Beached bachelors: An extensive study on the largest recorded sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus mortality event in the North Sea.

Autor: IJsseldijk LL; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathobiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands., van Neer A; Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Büsum, Germany., Deaville R; Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, United Kingdom., Begeman L; Department of Viroscience, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands., van de Bildt M; Department of Viroscience, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands., van den Brand JMA; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathobiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.; Department of Viroscience, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands., Brownlow A; Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, SRUC Veterinary Services, Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom., Czeck R; Wadden Sea National Park Authority of Lower Saxony, Wilhelmshaven, Germany., Dabin W; Observatoire PELAGIS, University of La Rochelle - CNRS, La Rochelle, France., Ten Doeschate M; Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, SRUC Veterinary Services, Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom., Herder V; Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany., Herr H; Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Büsum, Germany., IJzer J; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathobiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands., Jauniaux T; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Morphology and Pathology, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium., Jensen LF; Aalborg University, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience - Section for Environmental Technology, Aalborg, Denmark., Jepson PD; Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, United Kingdom., Jo WK; Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonoses (RIZ), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany., Lakemeyer J; Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Büsum, Germany., Lehnert K; Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Büsum, Germany., Leopold MF; Wageningen Marine Research, Den Helder, The Netherlands., Osterhaus A; Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonoses (RIZ), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany., Perkins MW; Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, United Kingdom., Piatkowski U; GEOMAR, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany., Prenger-Berninghoff E; Institut für Hygiene und Infektionskrankheiten der Tiere, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Gießen, Germany., Pund R; Lower Saxonian State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES), Cuxhaven, Germany., Wohlsein P; Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany., Gröne A; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathobiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands., Siebert U; Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Büsum, Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2018 Aug 07; Vol. 13 (8), pp. e0201221. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Aug 07 (Print Publication: 2018).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201221
Abstrakt: Between the 8th January and the 25th February 2016, the largest sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus mortality event ever recorded in the North Sea occurred with 30 sperm whales stranding in five countries within six weeks. All sperm whales were immature males. Groups were stratified by size, with the smaller animals stranding in the Netherlands, and the largest in England. The majority (n = 27) of the stranded animals were necropsied and/or sampled, allowing for an international and comprehensive investigation into this mortality event. The animals were in fair to good nutritional condition and, aside from the pathologies caused by stranding, did not exhibit significant evidence of disease or trauma. Infectious agents were found, including various parasite species, several bacterial and fungal pathogens and a novel alphaherpesvirus. In nine of the sperm whales a variety of marine litter was found. However, none of these findings were considered to have been the primary cause of the stranding event. Potential anthropogenic and environmental factors that may have caused the sperm whales to enter the North Sea were assessed. Once sperm whales enter the North Sea and head south, the water becomes progressively shallower (<40 m), making this region a global hotspot for sperm whale strandings. We conclude that the reasons for sperm whales to enter the southern North Sea are the result of complex interactions of extrinsic environmental factors. As such, these large mortality events seldom have a single ultimate cause and it is only through multidisciplinary, collaborative approaches that potentially multifactorial large-scale stranding events can be effectively investigated.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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