[MARMAM] New disease paper in Salish Sea harbor porpoises (Washington State, USA)

[Stephanie Norman]

Hello colleagues

On behalf of my co-authors and me, we would like to share with you details
on our recent publication:

Norman SA, Huggins JL, Lambourn DM, Rhodes LD, Garner MM, Bolton JL, Gaydos
JK, Scott A, Raverty S and Calambokidis J (2022) Risk factor determination
and qualitative risk assessment of Mucormycosis in Harbor Porpoise, an
emergent fungal disease in Salish Sea marine mammals. Front. Mar. Sci.
9:962857. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.962857


Abstract:

Mucorales infections are increasing in frequency and are a One Health
pathogen of concern. In humans and domestic animals, risk factors include
being immunocompromised, elevated circulating serum iron, contaminated open
wounds, or metabolic diseases such as ketoacidosis or uncontrolled
diabetes. Mucormycosis was first identified in 2012 in Pacific Northwest
marine mammals, predominantly in harbor porpoises. We performed an
assessment to determine the overall qualitative risk, or risk score, of
mucormycosis in harbor porpoises. Risk factors for this disease are unknown
in aquatic mammals. In a separate risk factor analysis, potential risk
factors such as pollutants, trace metals (e.g., iron), and co-infection
with other pathogens (e.g., viruses and Brucella spp.) were examined in
mucormycosis cases and noncases using a matched case-control study design,
to determine the presence and strength of association of these factors with
mucormycosis. Disease severity (gross and histopathology) and exposure
scores were multiplied together to obtain the overall risk scores of 9 -16
which corresponded to moderate and severe, respectively. In the risk factor
analysis, the factors most strongly associated with a mucormycosis case,
relative to a control, were elevated liver iron, decreased blubber
thickness, and the decreased ratio of the sum of PCB congeners/sum of PBDE
congeners. The results of this study suggest that mucormycosis may pose an
inordinately high risk to harbor porpoises (and potentially sympatric
species in the Salish Sea such as southern resident killer whales) based on
the detected prevalence and the severity of lesions observed at necropsy.
However, the risk may be greater on an individual basis compared to the
overall population, and is likely related to other factors such as
increased POP and heavy metal burdens.

The full article is Open Access and can be downloaded from:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.962857/full

Thank you,
Stephanie

Stephanie A. Norman, DVM, MS, PhD
Marine-Med: Marine Research, Epidemiology, and Veterinary Medicine
E-mail: stepha...@marine-med.com
Phone: 206-321-0249
Marine-Med website  | Facebook
 | Twitter
 | LinkedIn

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[MARMAM] Extension of submission deadline Frontiers in Marine Science special issue

[Stephanie Norman]

Dear Colleagues,

The submission deadline for our Special Research Topic, "Aquatic One
Health—The Intersection of Marine Wildlife Health, Public Health, and Our
Oceans" in the journal *Frontiers in Marine Science* (Marine Conservation
and Sustainability section), has been extended to 31 August 2022.

Hosted by* Frontiers in Marine Science*, this topic is a unique opportunity
for us to showcase your research and will cover a variety of marine
species, including marine mammals, in the area of One Health. One Health as
defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as "a
collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach—working at the
local, regional, national, and global levels—with the goal of achieving
optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people,
animals, plants, and their shared environment."

For more details on this Research Topic, please visit the: Special
collection's website.


Manuscripts or abstracts for planned papers should be submitted online by
registering and logging in to this website: Loop Research Network
. Once you are registered, click here

to
go to the submission form. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted
papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted)
and will be listed together on the special issue website.

The submission deadline is August 31, 2022. Thank you for your
consideration, and if you have any questions, please reach out to me
directly.

__

Article processing charges are applied to all published articles.
 • See if your institution has a payment plan with us. (see here:
https://www.frontiersin.org/about/institutional-membership )
 • Find out about applying for fee support (see here
https://www.frontiersin.org/about/publishing-fees#feesupport )

About Frontiers in Marine Science
Finding ocean-based solutions to solve global challenges including
overfishing, pollution, and climate change. Led by Field Chief Editor
Carlos M. Duarte, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, our
journal is the fourth most-cited in its field. More than 3,500 articles by
16,000 authors have received 14 million views and 13,000 citations. Impact
Factor: 4.912 (as reported in the Journal Citation Reports by Web of
Science) CiteScore: 5 (as reported in Scopus by Elsevier)

About Research Topics
Frontiers’ Research Topics multidisciplinary article collections bringing
together leading experts in the field. Designed for impact, these
collections are highly cited and widely read by researchers across the
world.
 Find out more about Research Topics (see
https://www.frontiersin.org/about/research-topics).

We look forward to working together on this exciting project.

Thank you on behalf of the Topic Editors,

 • Stephanie A. Norman - Wildlife veterinarian and epidemiologist
Marine-Med: Marine Research, Epidemiology and Veterinary Medicine
,
Bothell, WA, United States
Phone: +1-206-321-0249
E-mail: stepha...@marine-med.com
*and*
Conservation Medicine Veterinarian
World Vets 

 • Samantha Shields - St. Matthew's University, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
 • Ayanna Carla Phillips Savage - The University of the West Indies St.
Augustine, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
 • Claudia Venegas - Veso, Colaco, Chile
 • Stephanie Plön - Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
 • Dusan Palic - Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Chair for Fish
Diseases and Fisheries Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Munich,
Germany

Stephanie A. Norman, DVM, MS, PhD
Marine-Med: Marine Research, Epidemiology, and Veterinary Medicine
E-mail: stepha...@marine-med.com
Phone: 206-321-0249
Marine-Med website  | Facebook
 | Twitter
 | LinkedIn

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[MARMAM] New publication - systematic literature review - Cook Inlet beluga

[Stephanie Norman]

Hello,

My co-authors and I published the following paper in Frontiers in Marine
Science last week.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.804218

Norman SA, Dreiss LM, Niederman TE and Nalven KB (2022) A Systematic Review
Demonstrates How Surrogate Populations Help Inform Conservation and
Management of an Endangered Species—The Case of Cook Inlet, Alaska Belugas.
Front. Mar. Sci. 9:804218. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2022.804218

Abstract:

The genetically and geographically isolated Cook Inlet beluga whale (CIB)
was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2008 and a
federal recovery plan was adopted in 2016. Despite these measures, the
population has failed to make demonstrable progress toward recovery. Data
and knowledge gaps exist, as well as high uncertainty in the recovery plan,
regarding the impact and severity of identified threats on CIB health and
recovery, particularly for threats driven by anthropogenic factors, and
cumulative effects. These data deficiencies may hinder threat
prioritization and conservation and management actions. Odontocete
populations in similarly ecologically precarious situations may serve as
research surrogates to help fill information gaps and guide future CIB
research and conservation. Through a systematic review of CIB and selected
surrogate species [St. Lawrence beluga (SLB), Hector’s dolphins (HD), and
southern resident killer whales (SRKW)], we identify gaps associated with
threats described and ranked in the CIB recovery plan. All threats
identified by the National Marine Fisheries Services as “high”-concern to
CIB recovery, except noise, are lower in publication volume compared to
publications related to high concern threats in SLB and SRKW. “Medium” or
“low” threats to CIB, such as prey reduction and contaminants,
respectively, are identified as higher priority threats in surrogate
populations. These topics have been more heavily researched for surrogates
and suggests that synthesis of this work may help reduce uncertainty, to
aid in informing management actions for CIB. Specifically, publishing
volume suggests SLB and SRKW are valuable surrogates for understanding the
impacts of noise, prey, and contaminants. Publishing volume is necessary to
choose a surrogate, but is not sufficient. Surrogates were chosen based on
physiological similarities to CIB as well as their comparable management
situations. Therefore, these lower-ranked threats should be ranked more
highly and researched specifically in regard to CIB. We use this review to
offer management recommendations based on current CIB and surrogate
literature regarding listed threats in the CIB recovery plan. Our analyses
suggest that CIB may benefit from a revision to and elevation of some low
and medium-concern threats such as contaminants, habitat degradation, and
prey reduction.

The publication is open-access.

Thank you and kind regards,
Stephanie

Stephanie A. Norman, DVM, MS, PhD
Marine-Med: Marine Research, Epidemiology, and Veterinary Medicine
E-mail: stepha...@marine-med.com
Phone: 206-321-0249
Marine-Med website  | Facebook
 | Twitter
 | LinkedIn

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[MARMAM] New cetacean stranding paper in Frontiers in Marine Science

[Stephanie Norman]

Hello,

My co-authors and I published the following paper in Frontiers at Marine
Science last week.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.758812/full


Warlick AJ, Huggins JL, Lambourn DM, Duffield DA, D’Alessandro DN, Rice JM,
Calambokidis J, Hanson MB, Gaydos JK, Jeffries SJ, Olson JK, Scordino JJ,
Akmajian AM, Klope M, Berta S, Dubpernell S, Carlson B, Riemer S, Hodder J,
Souze V, Elsby A, King C, Wilkinson K, Boothe T and Norman SA (2022)
Cetacean Strandings in the US Pacific Northwest 2000–2019 Reveal Potential
Linkages to Oceanographic Variability. Front. Mar. Sci. 9:758812.
doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.758812

Abstract:

Studying patterns in marine mammal stranding cases can provide insight into
changes in population health, abundance, and distribution. Cetaceans along
the United States West coast strand for a wide variety of reasons,
including disease, injury, and poor nutritional status, all of which may be
caused by both natural and anthropogenic factors. Examining the potential
drivers of these stranding cases can reveal how populations respond to
changes in their habitat, notably oceanographic variability and
anthropogenic activities. In this study, we aim to synthesize recent
patterns in 1,819 cetacean strandings across 26 species in the Pacific
Northwest from 2000 to 2019 to compare with previous findings.
Additionally, we aim to quantify the effects of localized and basin-scale
oceanographic conditions on monthly stranding cases for five focal species
using generalized additive models in order to explore potential
relationships between strandings and changes in biophysical features that
could affect foraging conditions or other important physiological cues. Our
results suggest that strandings of harbor porpoises, gray whales, humpback
whales, Dall’s porpoises, and striped dolphins are correlated with certain
environmental variables, including sea surface temperature, chlorophyll
concentration, and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation depending on the
species. While it remains challenging to identify the causal mechanisms
that underlie these relationships for a given species or population based
on its utilization of such a complex ecosystem, improving our understanding
of periods of increased strandings can enhance our knowledge of how these
species interact with their environment and assist conservation and
management efforts. This study enhances the utility of stranding records
over time beyond simply reporting trends and has broader applicability to
other geographic regions amid global climate change.

The publication is open-access.

Thank you and kind regards,
Stephanie

Stephanie A. Norman, DVM, MS, PhD
Marine-Med: Marine Research, Epidemiology, and Veterinary Medicine
E-mail: stepha...@marine-med.com
Phone: 206-321-0249
Marine-Med website  | Facebook
 | Twitter
 | LinkedIn

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[MARMAM] Special Issue Frontiers in Marine Science: "Aquatic One Health—The Intersection of Marine Wildlife Health, Public Health, and Our Oceans" including marine mammals

[Stephanie Norman]

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to be launching a new Research Topic, "Aquatic One
Health—The Intersection of Marine Wildlife Health, Public Health, and Our
Oceans" in the journal *Frontiers in Marine Science* (Marine Conservation
and Sustainability section).

We are putting together a group of top researchers whose work we’d like to
feature in this collection, and thought you would be interested in
participating.

Hosted by* Frontiers in Marine Science*, this is a unique opportunity for
us to collaborate and to showcase your research and will cover a variety of
marine species, including marine mammals.

For more details on this Research Topic, please visit the: Special
collection's website.


Manuscripts or abstracts for planned papers should be submitted online by
registering and logging in to this website: Loop Research Network
. Once you are registered, click here

to go to the submission form. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted
papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted)
and will be listed together on the special issue website.

Submissions are now being accepted. The deadline is March 20, 2022
(Abstracts) and May 19, 2022 (Manuscripts), though you do not need to
submit an abstract. Thank you for your consideration, and if you have any
questions, please reach out to me directly.

__

Article processing charges are applied to all published articles.
 • See if your institution has a payment plan with us. (see here:
https://www.frontiersin.org/about/institutional-membership )
 • Find out about applying for fee support (see here
https://www.frontiersin.org/about/publishing-fees#feesupport )

About Frontiers in Marine Science
Finding ocean-based solutions to solve global challenges including
overfishing, pollution, and climate change. Led by Field Chief Editor
Carlos M. Duarte, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, our
journal is the fourth most-cited in its field. More than 3,500 articles by
16,000 authors have received 14 million views and 13,000 citations. Impact
Factor: 4.912 (as reported in the Journal Citation Reports by Web of
Science) CiteScore: 5 (as reported in Scopus by Elsevier)

About Research Topics
Frontiers’ Research Topics multidisciplinary article collections bringing
together leading experts in the field. Designed for impact, these
collections are highly cited and widely read by researchers across the
world.
 Find out more about Research Topics (see
https://www.frontiersin.org/about/research-topics).

We look forward to working together on this exciting project.

Thank you on behalf of the Topic Editors,

 • Stephanie A. Norman - Wildlife veterinarian and epidemiologist
Marine-Med: Marine Research, Epidemiology and Veterinary Medicine
,
Bothell, WA, United States
Phone: +1-206-321-0249
E-mail: stepha...@marine-med.com
*and*
Conservation Veterinarian
World Vets 

 • Samantha Shields - St. Matthew's University, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
 • Ayanna Carla Phillips Savage - The University of the West Indies St.
Augustine, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
 • Claudia Venegas - Veso, Colaco, Chile
 • Stephanie Plön - Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
 • Dusan Palic - Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Chair for Fish
Diseases and Fisheries Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Munich,
Germany
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[MARMAM] New publication in the journal Oceans

[Stephanie Norman]

My co-authors and I would like to announce the publication of our recent
article:

Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria in Two Marine Mammal Species, Harbor
Seals and Harbor Porpoises, Living in an Urban Marine Ecosystem, the Salish
Sea, Washington State, USA

by Stephanie A. Norman, Dyanna M. Lambourn, Jessica L. Huggins, Joseph K.
Gaydos, Sandra Dubpernell, Susan Berta, Jennifer K. Olson, Victoria Souze,
Alysha Evans, Betsy Carlson, Mandi Johnson, Rachel Mayer, Cathy King,
Alyssa Scott

Abstract
The pervasive use of antibiotics in human medicine, veterinary medicine,
and agriculture can result in a significant increase in the spread and
environmental persistence of antibiotic resistance in marine ecosystems.
This study describes the presence and distribution of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria in Salish Sea harbor seals (*Phoca vitulina*) and harbor porpoises
(*Phocoena phocoena*) and evaluates species, age class, and geographic
differences in resistance patterns. Isolates from 95 dead-stranded animals
(74 seals/21 porpoises) were tested for resistance to a suite of 15
antibiotics. Of the 95 sampled, 85 (89%) (67 seals/18 porpoises)
successfully yielded 144 isolates, with 37% resistant to at least one
antibiotic and 26% multi-drug resistant (24% and 39% of seal and porpoise
isolates, respectively). Overall, and by study region, porpoises were
significantly more likely to harbor resistant organisms compared to seals.
Significant differences between age classes were noted for the antibiotics
amoxicillin, cephalexin, and cefovecin. Overall isolate resistance was
significantly greater in porpoises than seals for several individual
antibiotics. Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) indices greater than 0.2
were observed in 55% of multi-drug resistant isolates, suggesting seal and
porpoise exposure to anthropogenic pollution. The relatively high and
disparate prevalence of antibiotic resistance in these common, but
ecologically dissimilar, marine mammals reflects a potentially large
environmental pool of antibiotic resistant organisms in the Salish Sea or
inherently different resistance gene patterns between the two species.

Full text .pdf available here:
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/2/1/6/pdf

Thank you,
Stephanie Norman

Stephanie A. Norman, DVM, MS, PhD
Marine-Med: Marine Research, Epidemiology, and Veterinary Medicine
E-mail: stepha...@marine-med.com
Phone: 206-321-0249
Marine-Med website <https://www.marine-med.com/> | Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/MarineMed1> | Twitter
<https://twitter.com/whaledocsteph> | LinkedIn
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanieanorman/>
[image: Click here to visit Marine-Med]
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[MARMAM] recent Cook Inlet beluga publication

[Stephanie Norman]

Please find below information on a recent Cook Inlet beluga publication
that is Open Access at the journal Ecosphere.

Citation: Norman, S.A., R.C. Hobbs, L.A. Beckett, S.J. Trumble, and W.A.
Smith. 2019. Relationship between per capita births of Cook Inlet belugas
and summer salmon runs: age-structured population modeling. Ecosphere
11(1): e02955. 10.1002/ecs2.2955

Abstract. Anthropogenic disturbances may alter a population’s conservation
status if the ability of individuals to survive and breed is affected. We
used an adaptation of the Heligman-Pollard model to estimate survival at
age of Cook Inlet belugas (CIB; Delphinapterus leucas), an endangered
population in south-central Alaska. We developed an age-structured Leslie
matrix model, based on
the life history parameters sur- vival and fecundity probability, to
evaluate the sensitivity of population size and growth of CIB, to variation
in estimate values of Chinook and coho salmon abundance in the Deshka
River, a major tributary of the Susitna River. Birth effect (eb) was
regressed against Chinook and coho salmon levels for the year of, the year
before, and two years before a beluga calf birth. The effect of a range of
modifications of salmon availability was
illustrated in CIB with a series of simulations. The maximum annual
population growths (k) were set at 1.036 (3.6%). Ranges of CIB survival and
fecundity probabilities indicated small changes in survival probabilities
have a greater impact on population growth than similar changes in birth
probability. As either survival (es) or fecundity (eb) was reduced, the
annual growth declined, with either es = 0.961 or eb = 0.388, causing a
decreased annual growth of -0.4%.
Regressions of Chinook salmon for the year of, the year before, and two
years before a birth were all significant at the 5% level as was coho in the
year of and year prior to birth. The mechanism model with the best fit was
the sum of Chinook and coho in the year of birth and year prior to birth.
Simulations showed that if salmon runs remained at their current levels,
the CIB population
would likely continue its current slow decline and per capita births would
continue to be low. The results from this study suggest reproductive
success in CIB is tied to salmon abundance in the Deshka River. Current
management practices should consider this when setting research priorities,
designing new studies, and developing management actions to achieve CIB
population
recovery targets.

The paper can be downloaded at the following link:
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.2955

Thank you,
Stephanie

Stephanie A. Norman, DVM, MS, PhD
Marine-Med: Marine Research, Epidemiology, and Veterinary Medicine
E-mail: stepha...@marine-med.com
Website: www.marine-med.com
Phone: 206-321-0249
Twitter: whaledocsteph
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[MARMAM] SMM conference travel grants for Pacific Northwest students

[Stephanie Norman]

The American Cetacean Society-Puget Sound Chapter (ACS/PS) would like to
encourage local student participation in the Society for Marine
Mammalogy's *21st
Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals* (San Francisco,
California, 13-18 December 2015) by offering travel grants for ACS Student
Members.



*Three* student travel grants ($500 each) will be selected by *lottery
system* from all eligible applications received by the *Friday, 28 August
2015 *deadline.



*One (1) grant will be restricted to research related to acoustics or
hearing in cetacean populations occurring within the waters of Alaska,
Oregon, Washington, or British Columbia*



*Two (2) grants will be open for any type of research in cetaceans within
the waters of Alaska, Oregon, Washington, or British Columbia*



*To qualify for this grant, you need to:*



   1. Make sure you are a current ACS member at the time of submission.
   Application for membership to ACS may be completed at the following
   website:

http://acsonline.org/support-acs/become-member/

   1. Be currently enrolled as a student at a recognized academic
   institution.
   2. Be first author on an accepted oral or poster presentation.
   3. Register for the conference by the early registration deadline (
   www.marinemammalscience.org).
   4. Currently reside and study within the *Pacific Northwest* region of
   the US or Canada (WA, OR, AK, or British Columbia).

*To apply:*

   1. Submit a title and abstract (as submitted and accepted by the Society
   for Marine Mammalogy).
   2. Give your name and school affiliation.
   3. E-mail your application to: acspsgra...@acspugetsound.org

Note: As an awardee, you will be asked to present your poster or oral talk
at a future ACS/PS general meeting in Seattle, or provide a summary report
of your poster/spoken presentation for possible inclusion in future ACS
publications.



*The student travel grant application period closes Friday 28 August 2015
(11:59pm PST)!*



Notification of the student travel grant awards will be made by Friday, 4
September 2015.



IMPORTANT: If you are selected for an award, you will need to make sure you
register for the conference by the end of the early registration period (30
September 2015) or the award will be given to someone else.



For questions or to submit your application, contact Dr. Stephanie Norman,
ACS/PS Grants Chair: acspsgra...@acspugetsound.org


Thank you,
Stephanie


Stephanie A. Norman, DVM, MS, PhD
Marine-Med: Marine Research, Epidemiology, and Veterinary Medicine
206-321-0249
Web: www.marine-med.com
E-mail: stepha...@marine-med.com
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