1000 dode dolfijnen langs kust VS..
Het afgelopen halfjaar zijn voor de oostkust van de Verenigde Staten zo'n duizend dolfijnen aan een virus bezweken. Het ziektebeeld vertoont overeenkomsten met de mazelen en er zijn nog geen aanwijzingen dat de epidemie afzwakt.
Eind jaren 80 was er een soortgelijke uitbraak. Toen gingen zo'n 740 dolfijnen dood.
Onderzoekers van het Amerikaanse oceanografische instituut NOAA zoeken naar een verklaring. "De laatste uitbraak was 25 jaar geleden en de exemplaren die die epidemie overleefden, hebben antistoffen aangemaakt", zegt een onderzoeker. "Maar die generatie sterft nu langzaam uit. De jongere dieren zijn nu weer vatbaarder voor dergelijke virussen."
Zeekoeien
Er leven zo'n 40.000 dolfijnen voor de Amerikaanse oostkust. Ieder najaar trekken ze vanuit de noordelijke Atlantische Oceaan richting Florida, waar het water veel warmer is.
Ook bij zeekoeien is dit jaar voor de kust van Florida een veel hoger sterftecijfer gemeten dan voorgaande jaren. Onderzoekers denken dat dat komt door een giftige alg in de Golf van Mexico.
http://nos.nl/artikel/590248-1000-dode- ... st-vs.html
Virus doodt duizend dolfijnen aan oostkust VS
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Sunshine State
- Berichten: 446
- Lid geworden op: 26 jun 2011 08:21
- Locatie: Amsterdam
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-
Sunshine State
- Berichten: 446
- Lid geworden op: 26 jun 2011 08:21
- Locatie: Amsterdam
- Contacteer:
Re: Virus doodt duizend dolfijnen aan oostkust VS
Zie ook:
Virus kills over 1,000 bottlenose dolphins along U.S. east coast
ORLANDO (Reuters) - More than 1,000 migratory bottlenose dolphins have died from a measles-like virus along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard in 2013 and the epidemic shows no sign of abating, a marine biologist said on Monday.
The death toll exceeds the 740 dolphins killed during the last big outbreak of the then-unknown virus in 1987-88.
It is having a significant impact and that is something we're monitoring closely," said Erin Fougeres, a marine mammal biologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
An estimated 39,206 bottlenose dolphins populated the eastern seaboard, to a depth of 25 feet, from New Jersey to Central Florida in 2010, according to the latest NOAA census.
Robbing the cradle: Celebs with much younger significant others
Scientists are trying to determine why the morbillivirus resurged this year. The dolphins, which migrate south for the winter, have been stranded or found dead on beaches from New York to Florida since June, Fougeres said.
An unknown number of affected dolphins likely died offshore as well, she said.
A record number of manatees have also died in Florida waters this year, mostly from a toxic algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The commission's research institute said it documented 803 manatee deaths in state waters between January 1 and December 13, the most for any year since record-keeping began in 1974.
The morbillivirus virus outbreaks could be natural and simply cyclical, said Fougeres.
"The last occurrence of this was about 25 years ago and the animals that survived that would have natural antibodies. But as those animals slowly die out and new animals are not exposed, they may not have that immunity," Fougeres said.
But other as-yet unproven theories related to global warming or pollution also are being investigated, she noted. "There could be underlying causes that made them more susceptible this year versus other years."
Scientists in the late-1980s estimated that the morbillivirus wiped out 50 percent of the coastal migratory dolphins. As a result the bottlenose dolphin was designated as "depleted" under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, a status it retains today.
Since then, scientists have learned more about dolphin populations, and believe the morbillivirus is endemic in the marine environment where other deep-sea species such as pilot whales may be symptom-free carriers, Fougeres said.
Fougeres said something in the environment might have caused dolphins to interact more closely with the whales recently.
An unrelated study released last week by NOAA showed that some dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are gravely ill from injuries consistent with petroleum hydrocarbon exposure. The study looked at dolphin from Louisiana's Barataria Bay heavily impacted by British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010.
(Editing by David Adams and Richard Chang)
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features ... 2309.story
Virus kills over 1,000 bottlenose dolphins along U.S. east coast
ORLANDO (Reuters) - More than 1,000 migratory bottlenose dolphins have died from a measles-like virus along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard in 2013 and the epidemic shows no sign of abating, a marine biologist said on Monday.
The death toll exceeds the 740 dolphins killed during the last big outbreak of the then-unknown virus in 1987-88.
It is having a significant impact and that is something we're monitoring closely," said Erin Fougeres, a marine mammal biologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
An estimated 39,206 bottlenose dolphins populated the eastern seaboard, to a depth of 25 feet, from New Jersey to Central Florida in 2010, according to the latest NOAA census.
Robbing the cradle: Celebs with much younger significant others
Scientists are trying to determine why the morbillivirus resurged this year. The dolphins, which migrate south for the winter, have been stranded or found dead on beaches from New York to Florida since June, Fougeres said.
An unknown number of affected dolphins likely died offshore as well, she said.
A record number of manatees have also died in Florida waters this year, mostly from a toxic algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The commission's research institute said it documented 803 manatee deaths in state waters between January 1 and December 13, the most for any year since record-keeping began in 1974.
The morbillivirus virus outbreaks could be natural and simply cyclical, said Fougeres.
"The last occurrence of this was about 25 years ago and the animals that survived that would have natural antibodies. But as those animals slowly die out and new animals are not exposed, they may not have that immunity," Fougeres said.
But other as-yet unproven theories related to global warming or pollution also are being investigated, she noted. "There could be underlying causes that made them more susceptible this year versus other years."
Scientists in the late-1980s estimated that the morbillivirus wiped out 50 percent of the coastal migratory dolphins. As a result the bottlenose dolphin was designated as "depleted" under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, a status it retains today.
Since then, scientists have learned more about dolphin populations, and believe the morbillivirus is endemic in the marine environment where other deep-sea species such as pilot whales may be symptom-free carriers, Fougeres said.
Fougeres said something in the environment might have caused dolphins to interact more closely with the whales recently.
An unrelated study released last week by NOAA showed that some dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are gravely ill from injuries consistent with petroleum hydrocarbon exposure. The study looked at dolphin from Louisiana's Barataria Bay heavily impacted by British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010.
(Editing by David Adams and Richard Chang)
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features ... 2309.story
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Sunshine State
- Berichten: 446
- Lid geworden op: 26 jun 2011 08:21
- Locatie: Amsterdam
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Re: Virus doodt duizend dolfijnen aan oostkust VS
Zie ook:
Dolphins living in one of the areas worst hit by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were in bad shape a year later, with lung problems consistent with exposure to oil, according to a study assessing damage from the spill.
Government, academic and other researchers made comprehensive check-ups on 29 dolphins in Barataria Bay in August 2011 as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment — a federal process to determine both the extent of damage and how to repair it. Barataria Bay was one of the areas where pelicans struggled in heavy slicks and thick globs of oil washed onto marshy islands between April and July 2010.
Fourteen of the 29 dolphins examined in 2011 were in guarded, poor or grave condition. That compared to one out of 15 caught for comparison in Sarasota Bay, Fla., which was not involved in the spill, according to the study published Wednesday in the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science & Technology.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist Lori Schwacke said she has made similar assessments in other groups of dolphins, sometimes in response to large numbers of deaths.
"There's disease in any wild population. But I just haven't seen animals in such bad shape as in Barataria Bay," the wildlife epidemiologist for NOAA's Hollings Research Laboratory in Charleston, S.C., said during a teleconference Wednesday.
The study indicates a possible link to the oil spill but does not prove one, said Mobi Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Miss.
"I think it's an important study. It's an important first step," said Solangi, who was not involved in the study.
He said shortcomings include lack of pre-spill data on dolphins in the bay, which has a history of pollution from industry, sewage and agricultural runoff carried by the Mississippi River. It also lacks comparison with the Florida dolphins, which probably spend more time in deep water than the pods found in Barataria Bay.
A statement from BP PLC said the company, "has been funding NOAA's work on this subject for over three years and requesting data throughout this period. The agency still has not provided BP with any data demonstrating that the alleged poor health of any dolphins was caused by oil exposure. Indeed, NOAA has not even provided BP an injury assessment on dolphins or any other species or habitat."
Schwacke said BP was given all of the data used in the paper. A BP representative was with the group that captured and released the dolphins, said Teri Rowles, coordinator of the NOAA Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program and a co-author of the study.
The scientists said moderate to severe lung disease was five times more likely in the Louisiana dolphins than the Florida group.
NOAA said dolphins were checked again this year in Barataria and Sarasota bays, and in Mississippi and Alabama waters of the Mississippi Sound. Data from those four groups is still being analyzed.
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Study-Many ... 21671.html
De Olieramp trekt zijn wissel zo lijkt het
Dolphins living in one of the areas worst hit by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were in bad shape a year later, with lung problems consistent with exposure to oil, according to a study assessing damage from the spill.
Government, academic and other researchers made comprehensive check-ups on 29 dolphins in Barataria Bay in August 2011 as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment — a federal process to determine both the extent of damage and how to repair it. Barataria Bay was one of the areas where pelicans struggled in heavy slicks and thick globs of oil washed onto marshy islands between April and July 2010.
Fourteen of the 29 dolphins examined in 2011 were in guarded, poor or grave condition. That compared to one out of 15 caught for comparison in Sarasota Bay, Fla., which was not involved in the spill, according to the study published Wednesday in the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science & Technology.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist Lori Schwacke said she has made similar assessments in other groups of dolphins, sometimes in response to large numbers of deaths.
"There's disease in any wild population. But I just haven't seen animals in such bad shape as in Barataria Bay," the wildlife epidemiologist for NOAA's Hollings Research Laboratory in Charleston, S.C., said during a teleconference Wednesday.
The study indicates a possible link to the oil spill but does not prove one, said Mobi Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Miss.
"I think it's an important study. It's an important first step," said Solangi, who was not involved in the study.
He said shortcomings include lack of pre-spill data on dolphins in the bay, which has a history of pollution from industry, sewage and agricultural runoff carried by the Mississippi River. It also lacks comparison with the Florida dolphins, which probably spend more time in deep water than the pods found in Barataria Bay.
A statement from BP PLC said the company, "has been funding NOAA's work on this subject for over three years and requesting data throughout this period. The agency still has not provided BP with any data demonstrating that the alleged poor health of any dolphins was caused by oil exposure. Indeed, NOAA has not even provided BP an injury assessment on dolphins or any other species or habitat."
Schwacke said BP was given all of the data used in the paper. A BP representative was with the group that captured and released the dolphins, said Teri Rowles, coordinator of the NOAA Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program and a co-author of the study.
The scientists said moderate to severe lung disease was five times more likely in the Louisiana dolphins than the Florida group.
NOAA said dolphins were checked again this year in Barataria and Sarasota bays, and in Mississippi and Alabama waters of the Mississippi Sound. Data from those four groups is still being analyzed.
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Study-Many ... 21671.html
De Olieramp trekt zijn wissel zo lijkt het
-
Sunshine State
- Berichten: 446
- Lid geworden op: 26 jun 2011 08:21
- Locatie: Amsterdam
- Contacteer:
Re: Virus doodt duizend dolfijnen aan oostkust VS
Zie ook :
Dolphin Illnesses Linked to Gulf Oil Spill
“I’ve never seen such a high prevalence” of ailments, says U.S. government researcher.
By Ker Than
For National Geographic
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 20, 2013
Dolphins living in an area heavily impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill show higher incidences of lung disease, hormonal abnormalities, and other health effects, a new study finds.
The research, led by U.S. government scientists and funded by BP, the oil company that operated the ill-fated Macondo well, provides the clearest evidence to date linking the oil disaster with potentially deadly health effects in bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico. (See related quiz: "How Much Do You Know About the Gulf Oil Spill?")
The dolphin study was done as part of a process led by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) called a Natural Resource Damage Assessment that investigates whether the spill was responsible for any damage to wildlife or natural resources.
"I've never seen such a high prevalence of very sick animals—and with unusual conditions such as the adrenal hormone abnormalities," study leader Lori Schwake, a NOAA scientist, said in a statement. (See related, "Gulf Oil Spill Pictures: Ten New Studies Show Impact on Coast.")
Mobi Solangi, who directs the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (IMMS) in Gulfport, Mississippi and was not involved in the study, called the study a "good first step [that] shows the possibility of a link," he said. (See related, "Dolphin Baby Die-Off in Gulf Puzzles Scientists.")
Toxic Oil Effects
For the study, the scientists compared the health of dolphins in Louisiana's Barataria Bay, which was heavily oiled during the April 2010 spill that spewed an estimated 5 billion of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf, with another dolphin population living farther away, in Sarasota Bay, Florida, one year after the spill, in 2011. (Related: "The Next Oil Spill: Five Needed Mandates to Head it Off" and "Gulf Spill Dispersants Surprisingly Long-lasting")
About 30 dolphins in Barataria Bay were caught, examined and released. The checkups included an ultrasound examination to assess the animals' lung conditions. The researchers concluded that many of the dolphins suffered from moderate to severe lung disease associated with oil contamination. Almost half had "a guarded or worse prognosis, and 17 percent were considered poor or grave, indicating they weren't expected to live," according to the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
The researchers also found that the Barataria Bay population overall had very low levels of adrenal hormones, which are critical for responding to stress, and that 25 percent of the dolphins were significantly underweight.
The team also noticed other disturbing signs. "We had one animal that was actually pregnant, but the fetus was nonviable," Schwacke told National Geographic.
"There was no heartbeat or movement and it looked like it may have been dead a week or so ... The interesting thing was the stage of pregnancy was the second trimester. A lot of the things that you think of that causes abortions in dolphins hits in the third trimester. So seeing something like that in the second trimester is unusual, and it's certainly consistent with a toxic effect." (See related story: "BP Oil Spill's Sticky Remains Wash Up Sporadically on Gulf Beaches")
In contrast, the control group of 15 dolphins in Sarasota Bay which was not affected by the oil spill did not show elevated levels of lung disease or other health effects.
Apples and Oranges
BP spokesperson Jason Ryan disputed the study's findings, saying that the symptoms the scientists observed in their study has been seen in other dolphin mortality events that have been linked to contaminants and conditions found in the northern Gulf, including "PCBs, DDT and pesticides, unusual cold stun events, and toxins from harmful algal blooms."
"The symptoms are also consistent with natural diseases such as Morbillivirus and Brucellosis," Ryan said in an email.
Moreover, he added, dolphin mortality events occur with some regularity in the Gulf of Mexico and around the world and have for years.
But NOAA's Schwacke said her team did take steps to rule out the possibility of other factors being responsible for the dolphin's poor health.
"We looked at a broad suite of contaminants, including PCBs and DDT...and the levels in Barataria were actually lower than in Sarasota Bay," she said.
An online statement by BP also criticized the scientists' decision to compare dolphins in Barataria Bay with those living Sarasota Bay. "The two populations are genetically different and the environments are different," the statement reads.
"Barataria Bay is much more industrialized and has experienced numerous oil and fuel spills over the years, as well as the release of other contaminants. Sarasota Bay dolphins had been captured and sampled for health assessments and other measurements for many years. They were much more used to being around people and to being captured-released than were the Barataria Bay dolphins, and this may have resulted in more stress to the Barataria Bay animals."
'No Doubt'
Solangi of IMMS said that BP's criticisms of the study were valid, especially the point about the two dolphins group not living in comparable habitats.
"It would be like comparing a population [of people] living in the [United States] with a population in Africa or South America. You can't do that," Solangi said.
Nevertheless, Solangi said he has no doubt that the 2010 oil disaster played a role in the dolphins' health declines.
"There's no question in my mind that the oil is a contributing factor. It's the elephant in the room," he said.
Schwacke said her team is already seeking funding for a followup study in Barataria Bay next summer that will look at the same dolphin population, and perhaps even the same individuals if any of them are alive. (Related Photos: "Gulf Oil Spill: Oiled Beaches Timeline")
The new findings come in a week when BP announced its first significant oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon spill. The discovery, at its Gila prospect, which it co-owns with ConocoPhillips, is about 300 miles (482 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans, and in a lease block called Keathley Canyon, roughly 200 miles southwest of the Mississippi Canyon lease block that held the Macondo well. BP has previously announced two other discoveries in the same geological formation as Gila, the Paleogene trend, Kaskida in 2006 and Tiber in 2009. BP's plans for development in the Tiber in 2010 were derailed by the Macondo spill. (Related Photos: "Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers")
BP said that the Gila discovery "is a further sign that momentum is returning to BP's drilling operations and well execution in the Gulf of Mexico," said Richard Morrison, regional president of BP's Gulf of Mexico business.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... -dolphins/
BP spokesperson Jason Ryan
"The symptoms are also consistent with natural diseases such as Morbillivirus and Brucellosis," Ryan said in an email.
Het ontkennen is op de wagen..
Dolphin Illnesses Linked to Gulf Oil Spill
“I’ve never seen such a high prevalence” of ailments, says U.S. government researcher.
By Ker Than
For National Geographic
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 20, 2013
Dolphins living in an area heavily impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill show higher incidences of lung disease, hormonal abnormalities, and other health effects, a new study finds.
The research, led by U.S. government scientists and funded by BP, the oil company that operated the ill-fated Macondo well, provides the clearest evidence to date linking the oil disaster with potentially deadly health effects in bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico. (See related quiz: "How Much Do You Know About the Gulf Oil Spill?")
The dolphin study was done as part of a process led by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) called a Natural Resource Damage Assessment that investigates whether the spill was responsible for any damage to wildlife or natural resources.
"I've never seen such a high prevalence of very sick animals—and with unusual conditions such as the adrenal hormone abnormalities," study leader Lori Schwake, a NOAA scientist, said in a statement. (See related, "Gulf Oil Spill Pictures: Ten New Studies Show Impact on Coast.")
Mobi Solangi, who directs the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (IMMS) in Gulfport, Mississippi and was not involved in the study, called the study a "good first step [that] shows the possibility of a link," he said. (See related, "Dolphin Baby Die-Off in Gulf Puzzles Scientists.")
Toxic Oil Effects
For the study, the scientists compared the health of dolphins in Louisiana's Barataria Bay, which was heavily oiled during the April 2010 spill that spewed an estimated 5 billion of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf, with another dolphin population living farther away, in Sarasota Bay, Florida, one year after the spill, in 2011. (Related: "The Next Oil Spill: Five Needed Mandates to Head it Off" and "Gulf Spill Dispersants Surprisingly Long-lasting")
About 30 dolphins in Barataria Bay were caught, examined and released. The checkups included an ultrasound examination to assess the animals' lung conditions. The researchers concluded that many of the dolphins suffered from moderate to severe lung disease associated with oil contamination. Almost half had "a guarded or worse prognosis, and 17 percent were considered poor or grave, indicating they weren't expected to live," according to the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
The researchers also found that the Barataria Bay population overall had very low levels of adrenal hormones, which are critical for responding to stress, and that 25 percent of the dolphins were significantly underweight.
The team also noticed other disturbing signs. "We had one animal that was actually pregnant, but the fetus was nonviable," Schwacke told National Geographic.
"There was no heartbeat or movement and it looked like it may have been dead a week or so ... The interesting thing was the stage of pregnancy was the second trimester. A lot of the things that you think of that causes abortions in dolphins hits in the third trimester. So seeing something like that in the second trimester is unusual, and it's certainly consistent with a toxic effect." (See related story: "BP Oil Spill's Sticky Remains Wash Up Sporadically on Gulf Beaches")
In contrast, the control group of 15 dolphins in Sarasota Bay which was not affected by the oil spill did not show elevated levels of lung disease or other health effects.
Apples and Oranges
BP spokesperson Jason Ryan disputed the study's findings, saying that the symptoms the scientists observed in their study has been seen in other dolphin mortality events that have been linked to contaminants and conditions found in the northern Gulf, including "PCBs, DDT and pesticides, unusual cold stun events, and toxins from harmful algal blooms."
"The symptoms are also consistent with natural diseases such as Morbillivirus and Brucellosis," Ryan said in an email.
Moreover, he added, dolphin mortality events occur with some regularity in the Gulf of Mexico and around the world and have for years.
But NOAA's Schwacke said her team did take steps to rule out the possibility of other factors being responsible for the dolphin's poor health.
"We looked at a broad suite of contaminants, including PCBs and DDT...and the levels in Barataria were actually lower than in Sarasota Bay," she said.
An online statement by BP also criticized the scientists' decision to compare dolphins in Barataria Bay with those living Sarasota Bay. "The two populations are genetically different and the environments are different," the statement reads.
"Barataria Bay is much more industrialized and has experienced numerous oil and fuel spills over the years, as well as the release of other contaminants. Sarasota Bay dolphins had been captured and sampled for health assessments and other measurements for many years. They were much more used to being around people and to being captured-released than were the Barataria Bay dolphins, and this may have resulted in more stress to the Barataria Bay animals."
'No Doubt'
Solangi of IMMS said that BP's criticisms of the study were valid, especially the point about the two dolphins group not living in comparable habitats.
"It would be like comparing a population [of people] living in the [United States] with a population in Africa or South America. You can't do that," Solangi said.
Nevertheless, Solangi said he has no doubt that the 2010 oil disaster played a role in the dolphins' health declines.
"There's no question in my mind that the oil is a contributing factor. It's the elephant in the room," he said.
Schwacke said her team is already seeking funding for a followup study in Barataria Bay next summer that will look at the same dolphin population, and perhaps even the same individuals if any of them are alive. (Related Photos: "Gulf Oil Spill: Oiled Beaches Timeline")
The new findings come in a week when BP announced its first significant oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon spill. The discovery, at its Gila prospect, which it co-owns with ConocoPhillips, is about 300 miles (482 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans, and in a lease block called Keathley Canyon, roughly 200 miles southwest of the Mississippi Canyon lease block that held the Macondo well. BP has previously announced two other discoveries in the same geological formation as Gila, the Paleogene trend, Kaskida in 2006 and Tiber in 2009. BP's plans for development in the Tiber in 2010 were derailed by the Macondo spill. (Related Photos: "Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers")
BP said that the Gila discovery "is a further sign that momentum is returning to BP's drilling operations and well execution in the Gulf of Mexico," said Richard Morrison, regional president of BP's Gulf of Mexico business.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... -dolphins/
BP spokesperson Jason Ryan
"The symptoms are also consistent with natural diseases such as Morbillivirus and Brucellosis," Ryan said in an email.
Het ontkennen is op de wagen..