scholarly journals Unlocking the Role of a Genital Herpesvirus, Otarine Herpesvirus 1, in California Sea Lion Cervical Cancer

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 491
Author(s):  
Alissa C. Deming ◽  
James F. X. Wellehan ◽  
Kathleen M. Colegrove ◽  
Ailsa Hall ◽  
Jennifer Luff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mrna Expression ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Primary Tumors ◽  
Viral Loads ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Herpesvirus 1 ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma

Urogenital carcinoma in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) is the most common cancer of marine mammals. Primary tumors occur in the cervix, vagina, penis, or prepuce and aggressively metastasize resulting in death. This cancer has been strongly associated with a sexually transmitted herpesvirus, otarine herpesvirus 1 (OtHV1), but the virus has been detected in genital tracts of sea lions without cancer and a causative link has not been established. To determine if OtHV1 has a role in causing urogenital carcinoma we sequenced the viral genome, quantified viral load from cervical tissue from sea lions with (n = 95) and without (n = 163) urogenital carcinoma, and measured viral mRNA expression using in situ mRNA hybridization (Basescope®) to quantify and identify the location of OtHV1 mRNA expression. Of the 95 sea lions diagnosed with urogenital carcinoma, 100% were qPCR positive for OtHV1, and 36% of the sea lions with a normal cervix were positive for the virus. The non-cancer OtHV1 positive cases had significantly lower viral loads in their cervix compared to the cervices from sea lions with urogenital carcinoma. The OtHV1 genome had several genes similar to the known oncogenes, and RNA in situ hybridization demonstrated high OtHV1 mRNA expression within the carcinoma lesions but not in normal cervical epithelium. The high viral loads, high mRNA expression of OtHV1 in the cervical tumors, and the presence of suspected OtHV1 oncogenes support the hypothesis that OtHV1 plays a significant role in the development of sea lion urogenital carcinoma.

scholarly journals Common cancer in a wild animal: the California sea lion ( Zalophus californianus ) as an emerging model for carcinogenesis

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1673) ◽  
pp. 20140228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen M. Browning ◽  
Frances M. D. Gulland ◽  
John A. Hammond ◽  
Kathleen M. Colegrove ◽  
Ailsa J. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
California Sea Lion ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma

Naturally occurring cancers in non-laboratory species have great potential in helping to decipher the often complex causes of neoplasia. Wild animal models could add substantially to our understanding of carcinogenesis, particularly of genetic and environmental interactions, but they are currently underutilized. Studying neoplasia in wild animals is difficult and especially challenging in marine mammals owing to their inaccessibility, lack of exposure history, and ethical, logistical and legal limits on experimentation. Despite this, California sea lions ( Zalophus californianus ) offer an opportunity to investigate risk factors for neoplasia development that have implications for terrestrial mammals and humans who share much of their environment and diet. A relatively accessible California sea lion population on the west coast of the USA has a high prevalence of urogenital carcinoma and is regularly sampled during veterinary care in wildlife rehabilitation centres. Collaborative studies have revealed that genotype, persistent organic pollutants and a herpesvirus are all associated with this cancer. This paper reviews research to date on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of urogenital carcinoma in this species, and presents the California sea lion as an important and currently underexploited wild animal model of carcinogenesis.

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 Persistent Contaminants and Herpesvirus OtHV1 Are Positively Associated With Cancer in Wild California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances M. D. Gulland ◽  
Ailsa J. Hall ◽  
Gina M. Ylitalo ◽  
Kathleen M. Colegrove ◽  
Tenaya Norris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Contaminant Exposure ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Cancer Occurrence ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma

The prevalence of cancer in wild California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) is one of the highest amongst mammals, with 18–23% of adult animals examined post-mortem over the past 40 years having urogenital carcinoma. To date, organochlorines, genotype and infection with Otarine herpesvirus-1 (OtHV-1) have been identified in separate studies using distinct animals as associated with this carcinoma. Multi-year studies using large sample sizes to investigate the relative importance of multiple factors on marine mammal health are rare due to logistical and ethical challenges. The objective of this study was to use a case control approach with samples from 394 animals collected over 20 years in a multifactorial analysis to explore the relative importance of distinct factors identified to date as associated with sea lion cancer in the likelihood of sea lion carcinoma. Stepwise regression indicated that the best model to explain carcinoma occurrence included herpesvirus status, contaminant exposure, and blubber depth, but not genotype at a single microsatellite locus, PV11. The odds of carcinoma was 43.57 times higher in sea lions infected with OtHV-1 (95% CI 14.61, 129.96, p < 0.001), and 1.48 times higher for every unit increase in the loge[contaminant concentrations], ng g–1 (an approximate tripling of concentration), in their blubber (95% CI 1.11, 1.97, p < 0.007), after controlling for the effect of blubber depth. These findings demonstrate the importance of contaminant exposure combined with OtHV1 infection, in the potential for cancer occurrence in wild sea lions.

Otarine herpesvirus-1: a novel gammaherpesvirus associated with urogenital carcinoma in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus)

2002 ◽  
Vol 86 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 131-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald P King ◽  
Michelle C Hure ◽  
Tracey Goldstein ◽  
Brian M Aldridge ◽  
Frances M.D Gulland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Herpesvirus 1 ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma

scholarly journals Velocity Field Measurements of the California Sea Lion Propulsive Stroke Using Bubble PIV

Fluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Gino Perrotta ◽  
Frank E. Fish ◽  
Danielle S. Adams ◽  
Ariel M. Leahy ◽  
Abigal M. Downs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Flow Measurements ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Particle Imaging ◽  
Flow Velocities

California sea lions are among the most agile of swimming mammals. Most marine mammals swim with their hind appendages—flippers or flukes, depending on the species—whereas sea lions use their foreflippers for propulsion and maneuvering. The sea lion’s propulsive stroke generates thrust by forming a jet between the flippers and the body and by dragging a starting vortex along the suction side of the flipper. Prior experiments using robotic flippers have shown these mechanisms to be possible, but no flow measurements around live sea lions previously existed with which to compare. In this study, the flow structures around swimming sea lions were observed using an adaptation of particle imaging velocimetry. To accommodate the animals, it was necessary to use bubbles as seed particles and sunlight for illumination. Three trained adult California sea lions were guided to swim through an approximately planar sheet of bubbles in a total of 173 repetitions. The captured videos were used to calculate bubble velocities, which were processed to isolate and inspect the flow velocities caused by the swimming sea lion. The methodology will be discussed, and measured flow velocities will be presented.

Quantifying errors associated with using fecal samples to determine the diet of the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 1080-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J Orr ◽  
James T Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
Correction Factors ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
California Sea Lion ◽  
Fecal Samples ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Mesh Bag ◽  
Estimate Number ◽  
Fish Otoliths

The purpose of this study was to quantify the errors associated with using fecal samples to determine the diet of the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus). Fishes and squids of known size and number were fed to five sea lions held in enclosures with seawater-filled pools. Enclosures were washed and pools were drained periodically so that sea lion feces could be collected using a 0.5 mm mesh bag. Fish otoliths and squid beaks were collected from feces and used to estimate number and size of prey eaten. An average of 50.7% (SE = 6.4%) of 430 fishes and 73.5% (SE = 12.0%) of 49 cephalopods fed to sea lions were represented by otoliths and beaks in feces, respectively. Estimated lengths of fish from feces were less than lengths of fish fed to sea lions by an average of 30.1% (SE = 2.8%). Beaks were not digested significantly; estimated lengths of squid were underestimated by an average of only 3.3% (SE = 1.5%) relative to actual lengths. Passage rates of otoliths varied, but more than 70% were recovered within 48 h after the fish was consumed. Passage rates of beaks were generally less than those of otoliths; six beaks (11%) were collected in feces 4 days after the squid were eaten. Correction factors were created to more reliably estimate the number and size of fishes and cephalopods eaten by California sea lions.

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.

Prevalence of Urogenital Carcinoma in Stranded California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) from 2005–15

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alissa C. Deming ◽  
Kathleen M. Colegrove ◽  
Padraig J. Duignan ◽  
Ailsa J. Hall ◽  
James F. X. Wellehan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma

scholarly journals Evidence for a genetic basis of urogenital carcinoma in the wild California sea lion

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1796) ◽  
pp. 20140240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen M. Browning ◽  
Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse ◽  
Frances M. D. Gulland ◽  
Ailsa J. Hall ◽  
Jeanie Finlayson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
California Sea Lions ◽  
California Sea Lion ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Wildlife Species ◽  
Large Gene ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma ◽  
Control Study ◽  
Individual Locus

Although neoplasia is a major cause of mortality in humans and domestic animals, it has rarely been described in wildlife species. One of the few examples is a highly prevalent urogenital carcinoma in California sea lions (CSLs). Although the aetiology of this carcinoma is clearly multifactorial, inbreeding depression, as estimated using levels of microsatellite multilocus heterozygosity, is identified as predictive for this neoplasia. On further analysis, this relationship appears to be largely driven by one marker, suggesting that a single locus might be associated with the occurrence of this disease in CSLs. In a case–control study, carcinoma was significantly associated with homozygosity at the Pv11 microsatellite locus. Pv11 was mapped to intron 9 of the heparanase 2 gene ( HPSE2 ) locus, a very large gene encoding heparanase 2, which in humans is associated with multiple carcinomas. Correspondingly, immunohistochemical labelling in tissues was present in carcinoma cases within a single homozygous Pv11 genotype. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an individual locus being associated with cancer in any wildlife species. This adds emphasis to the study of HPSE2 in other species, including humans and will guide future studies on this sentinel species that shares much of its diet and environment with humans

scholarly journals Colony Location and Captivity Influence the Gut Microbial Community Composition of the Australian Sea Lion (Neophoca cinerea)

2016 ◽  
Vol 82 (12) ◽  
pp. 3440-3449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany C. Delport ◽  
Michelle L. Power ◽  
Robert G. Harcourt ◽  
Koa N. Webster ◽  
Sasha G. Tetu
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Neophoca Cinerea ◽  
Australian Sea Lion ◽  
Captive Populations ◽  
Gut Microbial Community

ABSTRACTGut microbiota play an important role in maintenance of mammalian metabolism and immune system regulation, and disturbances to this community can have adverse impacts on animal health. To better understand the composition of gut microbiota in marine mammals, fecal bacterial communities of the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea), an endangered pinniped with localized distribution, were examined. A comparison of samples from individuals across 11 wild colonies in South and Western Australia and three Australian captive populations showed five dominant bacterial phyla:Firmicutes,Proteobacteria,Bacteroidetes,Actinobacteria, andFusobacteria. The phylumFirmicuteswas dominant in both wild (76.4% ± 4.73%) and captive animals (61.4% ± 10.8%), whileProteobacteriacontributed more to captive (29.3% ± 11.5%) than to wild (10.6% ± 3.43%) fecal communities. Qualitative differences were observed between fecal communities from wild and captive animals based on principal-coordinate analysis. SIMPER (similarity percentage procedure) analyses indicated that operational taxonomic units (OTU) from the bacterial familiesClostridiaceaeandRuminococcaceaewere more abundant in wild than in captive animals and contributed most to the average dissimilarity between groups (SIMPER contributions of 19.1% and 10.9%, respectively). Differences in the biological environment, the foraging site fidelity, and anthropogenic impacts may provide various opportunities for unique microbial establishment in Australian sea lions. As anthropogenic disturbances to marine mammals are likely to increase, understanding the potential for such disturbances to impact microbial community compositions and subsequently affect animal health will be beneficial for management of these vulnerable species.IMPORTANCEThe Australian sea lion is an endangered species for which there is currently little information regarding disease and microbial ecology. In this work, we present an in-depth study of the fecal microbiota of a large number of Australian sea lions from geographically diverse wild and captive populations. Colony location and captivity were found to influence the gut microbial community compositions of these animals. Our findings significantly extend the baseline knowledge of marine mammal gut microbiome composition and variability.

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