Pharmaceuticals in the blubber of live free-swimming common bottlenose dolphins ().

Pharmaceuticals prevent and treat diseases, yet inappropriate intake can result in harmful effects including mortality. Contaminants have become recurrent public and wildlife health concerns. Bioaccumulation of contaminants can occur throughout trophic levels of the food web.

Stress and Reproductive Hormones of Free-Ranging Dolphins Across a Natural Salinity Gradient.

Bottlenose dolphins () inhabit environments with variable natural salinities and experience physiological imbalances from extreme salinity fluctuations. Low salinity exposure (≤10) disrupts osmoregulation and increases the production of steroid hormones aldosterone (electrolyte balance) and cortisol (stress response). The effect(s) of high salinity exposure (>35) on steroid hormone production in bottlenose dolphins has not previously been assessed.

Diagnosing domoic acid toxicosis in the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) using behavioral criteria: A novel approach.

Domoic acid toxicosis in the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) is difficult to diagnose using presence of toxin alone because the duration of domoic acid presence in blood and urine is generally less than 48 hr following exposure. Because domoic acid toxicosis is often suggested by presentation of behavioral abnormalities, we asked whether assessment of behavior might be useful for diagnostic purposes. We developed an ethogram to categorize behavioral data collected via continuous focal animal sampling.