title: Adrenal Gland and Lung Lesions in Gulf of Mexico Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Found Dead following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
abstract: A northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) cetacean unusual mortality event (UME) involving primarily bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama began in February 2010 and continued into 2014. Overlapping in time and space with this UME was the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, which was proposed as a contributing cause of adrenal disease, lung disease, and poor health in live dolphins examined during 2011 in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. To assess potential contributing factors and causes of deaths for stranded UME dolphins from June 2010 through December 2012, lung and adrenal gland tissues were histologically evaluated from 46 fresh dead non-perinatal carcasses that stranded in Louisiana (including 22 from Barataria Bay), Mississippi, and Alabama. UME dolphins were tested for evidence of biotoxicosis, morbillivirus infection, and brucellosis. Results were compared to up to 106 fresh dead stranded dolphins from outside the UME area or prior to the DWH spill. UME dolphins were more likely to have primary bacterial pneumonia (22% compared to 2% in non-UME dolphins, P = .003) and thin adrenal cortices (33% compared to 7% in non-UME dolphins, P = .003). In 70% of UME dolphins with primary bacterial pneumonia, the condition either caused or contributed significantly to death. Brucellosis and morbillivirus infections were detected in 7% and 11% of UME dolphins, respectively, and biotoxin levels were low or below the detection limit, indicating that these were not primary causes of the current UME. The rare, life-threatening, and chronic adrenal gland and lung diseases identified in stranded UME dolphins are consistent with exposure to petroleum compounds as seen in other mammals. Exposure of dolphins to elevated petroleum compounds present in coastal GoM waters during and after the DWH oil spill is proposed as a cause of adrenal and lung disease and as a contributor to increased dolphin deaths.
authors.affiliation: National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Venn-Watson
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois, Zoological Pathology Program, Maywood, Illinois, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Colegrove
authors.affiliation: National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Litz
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois, Zoological Pathology Program, Maywood, Illinois, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kinsel
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois, Zoological Pathology Program, Maywood, Illinois, United States of America.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Terio
authors.affiliation: Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jeremiah
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saliki
authors.affiliation: NOAA National Ocean Service, Marine Biotoxins Program, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America; Florida Institute of Technology Department of Biological Sciences, Melbourne, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Spencer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fire
authors.affiliation: Dauphin Island Sea Lab and University of South Alabama, Dauphin Island, Alabama, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carmichael
authors.affiliation: Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Gulfport, Mississippi, United States of America.
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chevis
authors.affiliation: Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Gulfport, Mississippi, United States of America.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hatchett
authors.affiliation: Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Gulfport, Mississippi, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pitchford
authors.affiliation: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mandy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tumlin
authors.affiliation: Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.
authors.forename: Cara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Field
authors.affiliation: Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ewing
authors.affiliation: National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fauquier
authors.affiliation: Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gretchen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lovewell
authors.affiliation: Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Galveston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.affiliation: Marine Mammal Pathology Services, Olney, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rotstein
authors.affiliation: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: McFee
authors.affiliation: National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office, St. Petersburg, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fougeres
authors.affiliation: National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Teri
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rowles
mesh_terms: D000307:Adrenal Gland Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D050681:Bottle-Nosed Dolphin / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D060851:Gulf of America; D008145:Louisiana; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D018185:Morbillivirus Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D009026:Mortality; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology