Marine Neurotoxins’ Effects on Environmental and Human Health: An OMICS Overview

Harmful algal blooms (HAB), and the consequent release of toxic metabolites, can be responsible for seafood poisoning outbreaks. Marine wildlife can accumulate these toxins throughout the food chain, which presents a threat to consumers’ health. Some of these toxins, such as saxitoxin (STX), domoic acid (DA), ciguatoxin (CTX), brevetoxin (BTX), tetrodotoxin (TTX), and β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), cause severe neurological symptoms in humans. Considerable information is missing, however, notably the consequences of toxin exposures on changes in gene expression, protein profile, and metabolic pathways. This information could lead to understanding the consequence of marine neurotoxin exposure in aquatic organisms and humans. Nevertheless, recent contributions to the knowledge of neurotoxins arise from OMICS-based research, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the most recent research and of the available solutions to explore OMICS datasets in order to identify new features in terms of ecotoxicology, food safety, and human health. In addition, future perspectives in OMICS studies are discussed.

Addressing Marine Wildlife Entanglement in Derelict Fishing Nets Using Community-Based Social Marketing: Case Study and Lessons Learnt

Background Entanglement of marine species, particularly endangered sea turtles and cetaceans, in abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear is a major conservation concern. Focus of the Article This case study applies Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM) to reduce marine wildlife net entanglement in the waters surrounding Masirah Island, a marine biodiversity hotspot in Oman. Importance to the Social Marketing Field The study demonstrates the use of social marketing tools in biodiversity conservation, bringing new knowledge to the cross-application of these two fields. Methods The CBSM methodology was applied to select behaviours, identify barriers and benefits, develop strategies and design a pilot study. The responsible disposal of derelict nets in skip bins was selected as the target behaviour, and a mix of behavioural change tools was applied to achieve change: convenience (installation of three skip bins), education (installation of informative signs, distribution of awareness posters, one-to-one engagement with fishers on the beaches), prompts (installation of signs and posters on vessels) and social norms (one-to-one engagement with key influencers and decision makers). The monitoring of behaviour change took place through structured observations over 23 weeks, focussing on the number of nets disposed of in the allocated skip bins. Results Results showed a low level of behaviour adoption rate by skiff and launch vessel fisheries, respectively, 5.36% and 2.58%. Positive results were observed for a short time but did not reach the estimated target value throughout the study period. Recommendations for Research Our pilot study did not lead to broad-scale implementation and we recommend further awareness and engagement with the target audience, trials of various behaviour change tools and increase field monitoring time. We further recommend the application and funding of behaviour change methods applied to fishers with the incorporation of conventional financial, conservation and regulatory tools to support resource management. Limitations Our results show that focussing on specific behaviours with appropriate measurement is both resource and time demanding to solve pressing conservation problems, particularly ones generated by complex industries such as fishing. Various lessons, useful for other social marketers, have been drawn from our evaluation of the overall study.

#Bucketlist: exploring the motivations of tourists to swim with humpback whales in Niue

Swim-with-whales tourism has become a growing aspect of the marine mammal tourism scene. Several remote island destinations allow for these in-water experiences. Understanding swim-with-whales tourists’ motivations is an important aspect to effectively promoting and managing these interactions. This paper focuses on tourist motivations for swimming with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Niue. A qualitative research approach using 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews was used to gain these. A thematic approach to understanding the data identified eight themes that describe intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in these whale-swim participants. Of particular interest was the emotional component of engaging in the activity. In contrast to other research on marine wildlife tourism motivations, the importance of learning was absent in this study. These findings highlight the personal and variable nature of individual motivations for participating in commercial whale-swims.

Risk Reduction of Marine Oil Spill using Clusters of Fruit Peel Pellets

Globalization has led to massive rise in cross border trade. Increase in E-commerce business has contributed to this too. As a result, a continuous and complex logistics network of supply chains operate across the globe round the clock. Transportation of goods is the most essential activity of this network. Statistics reveals that approximately 90 percent of world’s goods are transported via sea route. This intense network of shipment poses a huge threat to marine ecosystem in numerous ways. One of the most dangerous events for marine ecosystem is oil spill. Oil spill from vessels and pipelines are a major reason behind mortality of marine wildlife. The present work focuses on developing a cost-effective sustainable solution for mitigation of marine oil spill. It was found from existing literature that peels of some fruits have substantial oil absorbing capacity. This fact was experimentally validated and a reduced scale prototype was designed aiming for the task of deployment in case of oil spill in marine waters. The experimental results show that the proposed model floats on water after absorbing oil up to its saturation value. It was also found that through appropriate mechanical setup, absorbed oil can be extracted for reuse or processing.

Dolphin Watching and Compliance to Guidelines Affect Spinner Dolphins’ (Stenella longirostris) Behaviour in Reunion Island

Marine wildlife tourism has rapidly developed in Reunion Island, due to a large demand for interactions with a resident population of spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris). The presence of dolphin-watching vessels close to dolphin groups can cause short-term impacts on their behaviour; cumulative incidences likely result in deleterious long-term impacts on the population. Using scan sampling, we collected behavioural data on spinner dolphins to evaluate the short-term effects of dolphin watching on their behaviour. The dolphins were less likely to begin socialising or diving while travelling and more likely to stay travelling and milling in the presence of vessels. Additionally, activity budgets for resting and socialising decreased simultaneously with increased travelling and milling. Avoidance responses significantly increased with an increase in the number of vessels and non-compliance with the local dolphin-watching guidelines. These behavioural responses are likely to have energetic costs for the dolphins, which may lead to decreased survival and reproductive success at individual and population levels. More restrictive regulations, increased surveillance and animal-based measures are key tools to adapt the conservation efforts in Reunion Island. Further studies on the island’s resident dolphin populations are necessary to ensure the continuity of dolphin-watching activities in a sustainable manner.

Strategies for Managing Marine Disease

The incidence of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) has increased in wildlife populations in recent years and is expected to continue to increase with global change. Marine diseases in particular are relatively understudied compared to terrestrial disease, but they can disrupt ecosystem resilience, cause economic loss, or threaten human health. While there are many existing tools to combat the direct and indirect consequences of EIDs, these management strategies are often insufficient or ineffective in marine habitats compared to their terrestrial counterparts, often due to fundamental differences in marine and terrestrial systems. Here, we first illustrate how the marine environment and marine organism life history present challenges or opportunities for wildlife disease management. We then assess the application of common disease management strategies to marine versus terrestrial systems to identify those that may be most effective for marine disease outbreak prevention, response, and recovery. Finally, we recommend multiple actions that will enable more successful management of marine wildlife disease emergencies in the future. These include prioritizing marine disease research and understanding its links to climate change, preventatively increasing marine ecosystem health, forming better monitoring and response networks, developing marine veterinary medicine programs, and enacting policy that addresses marine and other wildlife disease. Overall, we encourage a more proactive rather than reactive approach to marine conservation in general and to marine wildlife disease in particular and emphasize that multi-disciplinary collaborations are key to managing marine wildlife health.

Strategies for Managing Marine Disease

The incidence of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) has increased in wildlife populations in recent years and is expected to continue to increase with global change. Marine diseases in particular are relatively understudied compared to terrestrial disease, but they can disrupt ecosystem resilience, cause economic loss, or threaten human health. While there are many existing tools to combat the direct and indirect consequences of EIDs, these management strategies are often insufficient or ineffective in marine habitats compared to their terrestrial counterparts, often due to fundamental differences in marine and terrestrial systems. Here, we first illustrate how the marine environment and marine organism life history present challenges or opportunities for wildlife disease management. We then assess the application of common disease management strategies to marine versus terrestrial systems to identify those that may be most effective for marine disease outbreak prevention, response, and recovery. Finally, we recommend multiple actions that will enable more successful management of marine wildlife disease emergencies in the future. These include prioritizing marine disease research and understanding its links to climate change, preventatively increasing marine ecosystem health, forming better monitoring and response networks, developing marine veterinary medicine programs, and enacting policy that addresses marine and other wildlife disease. Overall, we encourage a more proactive rather than reactive approach to marine conservation in general and to marine wildlife disease in particular and emphasize that multi-disciplinary collaborations are key to managing marine wildlife health.