Definition
Cetaceans are aquatic mammals, large-headed, hairless, and torpedo-shaped mammals with a complex stomach comprising of at least four chambers. There are 90 species belonging to the order Cetacea; examples include dolphins, porpoises, and whales (Smith et al. 2003).
Cetacean health encompasses the sum of all biological, social, and environmental interactions in which an individual, population, or community of cetaceans engage to manage or adapt to stress over time (Stephen 2014).
Environmental threat represents a stressor that can cause adverse responses in organisms, ranging from molecular, tissue, organismal, to population level (Avila et al. 2018); examples of environmental threats include chemical pollution, climate change, overfishing, and bycatch.
Environmental risk refers to the possibility of an organism or population to...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Aksenov AA, Yeates L, Pasamontes A et al (2014) Metabolite content profiling of bottlenose dolphin exhaled breath. Anal Chem 86:10616–10624. https://doi.org/10.1021/ac5024217
Alter SE, Simmonds MP, Brandon JR (2010) Forecasting the consequences of climate-driven shifts in human behavior on cetaceans. Mar Policy 34:943–954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2010.01.026
Avila IC, Kaschner K, Dormann CF (2018) Current global risks to marine mammals: taking stock of the threats. Biol Conserv 221:44–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.02.021
Barbier EB (2017) Marine ecosystem services. Curr Biol 27:R507–R510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.020
Burgener V, Elliott W, Leslie A (2012) WWF species action plan: marine and freshwater cetaceans 2012–2020. World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Gland
Cook D, Malinauskaite L, Davíðsdóttir B et al (2020) Reflections on the ecosystem services of whales and valuing their contribution to human well-being. Ocean Coast Manag 186:105100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105100
Cossaboon JM, Hoh E, Chivers SJ et al (2019) Apex marine predators and ocean health: proactive screening of halogenated organic contaminants reveals ecosystem indicator species. Chemosphere 221:656–664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.01.050
Derous D, ten Doeschate M, Brownlow AC et al (2020) Toward new ecologically relevant markers of health for cetaceans. Front Mar Sci 7:1–8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00367
Desforges JPW, Sonne C, Levin M et al (2016) Immunotoxic effects of environmental pollutants in marine mammals. Environ Int 86:126–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2015.10.007
Estes JA, Terborgh J, Brashares JS et al (2011) Trophic downgrading of planet earth. Science 333:301–306. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1205106
Fauquier D, Kinsel M, Dailey M et al (2009) Prevalence and pathology of lungworm infection in bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus from southwest Florida. Dis Aquat Org 88:85–90. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02095
Galligan TM, Balmer BC, Schwacke LH et al (2019) Examining the relationships between blubber steroid hormones and persistent organic pollutants in common bottlenose dolphins. Environ Pollut 249:982–991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.03.083
Godard-Codding CAJ, Fossi MC (2018) Field sampling techniques and ecotoxicologic biomarkers in cetaceans. In: Fossi MC, Panti C (eds) Marine mammal ecotoxicology: impacts of multiple stressors on population health, 1st edn. Academic Press, London, pp 237–259
Huang Y, Rajput IR, Sanganyado E et al (2020) Immune stimulation effect of PBDEs via prostaglandin pathway in pantropical spotted dolphin: an in vitro study. Chemosphere 254:126717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126717
Huber M, André Knottnerus J, Green L et al (2011) How should we define health? BMJ 343:1–3. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4163
Hunt KE, Moore MJ, Rolland RM et al (2013) Overcoming the challenges of studying conservation physiology in large whales: a review of available methods. Conserv Physiol 1:cot006. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/cot006
Jørgensen SE, Fath BD (2011) Ecotoxicological models. In: Jørgensen SE, Fath BD (eds) Fundamentals of ecological modelling. Elsevier, Oxford, UK, pp 229–290
Kaschner K, Tittensor DP, Ready J et al (2011) Current and future patterns of global marine mammal biodiversity. PLoS One 6:e19653. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019653
Mazzariol S, Arbelo M, Centelleghe C et al (2018) Emerging pathogens and stress syndromes of cetaceans in European waters: cumulative effects. Elsevier, Oxford, UK
Murphy S, Law RJ, Deaville R et al (2018) Organochlorine contaminants and reproductive implication in cetaceans. In: Marine mammal ecotoxicology. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 3–38
Nabi G, McLaughlin RW, Hao Y et al (2018) The possible effects of anthropogenic acoustic pollution on marine mammals’ reproduction: an emerging threat to animal extinction. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:19338–19345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2208-7
National Research Council (2003) Ocean noise and marine mammals. National Academies Press, Washington, DC
Nowacek DP, Thorne LH, Johnston DW, Tyack PL (2007) Responses of cetaceans to anthropogenic noise. Mamm Rev 37:81–115. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2007.00104.x
Nymo IH, Tryland M, Godfroid J (2011) A review of Brucella infection in marine mammals, with special emphasis on Brucella pinnipedialis in the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata). Vet Res 42:93. https://doi.org/10.1186/1297-9716-42-93
Parratt SR, Numminen E, Laine A-L (2016) Infectious disease dynamics in heterogeneous landscapes. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 47:283–306. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-121415-032321
Parsons ECM, Dolman SJ, Wright AJ et al (2008) Navy sonar and cetaceans: just how much does the gun need to smoke before we act? Mar Pollut Bull 56:1248–1257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2008.04.025
Pasamontes A, Aksenov AA, Schivo M et al (2017) Noninvasive respiratory metabolite analysis associated with clinical disease in cetaceans: a Deepwater Horizon oil spill study. Environ Sci Technol 51:5737–5746. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b06482
Rajput IR, Xiao Z, Yajing S et al (2018) Establishment of pantropic spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata) fibroblast cell line and potential influence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) on cytokines response. Aquat Toxicol 203:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquatox.2018.07.017
Rolland RM, Parks SE, Hunt KE et al (2012) Evidence that ship noise increases stress in right whales. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 279:2363–2368. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2429
Roman J, McCarthy JJ (2010) The whale pump: marine mammals enhance primary productivity in a coastal basin. PLoS One 5:e13255. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013255
Roman J, Nevins J, Altabet M et al (2016) Endangered right whales enhance primary productivity in the Bay of Fundy. PLoS One 11:e0156553. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156553
Sanganyado E, Rajput IR, Liu W (2018) Bioaccumulation of organic pollutants in Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin: a review on current knowledge and future prospects. Environ Pollut 237:111–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.01.055
Sanganyado E, Bi R, Teta C et al (2020) Toward an integrated framework for assessing micropollutants in marine mammals: challenges, progress, and opportunities. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 20:1–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2020.1806663
Schwacke LH, Zolman ES, Balmer BC et al (2012) Anaemia, hypothyroidism and immune suppression associated with polychlorinated biphenyl exposure in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 279:48–57. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.0665
Shi J, Sanganyado E, Wang L et al (2020) Organic pollutants in sedimentary microplastics from eastern Guangdong: spatial distribution and source identification. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 193:110356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110356
Simmonds MP (2017) Evaluating the welfare implications of climate change for cetaceans. In: Butterworth A (ed) Marine mammal welfare: human induced change in the marine environment and its impacts on marine mammal welfare. Springer, Cham, pp 125–135
Simmonds MP (2018) Marine mammals and multiple stressors. In: Marine mammal ecotoxicology. Elsevier, Oxford, UK, pp 459–470
Simmonds MP, Eliott WJ (2009) Climate change and cetaceans: concerns and recent developments. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 89:203–210. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315408003196
Smith BD, Crespo EA, Notarbartolo di Sciara G (2003) Dolphins, whales and porpoises: 2002–2010 conservation action plan for the world’s cetaceans. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2003-009.pdf
Stephen C (2014) Toward a modernized definition of wildlife health. J Wildl Dis 50:427–430. https://doi.org/10.7589/2013-11-305
Suzuki M, Yoshioka M, Ohno Y, Akune Y (2018) Plasma metabolomic analysis in mature female common bottlenose dolphins: profiling the characteristics of metabolites after overnight fasting by comparison with data in beagle dogs. Sci Rep 8:12030. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30563-x
Trego ML, Hoh E, Kellar NM et al (2018) Comprehensive screening links halogenated organic compounds with testosterone levels in male Delphinus delphis from the Southern California Bight. Environ Sci Technol 52:3101–3109. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b04652
Trego ML, Whitehead A, Kellar NM et al (2020) Tracking transcriptomic responses to endogenous and exogenous variation in cetaceans in the Southern California Bight. Conserv Physiol 7:coz018. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coz018
Tubbs CW, McDonough CE (2018) Reproductive impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on wildlife species: implications for conservation of endangered species. Annu Rev Anim Biosci 6:287–304. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-animal-030117-014547
Van Blaricom GR, Gerber LR, Brownell RL (2013) Marine mammals, extinctions of. In: Encyclopedia of biodiversity. Elsevier, London, pp 64–93
Van Bressem MF, Raga JA (2011) Viruses of cetaceans. Stud Viral Ecol Anim Host Syst 2:309–332. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118025710.ch12
Van Bressem M-F, Raga JA, Di Guardo G et al (2009) Emerging infectious diseases in cetaceans worldwide and the possible role of environmental stressors. Dis Aquat Org 86:143–157. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02101
Watson-Capps JJ, Mann J (2005) The effects of aquaculture on bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops sp.) ranging in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Biol Conserv 124:519–526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2005.03.001
West KL, Levine G, Jacob J et al (2015) Coinfection and vertical transmission of Brucella and Morbillivirus in a neonatal sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) in Hawaii, USA. J Wildl Dis 51:227–232. https://doi.org/10.7589/2014-04-092
Yajing S, Rajput IR, Ying H et al (2018) Establishment and characterization of pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) dermal fibroblast cell line. PLoS One 13:e0195128. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195128
Yu X, He Q, Sanganyado E et al (2020) Chlorinated organic contaminants in fish from the South China Sea: assessing risk to Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin. Environ Pollut 263:114346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114346
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Sanganyado, E., Liu, W. (2021). Cetacean Health: Global Environmental Threats. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Life Below Water. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71064-8_125-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71064-8_125-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71064-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71064-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences