Year-round algal toxin exposure in free-ranging sea lions

Akmajian, Adrianne M.; Scordino, Jonathan J.; Acevedo‐Gutiérrez, Alejandro

doi:10.3354/meps12345

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(81 reference statements)

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“…Although stranding patterns for sea otters and other marine species often increase during or after Pseudonitzschia blooms (Scholin et al, 2000;Kreuder et al, 2005;De La Riva et al, 2009), DA detection in tissues and body fluids and DAassociated sea otter deaths occur year-round in California (Miller et al, 2020). Similar results have been reported for free-ranging sea lions, including during the winter season when blooms are unlikely (Akmajian et al, 2017).…”

Section: Challenges Of Broad-scale Assessment Of Da Toxicosis In Sea Otterssupporting

confidence: 67%

Clinical Signs and Pathology Associated With Domoic Acid Toxicosis in Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis)

et al. 2021

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The marine biotoxin domoic acid (DA) is an analog of the neurotransmitter glutamate that exerts potent excitatory activity in the brain, heart, and other tissues. Produced by the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia spp., DA accumulates in marine invertebrates, fish, and sediment. Southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) feed primarily on invertebrates, including crabs and bivalves, that concentrate and slowly depurate DA. Due to their high prey consumption (25% of body weight/day), sea otters are commonly exposed to DA. A total of 823 necropsied southern sea otters were examined to complete this study; first we assessed 560 subadult, adult, and aged adult southern sea otters sampled from 1998 through 2012 for DA-associated pathology, focusing mainly on the central nervous system (CNS) and cardiovascular system. We applied what was learned to an additional cohort of necropsied sea otters of all demographics (including fetuses, pups, juveniles, and otters examined after 2012: n = 263 additional animals). Key findings derived from our initial efforts were consistently observed in this more demographically diverse cohort. Finally, we assessed the chronicity of DA-associated pathology in the CNS and heart independently for 54 adult and aged adult sea otters. Our goals were to compare the temporal consistency of DA-associated CNS and cardiovascular lesions and determine whether multiple episodes of DA toxicosis could be detected on histopathology. Sea otters with acute, fatal DA toxicosis typically presented with neurological signs and severe, diffuse congestion and multifocal microscopic hemorrhages (microhemorrhages) in the brain, spinal cord, cardiovascular system, and eyes. The congestion and microhemorrhages were associated with detection of high concentrations of DA in postmortem urine or gastrointestinal content and preceded histological detection of cellular necrosis or apoptosis. Cases of chronic DA toxicosis often presented with cardiovascular pathology that was more severe than the CNS pathology; however, the lesions at both sites were relatively quiescent, reflecting previous damage. Sea otters with fatal subacute DA toxicosis exhibited concurrent CNS and cardiovascular pathology that was characterized by progressive lesion expansion and host response to DA-associated tissue damage. Acute, subacute, and chronic cases had the same lesion distribution in the CNS and heart. CNS pathology was common in the hippocampus, olfactory, entorhinal and parahippocampal cortex, periventricular neuropil, and ventricles. The circumventricular organs were identified as important DA targets; microscopic examination of the pituitary gland, area postrema, other circumventricular organs, and both eyes facilitated confirmation of acute DA toxicosis in sea otters. DA-associated histopathology was also common in cardiomyocytes and coronary arterioles, especially in the left ventricular free wall, papillary muscles, cardiac apex, and atrial free walls. Progressive cardiomyocyte loss and arteriosclerosis occurred in the same areas, suggesting a common underlying mechanism. The temporal stage of DA-associated CNS pathology matched the DA-associated cardiac pathology in 87% (n = 47/54) of cases assessed for chronicity, suggesting that the same underlying process (e.g., DA toxicosis) was the cause of these lesions. This temporally matched pattern is also indicative of a single episode of DA toxicosis. The other 13% of examined otters (n = 7/54) exhibited overlapping acute, subacute, or chronic DA pathology in the CNS and heart, suggestive of recurrent DA toxicosis. This is the first rigorous case definition to facilitate diagnosis of DA toxicosis in sea otters. Diagnosing this common but often occult condition is important for improving clinical care and assessing population-level impacts of DA exposure in this federally listed threatened subspecies. Because the most likely source of toxin is through prey consumption, and because humans, sea otters, and other animals consume the same marine foods, our efforts to characterize health effects of DA exposure in southern sea otters can provide strong collateral benefits.

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Section: Challenges Of Broad-scale Assessment Of Da Toxicosis In Sea Otterssupporting

confidence: 67%

Clinical Signs and Pathology Associated With Domoic Acid Toxicosis in Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis)

et al. 2021

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“…HABs were detected widely in Alaska marine mammals from 2004 to 2013, including Steller sea lions (Lefebvre et al, 2016). Biotoxins were prevalent year-round in Steller sea lion scats in Washington state USA from 2011 to 2013, where their presence was also observed with consumption of benthic fish, particularly walleye pollock (Akmajian et al, 2017). Increased levels of HABs, particularly in bays, occurred during the PMH in Cook Inlet (Vandersea et al, 2018) but were not obviously elevated during the PMH in the inside waters of northern SEAK (Tobin et al, 2019) or outside of bays in Cook Inlet (Vandersea et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced survival of Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska following marine heatwave

et al. 2023

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The North Pacific marine heatwave of 2014–2016 (PMH), one of the most geographically-extensive and severe marine heatwaves on record, resulted in widespread and persistent perturbation of the Gulf of Alaska and California Current ecosystems. Negative effects of the PMH on marine mammals have been observed, but are not yet well understood. The endangered Steller sea lion Eumetopias jubatus is an important top predator in the Gulf of Alaska that is also particularly vulnerable to sudden or severe ecosystem shifts. We examined survival of 4,178 known-aged Steller sea lions marked from 2000 to 2016 from Kodiak Island through Southeast Alaska, using mark-recapture models and 12,811 resightings collected from 2001 to 2021. Survival of adult females aged 3–15 was reduced -0.05 to -0.23 during the PMH in the areas east, but not west, of Cook Inlet. Survival of Kodiak females was unaffected by the PMH, but survival of Sugarloaf females aged 5–8 was reduced -0.13 from summer 2015 to summer 2016. Lowest survival in Southeast Alaska occurred from summer 2016 to summer 2017, but was also reduced from summer 2014 to summer 2016. Reduced survival continued post-PMH in Kenai Peninsula/Prince William Sound, but not in Southeast Alaska. Survival of adult males was insensitive to the PMH, except in Southeast Alaska where male survival was reduced -0.25 from summer 2016 to summer 2017. Prolonged or intermittent high adult female mortality may reduce population growth and initiate regional declines. Survival response of Steller sea lions to the PMH varied regionally despite similar patterns of ocean warming throughout our study area, suggesting areas east versus west of Cook Inlet were affected differently by the PMH, perhaps due to habitat and oceanographic differences.

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“…As discussed above, resulting harbor seal diets were a weighted (by sample size) average of these three sources, with 94% of harbor seal diet data coming from the trophic database, which means Wright et al (2007) does not strongly influence the overall model but remains important in order to represent a broader range of functional groups in harbor seal diets. California and Steller’s sea lion diet data were taken from the literature [68,72,73] (see “MarineMammalDiets.R” in supplemental data and code), as were diet data from Northern elephant seals [74], and Southern resident killer whales [21].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to the trophic database (https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/cctd/), harbor seal diets were extracted from the literature [68,69]. We followed Ruzicka et al ( 2012) [32] in the use of Wright the literature [68,72,73] (see "MarineMammalDiets.R" in supplemental data and code), as were diet data from Northern elephant seals [74], and Southern resident killer whales [21].…”

Section: Marine Mammal Dietsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An updated end-to-end ecosystem model of the Northern California Current reflecting ecosystem changes due to recent marine heat waves

Gomes

Ruzicka

Crozier

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The Northern California Current is a highly productive marine upwelling ecosystem that is economically and ecologically important. It is home to both commercially harvested species and those that are federally listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Recently, there has been a global shift from single-species fisheries management to ecosystem-based fisheries management, which acknowledges that more complex dynamics can reverberate through a food web. Here, we have integrated new research into an end-to-end ecosystem model (i.e., physics to fisheries) using data from long-term ocean surveys, phytoplankton satellite imagery paired with a vertically generalized production model, a recently assembled diet database, fishery catch information, species distribution models, and existing literature. This spatially-explicit model includes 90 living and detrital functional groups ranging from phytoplankton, krill, and forage fish to salmon, seabirds, and marine mammals, and nine fisheries that occur off the coast of Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. This model was updated from previous regional models to account for more recent changes in the Northern California Current (e.g., increases in market squid and some gelatinous zooplankton such as pyrosomes and salps), to expand the previous domain to increase the spatial resolution, to include data from previously unincorporated surveys, and to add improved characterization of endangered species, such as Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca). Our model is mass-balanced, ecologically plausible, without extinctions, and stable over 100-year simulations. Ammonium and nitrate availability, total primary production rates, and model-derived phytoplankton time series are within realistic ranges. As we move towards holistic ecosystem-based fisheries management, we must continue to openly and collaboratively integrate our disparate datasets and collective knowledge to solve the intricate problems we face. As a tool for future research, we provide the data and code to use our ecosystem model.

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Year-round algal toxin exposure in free-ranging sea lions

Cited by 12 publications

References 50 publications

Clinical Signs and Pathology Associated With Domoic Acid Toxicosis in Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis)

Clinical Signs and Pathology Associated With Domoic Acid Toxicosis in Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis)

Reduced survival of Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska following marine heatwave

An updated end-to-end ecosystem model of the Northern California Current reflecting ecosystem changes due to recent marine heat waves

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