Algal Toxins, Including Domoic Acid Were Unseen In Alaskan Marine Mammals - Until Now, That Is

Toxins from harmful algae are present in Alaskan marine food webs in high enough concentrations to be detected in marine mammals from Southeast Alaska to the Arctic Ocean, including whales, walruses, sea lions, seals, porpoises and sea otters, according to The next link/button will exit from NWFSC web site new research published today.

Harmful algal bloom toxins have been known to cause mortality and illness in marine mammals in Central and Southern California on a regular basis for the past 17 years, but this phenomenon has not been recorded in northern regions. The findings reported online in the journal Harmful Algae document a major expansion of the areas along the Pacific Coast of North America where harmful algal blooms are known to occur and demonstrate that algal toxins are present in Arctic ecosystems with the potential to affect most marine mammal species in U.S waters farther north than expected.

The Wildlife Algal-toxin Research and Response Network for the West Coast (WARRN-West) collected samples from more than 900 marine mammals that were harvested or found stranded in Alaska from 2004 to 2013. Testing at NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center found algal toxins present in some animals from each of the 13 marine mammal species examined, and from all regions in Alaska.

“What really surprised us was finding these toxins so widespread in Alaska, far north of where they have been previously documented as a problem for marine mammals,” said Kathi Lefebvre, a NOAA Fisheries research scientist who leads WARRN-West. “We do not know whether the toxin concentrations found in marine mammals in Alaska were high enough to cause health impacts because of how difficult it is to confirm cause of death in stranded animals. But we do know that warming trends are likely to expand blooms, making it more likely that marine mammals could be affected in the future.”

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http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/news/features/algal_blooms_in_arctic_waters/index.cfm