◽  
Beaked Whales

AbstractThe long-term effectiveness of acoustic pingers in reducing marine mammal bycatch was assessed for the swordfish and thresher shark drift gillnet fishery in California. Between 1990 and 2009, data on fishing gear, environmental variables, and bycatch were recorded for over 8,000 fishing sets by at-sea fishery observers, including over 4,000 sets outfitted with acoustic pingers between 1996 and 2009. Bycatch rates of cetaceans in sets with ≥30 pingers were nearly 50% lower compared to sets without pingers (p = 1.2 × 10−6), though this result is driven largely by common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) bycatch. Beaked whales have not been observed entangled in this fishery since 1995, the last full year of fishing without acoustic pingers. Pinger failure (≥1 nonfunctioning pingers in a net) was noted in 3.7% of observed sets. In sets where the number of failed pingers was recorded, approximately 18% of deployed pingers had failed. Cetacean bycatch rates were 10 times higher in sets where ≥1 pingers failed versus sets without pinger failure (p = 0.002), though sample sizes for sets with pinger failure were small. No evidence of habituation to pingers by cetaceans was apparent over a 14-year period of use. Bycatch rates of California sea lions in sets with ≥30 pingers were nearly double that of sets without pingers, which prompted us to examine the potential “dinner bell” effects of pingers. Depredation of swordfish catch by California sea lions was not linked to pinger use—the best predictors of depredation were total swordfish catch, month fished, area fished, and nighttime use of deck lights on vessels.

scholarly journals Phylogeny and Pathology of Anisakids Parasitizing Stranded California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) in Southern California

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerko Hrabar ◽  
Hrvoje Smodlaka ◽  
Somayeh Rasouli-Dogaheh ◽  
Mirela Petrić ◽  
Željka Trumbić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Gastric Wall ◽  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Pseudoterranova Decipiens ◽  
Bacterial Coinfection

In marine mammals, nematode-inflicted pathological lesions combined with other pathogens and factors (i.e., pollution, climate change, domoic acid poisoning events, and seasonal El Nino starvation events) negatively impact pinnipeds’ health and may cause mortality. Five California sea lions (Zalophus californianus)—a female pup, three male yearlings, and an adult female—suffered mortalities during rehabilitation at the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles (San Pedro, CA). According to the necropsy reports, animals developed multisystemic parasitism as a leading cause of death, combined with malnutrition and hypoglycemia. In order to reveal host–parasite dynamics that may play a role in pinniped health and recovery, we examined the type and level of histopathological stomach lesions in California sea lions caused by anisakid nematodes. All isolated anisakids were morphologically and molecularly identified, and their phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed using the sequence of the mitochondrial COII gene. Co-parasitation of different Anisakidae spp. within the same host or lesions presented the opportunity to evaluate the existence of recombinant haplotypes and their eventual pathological pressure exerted onto host. The lesions were presented as chronic granulomatous gastritis, with moderate edema and hyperemia of the tunica submucosa and lamina propria, followed by mild, focal fibrosis of the gastric wall. Ulcerative changes with mixed leukocytic infiltrate showed to be localized, shallow, and non-perforative and with no apparent bacterial coinfection, mostly accompanied by healing granulation tissue. Isolated anisakids are grouped into three distinctively separated monophyletic clades corresponding to genera Anisakis, Contracaecum, and Pseudoterranova. Most abundant were representatives of Contracaecum ogmorhini sensu lato (55.36%), followed by Anisakis pegreffii (23.21%), Pseudoterranova azarasi (17.86%), Pseudoterranova decipiens sensu lato (1.79%), and Anisakis simplex (1.79%). Phylogenetic trees revealed no differentiation at intra-species level. Our analysis of divergence revealed Contracaecum separated from other lineages in the Jurassic period at the 176.2 Mya and Anisakis diverging from Pseudoterranova in Cenozoic period at 85.9 Mya.

scholarly journals Proteomic Analysis of Urine from California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus): a Resource for Urinary Biomarker Discovery

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin A. Neely ◽  
Katherine C. Prager ◽  
Alison M. Bland ◽  
Christine Fontaine ◽  
Frances M. Gulland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kidney Disease ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Kidney Diseases ◽  
Renin Angiotensin System ◽  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
Protein Markers ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Angiotensin System ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Urine Proteins

AbstractUrinary markers for the assessment of kidney diseases in wild animals are limited, in part, due to the lack of urinary proteome data, especially for marine mammals. One of the most prevalent kidney diseases in marine mammals is caused byLeptospira interrogans, which is the second most common etiology linked to stranding of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). Urine proteins from eleven sea lions with leptospirosis kidney disease and eight sea lions without leptospirosis or kidney disease were analyzed using shotgun proteomics. In total, 2694 protein groups were identified and 316 were differentially abundant between groups. Major urine proteins in sea lions were similar to major urine proteins in dogs and humans except for the preponderance of resistin, lysozyme C, and PDZ domain containing 1, which appear to be over-represented. Previously reported urine protein markers of kidney injury in humans and animals were also identified. Notably, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, osteopontin, and epidermal fatty acid binding protein were elevated over 20-fold in the leptospirosis-infected sea lions. Consistent with leptospirosis infection in rodents, urinary proteins associated with the renin-angiotensin system were depressed, including neprilysin. This study represents a foundation from which to explore the clinical use of urinary protein markers in California sea lions.AbbreviationsRASrenin-angiotensin systemleptoleptospirosisSCrserum creatinineBUNblood urea nitrogen

Coccidioidomycosis in Free-living California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) in Central California

1996 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 707-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Fauquier ◽  
F. M. D. Gulland ◽  
J. G. Trupkiewicz ◽  
T. R. Spraker ◽  
L. J. Lowenstine
Keyword(s):  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Central California ◽  
Sea Lions
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