Marine Mammal Pathology & Population Health
David Rotstein, NOAA Cooperative Center for Marine Animal Health & University of Tennessee
15 Feb 2008
Evaluation and monitoring of marine mammal populations involves surveys, capture and sampling, bycatch data, tag and release, and data acquired from stranded animals. With all of the disciplines involved, where does pathology fit in the overall scheme? Determination of the cause of stranding/death provides information not only on the individual animal, but potentially on a population level. Areas of special interest are zoonotic or infectious diseases which could have deleterious effects upon a population. In addition, continued collection of pathology data can provide an understanding of "background" conditions within a population. In addition to analysis of dead animals, examination of tissues such as skin biopsies taken from free-living species in concert with other testing including PCR, genetics, lipid analysis, etc. can add to the overall assessment of the health of an individual and in turn, population health in monitored species. The key to elevating pathologic findings to the population level is enhancing the dissemination of findings and most importantly, compiling and analyzing the data for trends within and between species.