Between 1990 and 2008, a close collaboration between the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) has generated one of the largest time-series datasets on chemical contaminants in a marine mammal species the UK-stranded harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). This dataset shows that some organochlorine pesticid...

Most marine mammals are predators, but some are also preyed upon by other species. Theoretically, the interaction between marine mammals and their prey infl uences the structure and dynamics of marine ecosystems. Similarly, predators and prey have shaped each other’s behaviors, physiologies, morphologies, and life-history strategies. However, there is little empirical evidence of these infl uen...

—The Desmostylia, an extinct order of mammals related to sirenians and proboscideans, are known from the late Oligocene to late Miocene of the North Pacific. Though often categorized as marine mammals on the basis of fossil occurrences in nearshore deposits, reconstructions of desmostylian habitat and dietary preferences have been somewhat speculative because morphological and sedimentological ...

2 3 The prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the marine environment is a growing 4 concern, but the degree to which marine mammals, seabirds and fish harbor these organisms is 5 not well documented. This project sought to identify the occurrence and patterns of antibiotic 6 resistance in bacteria isolated from vertebrates of coastal waters in the northeastern United 7 States. 472 isol...

BACKGROUND Migratory animals comprise a significant portion of biodiversity worldwide with annual investment for their conservation exceeding several billion dollars. Designing effective conservation plans presents enormous challenges. Migratory species are influenced by multiple events across land and sea-regions that are often separated by thousands of kilometres and span international border...

A wide range of systemic mycoses have been reported from captive and wild marine mammals from North America. Examples include regionally endemic pathogens such as Coccidioides and Blastomyces spp., and novel pathogens like Cryptococcus gattii, which appear may have been introduced to North America by humans. Stranding and necropsy data were analyzed from three marine mammal stranding and respon...

The world's oceans are undergoing profound changes as a result of human activities. However, the consequences of escalating human impacts on marine mammal biodiversity remain poorly understood. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) identifies 25% of marine mammals as at risk of extinction, but the conservation status of nearly 40% of marine mammals remains unknown due to...

Marine mammals have greatly benefitted from a shift from resource exploitation towards conservation. Often lauded as symbols of conservation success, some marine mammal populations have shown remarkable recoveries after severe depletions. Others have remained at low abundance levels, continued to decline, or become extinct or extirpated. Here we provide a quantitative assessment of (1) publicly...