Dear Colleagues, On behalf of my co-authors I am pleased to present our recently published paper entitled: Remote and non‑invasive quantification of ‘Tattoo Skin Disease‑Like' dermatopathy in endangered Arabian Sea humpback whales using drone photography.
The view-only version is available here: https://rdcu.be/c3pb0. A pdf version can be found here: https://www.matthewsleslie.com/publications-1 Abstract: Arabian Sea humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae; ASHW) are listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The long-term presence and increased prevalence of tattoo skin disease-like (TSD-L) dermatopathy is a concern for this small non-migratory population. Characterized by irregular or rounded, light gray or whitish cutaneous lesions, this condition resembles tattoo skin disease, caused by cetacean poxviruses. Although the etiological agent and pathogenicity of TSD-L dermatopathy are unknown, previous studies have suggested that it is an indicator of population health. Until now, disease diagnosis had been based on photographs collected from survey vessels. In this study, we describe a novel method of identifying and quantifying TSD-L lesions in ASHW, using drone aerial photography. Aerial photos of the entire dorsum were selected for 18 whales with the same criteria applied for assessing body condition to quantify the percent coverage for each individual. We effectively diagnosed this condition from close-up aerial photos or good-quality photos of the lateral body surface taken from the research vessel in 13 whales. TSD-L dermatopathy coverage ranged from 2.34 to 57.00% and measurements were consistent between photographs of the same whale (SD=1.86%). Drone aerial photography provided a useful and complementary approach to identify and quantify TSD-L lesions. Continued monitoring using this non-invasive method should be combined with other population and health monitoring tools to increase our understanding of the characteristics and epidemiology of this condition, and to provide critical information for conservation efforts that ensure the recovery of this endangered population. Citation: Leslie MS, Kant L, Perkins-Taylor C, Van Bressem MF, Minton G, MacDonald D, Christiansen F, Willson MS, Collins T, Baldwin R, Al Harthi S. 2023. Remote and non‑invasive quantification of ‘Tattoo Skin Disease‑Like’ dermatopathy in endangered Arabian Sea humpback whales using drone photography. Mammalian Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00337-0 Many thanks to all involved and those who provided support. Please reach out if you have questions. Sincerely, Matt ==================== Matthew S. Leslie, Ph.D.
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