Health Assessments of Common Bottlenose Dolphins (): Past, Present, and Potential Conservation Applications.

The common bottlenose dolphin () is a global marine mammal species for which some populations, due to their coastal accessibility, have been monitored diligently by scientists for decades. Health assessment examinations have developed a comprehensive knowledge base of dolphin biology, population structure, and environmental or anthropogenic stressors affecting their dynamics. Bottlenose dolphin health assessments initially started as stock assessments prior to acquisition.

Resting Metabolic Rate and Lung Function in Wild Offshore Common Bottlenose Dolphins, , Near Bermuda.

Diving mammals have evolved a suite of physiological adaptations to manage respiratory gases during extended breath-hold dives. To test the hypothesis that offshore bottlenose dolphins have evolved physiological adaptations to improve their ability for extended deep dives and as protection for lung barotrauma, we investigated the lung function and respiratory physiology of four wild common bottlenose dolphins () near the island of Bermuda. We measured blood hematocrit (Hct, %), resting metabolic rate (RMR, l O ⋅ min), tidal volume (, l), respiratory frequency (, breaths ⋅ min), respiratory flow (l ⋅ min), and dynamic lung compliance (, l ⋅ cmHO) in air and in water, and compared measurements with published results from coastal, shallow-diving dolphins.

BLOOD CHEMISTRY AND HEMATOLOGY VALUES IN HEALTHY AND REHABILITATED ROUGH-TOOTHED DOLPHINS ( STENO BREDANENSIS).

Rehabilitation efforts for live stranded marine mammals are guided by diagnostic measures of blood chemistry and hematology parameters obtained from each individual undergoing treatment. Despite the widespread use of blood parameters, reference values are not available in the literature from healthy rough-toothed dolphins ( Steno bredanensis) with which to infer the health status of an animal. We examined serum or plasma chemistry and hematology data from 17 rough-toothed dolphins either housed at Dolphin Quest French Polynesia or during their rehabilitation at the Dolphin and Whale Hospital in Sarasota, Florida, US between 1994 and 2005.

Thyroid hormone concentrations in relation to age, sex, pregnancy, and perinatal loss in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

This study evaluated circulating concentrations of thyroid hormones in relation to age, sex, pregnancy status, and perinatal loss in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) under human care. A total of 373 blood samples were collected from 60 individual dolphins housed at nine aquariums/oceanariums. Serum concentrations of total and free thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) were analyzed with commercial RIA kits validated for use with dolphins.

Acute phase protein quantitation in serum samples from healthy Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

Acute phase proteins (APPs) have been studied in many companion and large animals and have been reported to have a differential sensitivity to traditional markers of inflammation. Studies have been performed indicating the conservation of these proteins as well as the application and cross-reactivity of automated assays among different species, but few reports have detailed APPs in marine mammal species. In the present study, automated assays were utilized to generate reference intervals for C-reactive protein, haptoglobin, and serum amyloid A using 44 serum samples from healthy Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

Altrenogest and progesterone therapy during pregnancy in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) with progesterone insufficiency.

Progesterone production is essential for growth and development of the conceptus during pregnancy. Abnormal development of the corpus luteum (CL) after conception can result in early embryonic loss or fetal abortion. Routine monitoring of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) pregnancy after artificial insemination or natural conception with ultrasonography and serum progesterone determination has allowed for the establishment of expected fetal growth rates and hormone concentrations.

Complex contaminant exposure in cetaceans: a comparative E-Screen analysis of bottlenose dolphin blubber and mixtures of four persistent organic pollutants.

Cetaceans are federally protected species that are prone to accumulate complex mixtures of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which individually may exert estrogenic or antiestrogenic effects. In the present study it was assessed whether contaminant mixtures harbored by cetaceans are estrogenic or antiestrogenic using a comparative approach. Interactions of antiestrogenic and estrogenic compounds were first investigated with the E-Screen assay using a mixture of four POPs (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene [4,4'-DDE], trans-nonachlor, and polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs] 138 180) prevalent in cetacean blubber.

Hypocitraturia in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): assessing a potential risk factor for urate nephrolithiasis.

Numerous cases of urate nephrolithiasis in managed collections of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have been reported, but nephrolithiasis is believed to be uncommon in wild dolphins. Risk factors for urate nephrolithiasis in humans include low urinary pH and hypocitraturia. Urine samples from 94 dolphins were collected during April 2006 through June 2009 from 4 wild populations (n = 62) and 4 managed collections (n = 32).

Annual, seasonal and individual variation in hematology and clinical blood chemistry profiles in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from Sarasota Bay, Florida.

Hematology and clinical blood chemistry (HCBC) profiles in free-living bottlenose dolphins from Sarasota Bay, Florida have been monitored over a 14-year period. This long-term dataset includes samples from recaptured dolphins, enabling individual variation to be accounted for when investigating seasonal and annual variability. Four different laboratories carried out the assays and inter-laboratory comparisons found significant differences in 31 of 39 parameters measured.

Polychlorinated biphenyls and hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls in plasma of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hydroxylated metabolic products (OH-PCBs) were measured in plasma collected from live-captured and released bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from five different locations in the Western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico in 2003 and 2004. In 2004, the sum (sigma) of concentration of PCBs in plasma of dolphins sampled off Charleston, SC [geometric mean: 223 ng/g of wet weight (w.w.

Integrating life-history and reproductive success data to examine potential relationships with organochlorine compounds for bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Sarasota Bay, Florida.

Research initiated in 1970 has identified a long-term, year-round resident community of about 140 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Sarasota Bay, Florida, providing unparalleled opportunities to investigate relationships between organochlorine contaminant residues and life-history and reproductive parameters. Many individual dolphins are identifiable and of known age, sex, and maternal lineage (< or =4 generations). Observational monitoring provides data on dolphin spatial and temporal occurrence, births and fates of calves, and birth-order.

Polyfluoroalkyl compounds in free-ranging bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

Polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAs) have been used for decades in industrial and commercial products and are now detected worldwide. Concentrations of two major PFA groups, carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and sulfonic acids (PFSAs), were assessed in plasma of bottlenose dolphins from the Gulf of Mexico (Sarasota Bay, FL) and the Atlantic Ocean (Delaware Bay, NJ, Charleston, SC, Indian River Lagoon (IRL), FL, and Bermuda). Eight PFAs were detected in the plasma of all dolphins.