title: Medics and Marine Mammals - An Unlikely but Important Connection for Humanity's Survival.
abstract: Marine mammals, as top predators in the marine food web, are sentinels of changes in the oceans and public health. Pollution in the sea and overfishing of seafood resources affects these organisms just as much as it affects human beings. Medics, especially doctors, have an influential reach to patients, and are in an ideal position to get better acquainted with ongoing marine environmental issues and subsequently disseminating such information to them. While seemingly an out-of-the-box approach, it is one that can help with environmental conservation and preservation for the future of humanity.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Louisa Shobhini
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Ponnampalam
keywords: conservation; environment; marine mammal; public health