IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i10p4260-d1397261.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Seasonal Prevalence of Skin Lesions on Dolphins across a Natural Salinity Gradient

Author

Listed:
  • Makayla A. Guinn

    (Department of Life Sciences, Texas A & M University—Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA)

  • Christina N. Toms

    (Psychology Department, New College of Florida, Sarasota, FL 34243, USA
    Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, Brookfield Zoo Chicago, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA)

  • Carrie Sinclair

    (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Pascagoula, MS 39567, USA)

  • Dara N. Orbach

    (Department of Life Sciences, Texas A & M University—Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA)

Abstract

Bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ) inhabit waters across a broad natural salinity gradient and exhibit changes in skin condition based on the quality of their environment. Prolonged exposure to low salinities (≤10–20 ppt) degenerates the epidermal barrier and causes cutaneous lesions in dolphins, while the role of high salinity exposure (>35 ppt) in lesion development remains unknown. We assessed seasonal lesion prevalence in three free-ranging dolphin stocks inhabiting coastal Gulf of Mexico (GoM) waters of different salinities (0–30 ppt, 22–35 ppt, and 36+ ppt) using images of dolphin bodies. Lesions were documented on 44% of the dolphins photographed ( n = 432), and lesion occurrence was significantly related to cold seasons and water temperatures but not salinity. Cold water temperatures may heighten dolphin susceptibility to infectious pathogens and disease and compound the effects of anthropogenic pollutants in the GoM. As dolphins are a bioindicator species of marine habitat welfare, natural studies assessing dolphin skin may reveal environmental degradation with potential impacts on marine ecosystems and human health.

Suggested Citation

  • Makayla A. Guinn & Christina N. Toms & Carrie Sinclair & Dara N. Orbach, 2024. "Seasonal Prevalence of Skin Lesions on Dolphins across a Natural Salinity Gradient," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-12, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:10:p:4260-:d:1397261
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/10/4260/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/10/4260/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:10:p:4260-:d:1397261. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.