An assessment of temporal, spatial and taxonomic trends in harmful algal toxin exposure in stranded marine mammals from the U.S. New England coast.
Despite a long-documented history of severe harmful algal blooms (HABs) in New England coastal waters, corresponding HAB-associated marine mammal mortality events in this region are far less frequent or severe relative to other regions where HABs are common. This long-term survey of the HAB toxins s...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1d1881467cdb420d800d538a86d99f3c 2023-05-15T17:10:52+02:00 An assessment of temporal, spatial and taxonomic trends in harmful algal toxin exposure in stranded marine mammals from the U.S. New England coast. Spencer E Fire Andrea Bogomolni Robert A DiGiovanni Greg Early Tod A Leighfield Keith Matassa Glenn A Miller Kathleen M T Moore Michael Moore Misty Niemeyer Katie Pugliares Zhihong Wang Frederick W Wenzel 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243570 https://doaj.org/article/1d1881467cdb420d800d538a86d99f3c EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243570 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243570 https://doaj.org/article/1d1881467cdb420d800d538a86d99f3c PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 1, p e0243570 (2021) Medicine R Science Q article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243570 2022-12-31T07:37:43Z Despite a long-documented history of severe harmful algal blooms (HABs) in New England coastal waters, corresponding HAB-associated marine mammal mortality events in this region are far less frequent or severe relative to other regions where HABs are common. This long-term survey of the HAB toxins saxitoxin (STX) and domoic acid (DA) demonstrates significant and widespread exposure of these toxins in New England marine mammals, across multiple geographic, temporal and taxonomic groups. Overall, 19% of the 458 animals tested positive for one or more toxins, with 15% and 7% testing positive for STX and DA, respectively. 74% of the 23 different species analyzed demonstrated evidence of toxin exposure. STX was most prevalent in Maine coastal waters, most frequently detected in common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), and most often detected during July and October. DA was most prevalent in animals sampled in offshore locations and in bycaught animals, and most frequently detected in mysticetes, with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) testing positive at the highest rates. Feces and urine appeared to be the sample matrices most useful for determining the presence of toxins in an exposed animal, with feces samples having the highest concentrations of STX or DA. No relationship was found between the bloom season of toxin-producing phytoplankton and toxin detection rates, however STX was more likely to be present in July and October. No relationship between marine mammal dietary preference and frequency of toxin detection was observed. These findings are an important part of a framework for assessing future marine mammal morbidity and mortality events, as well as monitoring ecosystem health using marine mammals as sentinel organisms for predicting coastal ocean changes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Megaptera novaeangliae Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS ONE 16 1 e0243570 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Spencer E Fire Andrea Bogomolni Robert A DiGiovanni Greg Early Tod A Leighfield Keith Matassa Glenn A Miller Kathleen M T Moore Michael Moore Misty Niemeyer Katie Pugliares Zhihong Wang Frederick W Wenzel An assessment of temporal, spatial and taxonomic trends in harmful algal toxin exposure in stranded marine mammals from the U.S. New England coast. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Despite a long-documented history of severe harmful algal blooms (HABs) in New England coastal waters, corresponding HAB-associated marine mammal mortality events in this region are far less frequent or severe relative to other regions where HABs are common. This long-term survey of the HAB toxins saxitoxin (STX) and domoic acid (DA) demonstrates significant and widespread exposure of these toxins in New England marine mammals, across multiple geographic, temporal and taxonomic groups. Overall, 19% of the 458 animals tested positive for one or more toxins, with 15% and 7% testing positive for STX and DA, respectively. 74% of the 23 different species analyzed demonstrated evidence of toxin exposure. STX was most prevalent in Maine coastal waters, most frequently detected in common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), and most often detected during July and October. DA was most prevalent in animals sampled in offshore locations and in bycaught animals, and most frequently detected in mysticetes, with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) testing positive at the highest rates. Feces and urine appeared to be the sample matrices most useful for determining the presence of toxins in an exposed animal, with feces samples having the highest concentrations of STX or DA. No relationship was found between the bloom season of toxin-producing phytoplankton and toxin detection rates, however STX was more likely to be present in July and October. No relationship between marine mammal dietary preference and frequency of toxin detection was observed. These findings are an important part of a framework for assessing future marine mammal morbidity and mortality events, as well as monitoring ecosystem health using marine mammals as sentinel organisms for predicting coastal ocean changes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Spencer E Fire Andrea Bogomolni Robert A DiGiovanni Greg Early Tod A Leighfield Keith Matassa Glenn A Miller Kathleen M T Moore Michael Moore Misty Niemeyer Katie Pugliares Zhihong Wang Frederick W Wenzel |
author_facet |
Spencer E Fire Andrea Bogomolni Robert A DiGiovanni Greg Early Tod A Leighfield Keith Matassa Glenn A Miller Kathleen M T Moore Michael Moore Misty Niemeyer Katie Pugliares Zhihong Wang Frederick W Wenzel |
author_sort |
Spencer E Fire |
title |
An assessment of temporal, spatial and taxonomic trends in harmful algal toxin exposure in stranded marine mammals from the U.S. New England coast. |
title_short |
An assessment of temporal, spatial and taxonomic trends in harmful algal toxin exposure in stranded marine mammals from the U.S. New England coast. |
title_full |
An assessment of temporal, spatial and taxonomic trends in harmful algal toxin exposure in stranded marine mammals from the U.S. New England coast. |
title_fullStr |
An assessment of temporal, spatial and taxonomic trends in harmful algal toxin exposure in stranded marine mammals from the U.S. New England coast. |
title_full_unstemmed |
An assessment of temporal, spatial and taxonomic trends in harmful algal toxin exposure in stranded marine mammals from the U.S. New England coast. |
title_sort |
assessment of temporal, spatial and taxonomic trends in harmful algal toxin exposure in stranded marine mammals from the u.s. new england coast. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243570 https://doaj.org/article/1d1881467cdb420d800d538a86d99f3c |
genre |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 1, p e0243570 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243570 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243570 https://doaj.org/article/1d1881467cdb420d800d538a86d99f3c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243570 |
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PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
16 |
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1 |
container_start_page |
e0243570 |
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1766067528362098688 |