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Bowers EK, Stimmelmayr R, Hendrix A, Lefebvre KA. Stability of Saxitoxin in 50% Methanol Fecal Extracts and Raw Feces from Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus). Mar Drugs 2022; 20:md20090547. [PMID: 36135736 PMCID: PMC9505082 DOI: 10.3390/md20090547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent decades, harmful algal blooms (HABs) producing paralytic shellfish toxins (including saxitoxin, STX) have become increasingly frequent in the marine waters of Alaska, USA, subjecting Pacific Arctic and subarctic communities and wildlife to increased toxin exposure risks. Research on the risks of HAB toxin exposures to marine mammal health commonly relies on the sampling of marine mammal gastrointestinal (GI) contents to quantify HAB toxins, yet no studies have been published testing the stability of STX in marine mammal GI matrices. An understanding of STX stability in test matrices under storage and handling conditions is imperative to the integrity of toxin quantifications and conclusions drawn thereby. Here, STX stability is characterized in field-collected bowhead whale feces (stored raw in several treatments) and in fecal extracts (50% methanol, MeOH) over multiple time points. Toxin stability, as the percent of initial concentration (T0), was reported for each storage treatment and time point. STX was stable (mean 99% T0) in 50% MeOH extracts over the 8-week study period, and there was no significant difference in STX concentrations quantified in split fecal samples extracted in 80% ethanol (EtOH) and 50% MeOH. STX was also relatively stable in raw fecal material stored in the freezer (mean 94% T0) and the refrigerator (mean 93% T0) up to 8 weeks. STX degraded over time in the room-temperature dark, room-temperature light, and warm treatments to means of 48 ± 1.9, 38 ± 2.8, and 20 ± 0.7% T0, respectively, after 8 weeks (mean ± standard error; SE). Additional opportunistically analyzed samples frozen for ≤4.5 years also showed STX to be relatively stable (mean 97% T0). Mean percent of T0 was measured slightly above 100% in some extracts following some treatments, and (most notably) at some long-term frozen time points, likely due to evaporation from samples causing STX to concentrate, or variability between ELISA plates. Overall, these results suggest that long-term frozen storage of raw fecal samples and the analysis of extracts within 8 weeks of extraction in 50% MeOH is sufficient for obtaining accurate STX quantifications in marine mammal fecal material without concerns about significant degradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily K. Bowers
- Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 2725 Montlake Blvd E, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
| | - Raphaela Stimmelmayr
- The North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, P.O. Box 69, Utqiagvik, AK 99723, USA
| | - Alicia Hendrix
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Box 351618, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Kathi A. Lefebvre
- Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 2725 Montlake Blvd E, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
- Correspondence:
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Lefebvre KA, Fachon E, Bowers EK, Kimmel DG, Snyder JA, Stimmelmayr R, Grebmeier JM, Kibler S, Ransom Hardison D, Anderson DM, Kulis D, Murphy J, Gann JC, Cooper D, Eisner LB, Duffy-Anderson JT, Sheffield G, Pickart RS, Mounsey A, Willis ML, Stabeno P, Siddon E. Paralytic shellfish toxins in Alaskan Arctic food webs during the anomalously warm ocean conditions of 2019 and estimated toxin doses to Pacific walruses and bowhead whales. HARMFUL ALGAE 2022; 114:102205. [PMID: 35550288 DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2022.102205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Climate change-related ocean warming and reduction in Arctic sea ice extent, duration and thickness increase the risk of toxic blooms of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella in the Alaskan Arctic. This algal species produces neurotoxins that impact marine wildlife health and cause the human illness known as paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). This study reports Paralytic Shellfish Toxin (PST) concentrations quantified in Arctic food web samples that include phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic clams, benthic worms, and pelagic fish collected throughout summer 2019 during anomalously warm ocean conditions. PSTs (saxitoxin equivalents, STX eq.) were detected in all trophic levels with concentrations above the seafood safety regulatory limit (80 μg STX eq. 100 g-1) in benthic clams collected offshore on the continental shelf in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering Seas. Most notably, toxic benthic clams (Macoma calcarea) were found north of Saint Lawrence Island where Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) are known to forage for a variety of benthic species, including Macoma. Additionally, fecal samples collected from 13 walruses harvested for subsistence purposes near Saint Lawrence Island during March to May 2019, all contained detectable levels of STX, with fecal samples from two animals (78 and 72 μg STX eq. 100 g-1) near the seafood safety regulatory limit. In contrast, 64% of fecal samples from zooplankton-feeding bowhead whales (n = 9) harvested between March and September 2019 in coastal waters of the Beaufort Sea near Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow) and Kaktovik were toxin-positive, and those levels were significantly lower than in walruses (max bowhead 8.5 μg STX eq. 100 g-1). This was consistent with the lower concentrations of PSTs found in regional zooplankton prey. Maximum ecologically-relevant daily toxin doses to walruses feeding on clams and bowhead whales feeding on zooplankton were estimated to be 21.5 and 0.7 μg STX eq. kg body weight-1 day-1, respectively, suggesting that walruses had higher PST exposures than bowhead whales. Average and maximum STX doses in walruses were in the range reported previously to cause illness and/or death in humans and humpback whales, while bowhead whale doses were well below those levels. These findings raise concerns regarding potential increases in PST/STX exposure risks and health impacts to Arctic marine mammals as ocean warming and sea ice reduction continue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathi A Lefebvre
- Environmental and Fisheries Science Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Seattle, WA 98112, USA.
| | - Evangeline Fachon
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA; Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - Emily K Bowers
- Environmental and Fisheries Science Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Seattle, WA 98112, USA.
| | - David G Kimmel
- Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Jonathan A Snyder
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals Management, Anchorage, AK 9950 USA.
| | - Raphaela Stimmelmayr
- North-Slope Borough Department of Wildlife management, Utqiaġvik, AK, USA; Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
| | - Jacqueline M Grebmeier
- University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, MD 20688, USA.
| | - Steve Kibler
- NOAA National Ocean Service, Beaufort Laboratory, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA.
| | - D Ransom Hardison
- NOAA National Ocean Service, Beaufort Laboratory, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA.
| | - Donald M Anderson
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
| | - David Kulis
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
| | - Jim Murphy
- NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, Juneau, AK 99801, USA.
| | - Jeanette C Gann
- NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, Juneau, AK 99801, USA.
| | - Dan Cooper
- Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Lisa B Eisner
- Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Janet T Duffy-Anderson
- Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Gay Sheffield
- University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Sea Grant / Marine Advisory Program, PO Box 400, Nome, AK 99762, USA.
| | - Robert S Pickart
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
| | - Anna Mounsey
- Environmental and Fisheries Science Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Seattle, WA 98112, USA.
| | - Maryjean L Willis
- Environmental and Fisheries Science Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Seattle, WA 98112, USA.
| | - Phyllis Stabeno
- Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Elizabeth Siddon
- NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, Juneau, AK 99801, USA.
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Lefebvre KA, Quakenbush L, Frame E, Huntington KB, Sheffield G, Stimmelmayr R, Bryan A, Kendrick P, Ziel H, Goldstein T, Snyder JA, Gelatt T, Gulland F, Dickerson B, Gill V. Prevalence of algal toxins in Alaskan marine mammals foraging in a changing arctic and subarctic environment. HARMFUL ALGAE 2016; 55:13-24. [PMID: 28073526 PMCID: PMC8276754 DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2016.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2015] [Revised: 01/14/2016] [Accepted: 01/19/2016] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Current climate trends resulting in rapid declines in sea ice and increasing water temperatures are likely to expand the northern geographic range and duration of favorable conditions for harmful algal blooms (HABs), making algal toxins a growing concern in Alaskan marine food webs. Two of the most common HAB toxins along the west coast of North America are the neurotoxins domoic acid (DA) and saxitoxin (STX). Over the last 20 years, DA toxicosis has caused significant illness and mortality in marine mammals along the west coast of the USA, but has not been reported to impact marine mammals foraging in Alaskan waters. Saxitoxin, the most potent of the paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins, has been well-documented in shellfish in the Aleutians and Gulf of Alaska for decades and associated with human illnesses and deaths due to consumption of toxic clams. There is little information regarding exposure of Alaskan marine mammals. Here, the spatial patterns and prevalence of DA and STX exposure in Alaskan marine mammals are documented in order to assess health risks to northern populations including those species that are important to the nutritional, cultural, and economic well-being of Alaskan coastal communities. In this study, 905 marine mammals from 13 species were sampled including; humpback whales, bowhead whales, beluga whales, harbor porpoises, northern fur seals, Steller sea lions, harbor seals, ringed seals, bearded seals, spotted seals, ribbon seals, Pacific walruses, and northern sea otters. Domoic acid was detected in all 13 species examined and had the greatest prevalence in bowhead whales (68%) and harbor seals (67%). Saxitoxin was detected in 10 of the 13 species, with the highest prevalence in humpback whales (50%) and bowhead whales (32%). Pacific walruses contained the highest concentrations of both STX and DA, with DA concentrations similar to those detected in California sea lions exhibiting clinical signs of DA toxicosis (seizures) off the coast of Central California, USA. Forty-six individual marine mammals contained detectable concentrations of both toxins emphasizing the potential for combined exposure risks. Additionally, fetuses from a beluga whale, a harbor porpoise and a Steller sea lion contained detectable concentrations of DA documenting maternal toxin transfer in these species. These results provide evidence that HAB toxins are present throughout Alaska waters at levels high enough to be detected in marine mammals and have the potential to impact marine mammal health in the Arctic marine environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathi A Lefebvre
- Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Lori Quakenbush
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Arctic Marine Mammal Program, 1300 College Road, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Elizabeth Frame
- Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kathy Burek Huntington
- Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services (AVPS), 23834 The Clearing Drive, Eagle River, AK, USA
| | - Gay Sheffield
- University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Sea Grant, Marine Advisory Program, PO Box 400, Nome, AK, USA
| | - Raphaela Stimmelmayr
- North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, PO Box 69, Barrow, AK, USA
| | - Anna Bryan
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Arctic Marine Mammal Program, 1300 College Road, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Preston Kendrick
- Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Heather Ziel
- Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Tracey Goldstein
- One Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Jonathan A Snyder
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals Management, 1011 East Tudor Rd., Anchorage, AK, USA
| | - Tom Gelatt
- Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Frances Gulland
- The Marine Mammal Center, 2000 Bunker Road, Fort Cronkhite, Sausalito, CA, USA
| | - Bobette Dickerson
- Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Verena Gill
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals Management, 1011 East Tudor Rd., Anchorage, AK, USA
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Karamanlidis AA, Dendrinos P, de Larrinoa PF, Gücü AC, Johnson WM, Kiraç CO, Pires R. The Mediterranean monk seal M
onachus monachus
: status, biology, threats, and conservation priorities. Mamm Rev 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/mam.12053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Panagiotis Dendrinos
- MOm/Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal; Solomou Str. 18 10682 Athens Greece
| | | | - Ali Cemal Gücü
- Middle East Technical University; Institute of Marine Sciences, PK 28 33731 Erdemli Icel Turkey
| | - William M. Johnson
- The Monachus Guardian; c/o M. Schnellmann, Wernerstr. 26 CH-3006 Bern Switzerland
| | - Cem O. Kiraç
- SAD - AFAG; Underwater Research Society - Mediterranean Seal Research Group; Akıncılar Sok. 10/1, Maltepe Ankara Turkey
| | - Rosa Pires
- Parque Natural da Madeira; Quinta do Bom Sucesso, Caminho do Meio 9064-512 Funchal Madeira Portugal
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Aldridge BM, Bowen L, Smith BR, Antonelis GA, Gulland F, Stott JL. Paucity of class I MHC gene heterogeneity between individuals in the endangered Hawaiian monk seal population. Immunogenetics 2006; 58:203-15. [PMID: 16528500 DOI: 10.1007/s00251-005-0069-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2005] [Accepted: 11/21/2005] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The Hawaiian monk seal population has experienced precipitous declines in the last 50 years. In this study, we provide evidence that individuals from remaining endangered population exhibit alarming uniformity in class I major histocompatibility (MHC) genes. The peripheral blood leukocyte-derived mRNA of six captive animals rescued from a stranding incident on the French frigate shoals in the Hawaiian archipelago was used to characterize genes in the monk seal class I MHC gene family, from which techniques for genotyping the broader population were designed using degenerate primers designed for the three major established human MHC class I loci (HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C), and by sequencing multiple clones, six unique full-length classical MHC class I gene transcripts were identified among the six animals, three of which were only found in single individuals. Since The low degree of sequence variation between these transcripts and the similarity of genotype between individuals provided preliminary evidence for low class I MHC variability in the population. The sequence information from the class I transcripts from these six animals was used to design several primer sets for examining the extent of MHC variability in the remaining population using a combination of polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Several DGGE assays, each one amplifying subtly different class I MHC gene combinations, were designed to compare exons encoding the highly polymorphic domains of the putative peptide-binding region of MHC class I. In combination, these assays failed to show interindividual variability at any of the class I MHC gene loci examined in either the six captive seals or in 80 free-ranging animals ( approximately 6.7% of the estimated population) representing all six major subpopulations of Hawaiian monk seal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian M Aldridge
- Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Herts, AL97TA, UK.
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Gulland FMD, Haulena M, Fauquier D, Langlois G, Lander ME, Zabka T, Duerr R. Domoic acid toxicity in Californian sea lions (Zalophus californianus): clinical signs, treatment and survival. Vet Rec 2002; 150:475-80. [PMID: 11995679 DOI: 10.1136/vr.150.15.475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 154] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Eighty-one Californian sea lions (Zalophus californianus) with signs of domoic acid toxicity stranded along the coast of California in 1998 when there were blooms of the domoic acid-producing alga Pseudonitzschia australis off-shore. In 2000, a further 184 sea lions stranded with similar clinical signs, but the strandings occurred both during detectable algal blooms and after the blooms had subsided. The clinical signs in these 265 Californian sea lions included seizures, ataxia, head weaving, decreased responsiveness to stimuli and scratching behaviour. Affected animals had high haematocrits, and eosinophil counts, and high activities of serum creatine kinase. They were treated supportively by using fluid therapy, diazepam, lorazepam and phenobarbitone. Fifty-five of the 81 sea lions (68 per cent) affected in 1998 and 81 of the 184 (44 per cent) affected in 2000 died despite the treatment. Three of the 23 sea lions which survived in 1998 were tracked with satellite and radiotransmitters; they travelled as far south as San Miguel Island, California, and survived for at least three months. Eleven of the 129 animals which were released stranded within four months of being released.
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Affiliation(s)
- F M D Gulland
- The Marine Mammal Center, Fort Cronkhite, Sausalito, CA 94965, USA
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Gazo M, Layna JF, Aparicio F, Cedenilla MA, Gonzalez LM, Aguilar A. Pupping season, perinatal sex ratio and natality rates of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) from the Cabo Blanco colony. J Zool (1987) 1999. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1999.tb01208.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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