Twenty-Five Years of Rehabilitation of Odontocetes Stranded in Central and Northern California, 1977 to 2002

Zagzebski, Kathryn A.; Gulland, Frances M. D.; Haulena, Martin; Lander, Michelle E.; Greig, Denise J.; Gage, Laurie J.; Hanson, M. Bradley; Yochem, Pamela K.; Stewart, Brent S.

doi:10.1578/am.32.3.2006.334

Cited by 23 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Relatively few efforts to systematically survey the cause of morbidity and mortality in stranded marine mammals have been made (Schroeder et al 1973, Stroud 1979, Cowan et al 1986, Steiger et al 1989, Wilkinson 1991, Gerber et al 1993, Zagzebski et al 2006. Investigation into mortality trends could prove useful for accurately estimating population dynamics of marine mammals globally, and more specifically, in the highly impacted Cape Cod region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mortality trends of stranded marine mammals on Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts, USA, 2000 to 2006

Bogomolni¹,

Pugliares²,

Sharp³

et al. 2010

Dis. Aquat. Org.

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To understand the cause of death of 405 marine mammals stranded on Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts between 2000 and 2006, a system for coding final diagnosis was developed and categorized as (1) disease, (2) human interaction, (3) mass-stranded with no significant findings, (4) single-stranded with no significant findings, (5) rock and/or sand ingestion, (6) predatory attack, (7) failure to thrive or dependent calf or pup, or (8) other. The cause of death for 91 animals could not be determined. For the 314 animals that could be assigned a cause of death, gross and histological pathology results and ancillary testing indicated that disease was the leading cause of mortality in the region, affecting 116/314 (37%) of cases. Human interaction, including harassment, entanglement, and vessel collision, fatally affected 31/314 (10%) of all animals. Human interaction accounted for 13/29 (45%) of all determined gray seal Halichoerus grypus mortalities. Mass strandings were most likely to occur in northeastern Cape Cod Bay; 97/106 (92%) of mass stranded animals necropsied presented with no significant pathological findings. Mass strandings were the leading cause of death in 3 of the 4 small cetacean species: 46/67 (69%) of Atlantic white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus acutus, 15/21 (71%) of long-finned pilot whale Globicephala melas, and 33/54 (61%) of short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis. These baseline data are critical for understanding marine mammal population health and mortality trends, which in turn have significant conservation and management implications. They not only afford a better retrospective analysis of strandings, but ultimately have application for improving current and future response to live animal stranding.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mortality trends of stranded marine mammals on Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts, USA, 2000 to 2006

Bogomolni¹,

Pugliares²,

Sharp³

et al. 2010

Dis. Aquat. Org.

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“…In the early years of cetacean rehabilitation, success in getting the animals to the point of release was infrequent, but success rates have improved markedly in recent years thanks to increased experience and knowledge, and improved diagnostics and facilities (Wilkinson and Worthy , Zagzebski et al . ). Concurrently, safe and practical techniques for monitoring rehabilitated cetaceans postrelease have become available, especially involving radio and or satellite‐linked telemetry, providing the potential for assessing the success of the animals released back into the wild (Scott et al .…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Evaluating postintervention survival of free‐ranging odontocete cetaceans

Wells

Fauquier

Gulland

et al. 2012

Marine Mammal Science

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Until recently, few data were available for evaluating postintervention survival of free-ranging cetaceans receiving aid from humans through: rescue from stranding, with rehabilitation and release; rescue, rehabilitation and release of debilitated or entangled individuals that had not beached; rescue of entangled animals with immediate release; and rescue, transport, and release of out-of-habitat animals. Advances in medical diagnosis, husbandry and therapy have improved survival of rehabilitation cases, and advances in radio-telemetry have improved postrelease monitoring. In total, 69 cases (1986-2010) were evaluated, involving 10 species of odontocete cetaceans with release data. Findings suggested a success criterion of surviving at least six weeks postrelease is useful in evaluating intervention strategies. No species had better success than others. Stranded beached cetaceans were less successful than free-swimming rescued animals. Rehabilitated animals were less successful than those released without rehabilitation. Mass stranded dolphins fared better than single stranded animals. Old age, diminished hearing ability, and lack of maternal care were factors in several unsuccessful cases. Success is not clearly related to rehabilitation duration. Retaining healthy individuals from mass strandings until all animals are ready for release may reduce success for some. Transport durations for unsuccessful cases were greater than for successful cases.

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“…An analysis of odontocete cetaceans that stranded alive in California waters from 1977 to 2002 illuminated the difficulties of stranded cetaceans in acclimating to captivity post-handling and transport (Zagzebski et al 2006). The authors suggested that stress or pathologies related to the physical act of stranding and subsequent capture/transport pro cedures likely impeded successful rehabilitation of livestranded cetaceans.…”

Section: Acclimation To Captivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospects for captive breeding of poorly known small cetacean species

Curry¹,

Ralls²,

Brownell³

2013

Endang. Species. Res.

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Because of the precarious condition of small cetacean species and subpopulations listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered by the IUCN, use of captive breeding for conservation has been suggested for some of them, and will likely be suggested for others. A successful captive breeding program for a new species cannot be implemented until reliable capture and husbandry techniques have been developed. Techniques for assisted reproduction and reintroduction may also be needed. We review attempts to capture, maintain, and breed poorly known small cetaceans and discuss assisted reproductive technologies (ART) that have been used to enhance captive breeding efforts for other small cetaceans. We conclude that the techniques required for successful captive breeding of most Endangered or Critically Endangered small cetacean species have not been sufficiently developed. Development of these techniques should begin before a species or population is Critically Endangered. In particular, ARTs tend to be species specific, necessitating considerable time, money, and research to develop for each species of concern. Critically Endangered populations cannot afford to lose the individuals needed for technique development. The fairly large captive population sizes necessary (to avoid loss of genetic diversity, inbreeding, and genetic adaptation to captivity), limited space available in aquariums, and high costs of captive breeding and reintroduction programs make it unlikely that captive breeding will play a major role in the conservation of most small cetaceans. The substantive conservation measures needed to prevent extinction of Critically Endangered small cetaceans is reduction or elimination of their primary threats, which are usually by-catch and habitat loss.

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Twenty-Five Years of Rehabilitation of Odontocetes Stranded in Central and Northern California, 1977 to 2002

Cited by 23 publications

References 28 publications

Mortality trends of stranded marine mammals on Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts, USA, 2000 to 2006

Mortality trends of stranded marine mammals on Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts, USA, 2000 to 2006

Evaluating postintervention survival of free‐ranging odontocete cetaceans

Prospects for captive breeding of poorly known small cetacean species

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