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The Pathology Lab |
Cetacean Research Southwest (CRS) Dedicated to the rehabilitation and pathology of stranded cetaceans around the coast of the UK |
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Pathology With the large number of strandings in the Southwest of the UK (Link to strandings) there is a need to determine the exact cause of death, and take pathological samples to indicate the overall health and condition of the mammal before death. Indications of sensory trauma e.g. deafness attributing to loss of orientation etc is also investigated using "state of the art" medical techniques.
Wet and dry lab facilities Sensory Pathology Samples of tissue from the inner ear and brain are analysed using techniques including scanning and transmission microscopy (Link to Electron Microscopy) to look for evidence of damage to the ultrastructure of the inner ear and central nervous system (see Lovell et al., 2006). Trauma can be caused by intense sources of man made noise, induced chemically by antibiotics such as gentamicin sulphate (Lombarte et al., 1993), or in response to reactive oxygen species (ROS) from environmental pollutants. The production or chemical activation of free radicals may lead to oxidative stress and ultimately to permanent cellular damage (Nicholls & Budd, 2000). In addition, the topographical distribution of beta-amyloid deposits and neuritic plaques in the auditory cortex from D. delphis will be investigated in relationship to amyloid and neurofibrillary staging. Extra-cellular deposits of Beta-amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles display a sequential accumulation in the cerebral cortex and are symptomatic of neurodegenerative disorders and head trauma. Tissue samples from the VIII nerve and auditory pathway from stranded animals will be examined for evidence of neurofibrillary lesions, with the findings used to support a pathological diagnosis of the existence and extent of trauma resulting from exposure to intense underwater noise.
Sectioning a dolphin brain for further analysis.
Link to dolphin brain examination
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