SARS-CoV-2, a Threat to Marine Mammals? A Study from Italian Seawaters

Zoonotically transmitted coronaviruses were responsible for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing the dramatic Coronavirus Disease-2019 (CoViD-19) pandemic, which affected public health, the economy, and society on a global scale. The impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic permeated into our environment and wildlife as well; in particular, concern has been raised about the viral occurrence and persistence in aquatic and marine ecosystems. The discharge of untreated wastewaters carrying infectious SARS-CoV-2 into natural water systems that are home to sea mammals may have dramatic consequences on vulnerable species. The efficient transmission of coronaviruses raises questions regarding the contributions of virus-receptor interactions. The main receptor of SARS-CoV-2 is Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE-2), serving as a functional receptor for the viral spike (S) protein. This study aimed, through the comparative analysis of the ACE-2 receptor with the human one, at assessing susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 for different species of marine mammals living in Italian waters. We also determined, by means of immunohistochemistry, ACE-2 receptor localization in the lung tissue from different cetacean species, in order to provide a preliminary characterization of ACE-2 expression in the marine mammal respiratory tracts. Furthermore, to evaluate if and how Italian wastewater management and coastal exposition to extreme weather events may led to susceptible marine mammal populations being exposed to SARS-CoV-2, geomapping data were carried out and overlapped. The results showed the potential SARS-CoV-2 exposure for marine mammals inhabiting Italian coastal waters, putting them at risk when swimming and feeding in specific risk areas. Thus, we highlighted the potential hazard of the reverse zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection, along with its impact on marine mammals regularly inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea, while also stressing the need for appropriate action in order to prevent further damage to specific vulnerable populations.

Hemagglutinin Stability and Its Impact on Influenza A Virus Infectivity, Pathogenicity, and Transmissibility in Avians, Mice, Swine, Seals, Ferrets, and Humans

Genetically diverse influenza A viruses (IAVs) circulate in wild aquatic birds. From this reservoir, IAVs sporadically cause outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics in wild and domestic avians, wild land and sea mammals, horses, canines, felines, swine, humans, and other species. One molecular trait shown to modulate IAV host range is the stability of the hemagglutinin (HA) surface glycoprotein. The HA protein is the major antigen and during virus entry, this trimeric envelope glycoprotein binds sialic acid-containing receptors before being triggered by endosomal low pH to undergo irreversible structural changes that cause membrane fusion. The HA proteins from different IAV isolates can vary in the pH at which HA protein structural changes are triggered, the protein causes membrane fusion, or outside the cell the virion becomes inactivated. HA activation pH values generally range from pH 4.8 to 6.2. Human-adapted HA proteins tend to have relatively stable HA proteins activated at pH 5.5 or below. Here, studies are reviewed that report HA stability values and investigate the biological impact of variations in HA stability on replication, pathogenicity, and transmissibility in experimental animal models. Overall, a stabilized HA protein appears to be necessary for human pandemic potential and should be considered when assessing human pandemic risk.

Monterey Shells and Trade Copper: A Glimpse into the Early Contact Period from a Nuu-Chah-Nulth Outer-Coast Lookout Site

The Nuu-chah-nulth of western Vancouver Island used lookout sites on small outer-coast islands to observe the movements of sea mammals and canoes, and later the trading ships arriving with cargoes of new goods. A trench excavated across the upper surface of one such site yielded an artifact assemblage typical of late Nuu-chah-nulth sites, along with radiocarbon dates indicating use over the few centuries prior to contact with Europeans. Three artifacts of introduced materials reveal that this location continued in use into the early decades of contact. Copper and California abalone shells (“Monterey shells”) were two of the earliest and most important trade materials during the maritime fur trade. Indigenous demand was for the raw material, which was re-worked into decorative items of traditional form. The excavation results provide a rare glimpse into this early contact period, with no admixture of later manufactured objects. Ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources provide context to interpret these discoveries.

MARINE RESERVOIR EFFECTS IN SEAL (PHOCIDAE) BONES IN THE NORTHERN BERING AND CHUKCHI SEAS, NORTHWESTERN ALASKA

ABSTRACT We explore marine reservoir effects (MREs) in seal bones from the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas regions. Ringed and bearded seals have served as dietary staples in human populations along the coasts of Arctic northeast Asia and North America for several millennia. Radiocarbon (14C) dates on seal bones and terrestrial materials (caribou, plants seeds, wood, and wood charcoal) were compared from archaeological sites in the Bering Strait region of northwestern Alaska to assess MREs in these sea mammals over time. We also compared these results to 14C dates on modern seal specimens collected in AD 1932 and 1946 from the Bering Sea region. Our paired archaeological samples were recovered from late Holocene archaeological features, including floors from dwellings and cache pits, that date between 1600 and 130 cal BP. 14C dates on seal bones from the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas show differences [R(t)] of 800 ± 140 years from to their terrestrial counterparts, and deviations of 404 ± 112 years (ΔR) from the marine calibration curve.

Hunter-gatherer adaptions during the Early Holocene in Northern Sweden

This paper deals with the study of the ecology of early Holocene, 9000-4000 cal BC, specifically human and faunal dispersal into the Norrland and Dalarna areas of northern Sweden. It has been hypothesised that this region of Sweden was settled by hunter-gatherer groups of Butovo/Veretye ancestry moving in from the eastern taiga zone and at the same time groups from the West Scandinavian coast were moving north following the melting Weichselian ice sheet. Due to the speed of the melting ice these two groups must have encountered each other in the central part of northern Sweden. This article discusses the environment of these two separate groups and the possible consequences of their encounter, informed by results from the zooarchaeological analysis of burnt, radiocarbon dated bones from sites spanning much of Norrland and Dalarna. A compilation of previously dated sites are presented, and also new 14C dates from excavated sites. The northern population preferred to hunt forest game and held on to it for a long time even if sea mammals were available. The southern population, on the other hand, hunted sea mammals and forest game through the whole period.

CHANGING PETROGLYPHS – CHANGING BELIEFS?

This paper takes a starting point in the periodic division of the approximately 6000 petroglyphs made during the last 5000 years BC in a North Norwegian fjord area, the ethnography of changing the hunter-fishing- pastoral Sami population in Fennoscandia and the documentation of their traditional system of belief as documented during the 16th 18th hundreds. In addition, the study draws upon the ethnography of Siberian indigenous populations and their understanding and interaction with other than human life in the environment. The makers of the petroglyphs were hunter - fisher - gatherers. This paper focuses on the communication between humans and non-humans such as spirits, reindeer, European elk (Alces alces), bears, birds, sea mammals, halibut and boats depicted in the rock art, and the environments of which they were a part. The analysis shows distinct diachronic morphological and stylistic differences between figures as well as variation in frequencies, compositions and classes. Variations that illustrates both continuity and discontinuity in stories and beliefs within a relatively small geographic area through time. For example, compositions and morphological changes and differences in groups of figures such as animals might reflect changing beliefs, rituals and identities related to contacts with other populations through time. Likewise, some changes in boats reflect both techno-logical alterations and outside contacts. Boats facilitates coastal mobility, resources exploitations and settlement movements, and there was probably extensive social and trade networks. Sometimes influences came from afar, such as agricultural societies in southern Scandinavia, and/or from foragers further to the east in Fennoscandia, societies that might have influenced how people in the Alta fiord region understood the environment in which they lived. In essence, the paper focuses on changes and continuities in the rock art from perspectives of beliefs.