ALBERT

Description: These UAS video files show 2 individual humpback whales at the moment where seawater covers and enters the blowholes. Videos here are at half the speed of original UAS videos in order to fully capture the fast moment of seawater entering the blowhole. All videos were taken at Stellwagen Bank under NMFS NOAA Permits 17355, 17355-01 and 21371, and with approval from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Description: © The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B : Biological Sciences 279 (2012): 1396-1404, doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.1754.

Description: Bubbles in supersaturated tissues and blood occur in beaked whales stranded near sonar exercises, and post-mortem in dolphins bycaught at depth and then hauled to the surface. To evaluate live dolphins for bubbles, liver, kidneys, eyes and blubber–muscle interface of live-stranded and capture-release dolphins were scanned with B-mode ultrasound. Gas was identified in kidneys of 21 of 22 live-stranded dolphins and in the hepatic portal vasculature of 2 of 22. Nine then died or were euthanized and bubble presence corroborated by computer tomography and necropsy, 13 were released of which all but two did not re-strand. Bubbles were not detected in 20 live wild dolphins examined during health assessments in shallow water. Off-gassing of supersaturated blood and tissues was the most probable origin for the gas bubbles. In contrast to marine mammals repeatedly diving in the wild, stranded animals are unable to recompress by diving, and thus may retain bubbles. Since the majority of beached dolphins released did not re-strand it also suggests that minor bubble formation is tolerated and will not lead to clinically significant decompression sickness.

Description: Funding for this work was provided by the US Office of Naval Research Award no. N000140811220 and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Description: © The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 279 (2012): 1041-1050, doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2088.

Description: Decompression sickness (DCS; ‘the bends’) is a disease associated with gas uptake at pressure. The basic pathology and cause are relatively well known to human divers. Breath-hold diving marine mammals were thought to be relatively immune to DCS owing to multiple anatomical, physiological and behavioural adaptations that reduce nitrogen gas (N2) loading during dives. However, recent observations have shown that gas bubbles may form and tissue injury may occur in marine mammals under certain circumstances. Gas kinetic models based on measured time-depth profiles further suggest the potential occurrence of high blood and tissue N2 tensions. We review evidence for gas-bubble incidence in marine mammal tissues and discuss the theory behind gas loading and bubble formation. We suggest that diving mammals vary their physiological responses according to multiple stressors, and that the perspective on marine mammal diving physiology should change from simply minimizing N2 loading to management of the N2 load. This suggests several avenues for further study, ranging from the effects of gas bubbles at molecular, cellular and organ function levels, to comparative studies relating the presence/absence of gas bubbles to diving behaviour. Technological advances in imaging and remote instrumentation are likely to advance this field in coming years.

Description: This paper and the workshop it stemmed from were funded by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Mammal Centre.

Description: © The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Frontiers in Physiology 3 (2012): 181, doi:10.3389/fphys.2012.00181.

Description: Recent dogma suggested that marine mammals are not at risk of decompression sickness due to a number of evolutionary adaptations. Several proposed adaptations exist. Lung compression and alveolar collapse that terminate gas-exchange before a depth is reached where supersaturation is significant and bradycardia with peripheral vasoconstriction affecting the distribution, and dynamics of blood and tissue nitrogen levels. Published accounts of gas and fat emboli and dysbaric osteonecrosis in marine mammals and theoretical modeling have challenged this view-point, suggesting that decompression-like symptoms may occur under certain circumstances, contrary to common belief. Diagnostic imaging modalities are invaluable tools for the non-invasive examination of animals for evidence of gas and have been used to demonstrate the presence of incidental decompression-related renal gas accumulations in some stranded cetaceans. Diagnostic imaging has also contributed to the recognition of clinically significant gas accumulations in live and dead cetaceans and pinnipeds. Understanding the appropriate application and limitations of the available imaging modalities is important for accurate interpretation of results. The presence of gas may be asymptomatic and must be interpreted cautiously alongside all other available data including clinical examination, clinical laboratory testing, gas analysis, necropsy examination, and histology results.

Description: Author Posting. © Inter-Research, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of Inter-Research for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 111 (2014): 191-205, doi:10.3354/dao02790.

Description: Decompression sickness (DCS), as clinically diagnosed by reversal of symptoms with recompression, has never been reported in aquatic breath-hold diving vertebrates despite the occurrence of tissue gas tensions sufficient for bubble formation and injury in terrestrial animals. Similarly to diving mammals, sea turtles manage gas exchange and decompression through anatomical, physiological, and behavioral adaptations. In the former group, DCS-like lesions have been observed on necropsies following behavioral disturbance such as high-powered acoustic sources (e.g. active sonar) and in bycaught animals. In sea turtles, in spite of abundant literature on diving physiology and bycatch interference, this is the first report of DCS-like symptoms and lesions. We diagnosed a clinico-pathological condition consistent with DCS in 29 gas-embolized loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta from a sample of 67. Fifty-nine were recovered alive and 8 had recently died following bycatch in trawls and gillnets of local fisheries from the east coast of Spain. Gas embolization and distribution in vital organs were evaluated through conventional radiography, computed tomography, and ultrasound. Additionally, positive response following repressurization was clinically observed in 2 live affected turtles. Gas embolism was also observed postmortem in carcasses and tissues as described in cetaceans and human divers. Compositional gas analysis of intravascular bubbles was consistent with DCS. Definitive diagnosis of DCS in sea turtles opens a new era for research in sea turtle diving physiology, conservation, and bycatch impact mitigation, as well as for comparative studies in other air-breathing marine vertebrates and human divers.

Description: This work was supported with funds from the Pfizer Foundation, the SUAT-VISAVET Center of Complutense University of Madrid, the Oceanográfic of the ‘Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias’ of Valencia, and by the research projects CGL 2009/12663, CGL2012-39681, and SolSub C200801000288.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 127 (2018): 83-95, doi:10.3354/dao03189.

Description: The challenge of identifying cause of death in discarded bycaught marine mammals stems from a combination of the non-specific nature of the lesions of drowning, the complex physiologic adaptations unique to breath-holding marine mammals, lack of case histories, and the diverse nature of fishing gear. While no pathognomonic lesions are recognized, signs of acute external entanglement, bulging or reddened eyes, recently ingested gastric contents, pulmonary changes, and decompression-associated gas bubbles have been identified in the condition of peracute underwater entrapment (PUE) syndrome in previous studies of marine mammals. We reviewed the gross necropsy and histopathology reports of 36 cetaceans and pinnipeds including 20 directly observed bycaught and 16 live stranded animals that were euthanized between 2005 and 2011 for lesions consistent with PUE. We identified 5 criteria which present at significantly higher rates in bycaught marine mammals: external signs of acute entanglement, red or bulging eyes, recently ingested gastric contents, multi-organ congestion, and disseminated gas bubbles detected grossly during the necropsy and histologically. In contrast, froth in the trachea or primary bronchi, and lung changes (i.e. wet, heavy, froth, edema, congestion, and hemorrhage) were poor indicators of PUE. This is the first study that provides insight into the different published parameters for PUE in bycatch. For regions frequently confronted by stranded marine mammals with non-specific lesions, this could potentially aid in the investigation and quantification of marine fisheries interactions.

Description: This work was supported by the Nat - ional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) John H. Prescott Program NA12NMF4390144. The WHOI Marine Mammal Center, Wick and Sloan Simmons, and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria provided postdoctoral funding for Y.B.Q.

Description: Supplemental data for Reducing effort in the U.S. American lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery to prevent North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) entanglements may support higher profits and long-term sustainability. Figure 5: Estimated North Atlantic right whale population, number of calves, observed mortalities and serious injuries, and diagnosed cause of death or serious injury. Diagnosed entanglements have increased significantly since the population has been in decline. Data from Waring et al. 1997, Kraus et al. 2001, Waring et al. 2002, Moore et al. 2004, Waring et al. 2015, Pace et al. 2017, Pettis et al. 2018, Hayes et al. 2018b, and NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center (unpublished). Figure 15: Maine and Nova Scotia (NS) Maritimes lobster landings and landings per trap from 1990 to 2017. While NS Maritimes landings per trap mirrored landings growth, Maine landings per trap remained relatively stagnant for the majority of this period. Data from DFO Seafisheries Landings, DFO Atlantic Region Licences, DFO Integrated Fisheries Management Plan for LFAs 27-38 (2011), NMFS Annual Commercial Landings Statistics, and Maine Department of Marine Resources Historical Maine Lobster Landings. Figure 16: Maine lobster landings per trap, number of traps (an upper bound indicated by the number of trap tags sold), and total landings weight from 1986 to 2017. Landings per trap were relatively stagnant except from 2007 to 2013, when landings per trap increased substantially year on year, correlating with a decrease in the number of traps and faster rate of growth in total landings. Data from National Marine Fisheries Service Annual Commercial Landings and Maine Department of Marine Resources Historical Maine Lobster Landings. Figure 18: Annual lobster landings weight, in millions of pounds, for Massachusetts Statistical Reporting Areas (SRAs) 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 from 1990 to 2017. Vertical line indicates the start of the Massachusetts Restricted Area Trap/Pot Closure in 2015. The Massachusetts Restricted Area Trap/Pot Closure includes all of SRAs 6, 7, 8, and 9, as well as most of SRA 5 and small portions of SRAs 18 and 19. Data from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (unpublished). Figure 20: American lobster commercial landings weight standardized to 1990 in the primary Statistical Reporting Areas (SRAs) covered by the Massachusetts Restricted Area (SRAs 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) and the rest of the state of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Restricted Area seasonal trap/pot fishery closure took place on February 1st, 2015. Data from Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (unpublished) and National Marine Fisheries Service Annual Commercial Landings Statistics. Figure 21: Lobster landings weight in the Statistical Reporting Areas (SRAs) covered by the Massachusetts Restricted Area (5-9) and to the north (1-4) and south (10-14) from 1990 to 2017. Relative growth in landings in SRAs 5 to 9 was stronger than in neighboring areas since the closure was implemented. Vertical line indicates the start of the three-month closure in 2015. Data from Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (unpublished). Figure 23: Lobster landings value in February, March, and April from Massachusetts Statistical Reporting Areas 5 to 9, 2005 to 2018. Landings value from these areas dropped approximately $94,000 from the period immediately before to the period immediately after the closure was implemented. Vertical line indicates the start of the Massachusetts Restricted Area trap/pot closure in 2015. Landings value calculated by multiplying landings weight for each area by average price for Massachusetts for that month and year. Value is nominal and not adjusted for inflation. Data from Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (unpublished).