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Cetacean Research Southwest (CRS) Plymouth UK |
Cetacean Research Southwest (CRS) Dedicated to the rehabilitation and pathology of stranded cetaceans around the coast of the UK |
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Updated: 11 January 2008
Cetacean Research Southwest (CRS) The Centre is dedicated to the rehabilitation of stranded cetaceans around the coast of the UK that may not be fit for immediate release into the wild. It is critical that we are located close to where many of the dolphin strandings are occurring; therefore Plymouth is an ideal location, with access to all the facilities required to maintain dolphins and porpoises during monitoring or assessment prior to release. Pathology. Unfortunately, a large number of the cetaceans that strand around our coast are already dead before they reach the shore and are beyond any help we can give. We are devoting considerable resources toward determining the exact cause of death and taking 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 are also investigated using "state of the art" medical techniques. Sensory Pathology Samples of tissue from the inner ear and brain are analysed using techniques including scanning and transmission 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.
Dental pathology (Link to additional pathological information) Examination of the jaws from stranded dolphins often reveals lateral fracturing of the teeth and the jaw. By collecting evidence of dental trauma and by testing the forces required to replicate the damage it may be possible to develop a protocol that will allow for the determination of bycatch based on scientific observation, with the overall objective of improving the official strandings statistics. In addition, a more complete understanding of the dental pathology in respect to entanglement may assist in the development of a practicable bycatch mitigation strategy such as weak points in monofilament tangle nets to allow a dolphin to break free and escape.
For more info, check out www.ariamarine.com for our work on fish and other marine animals
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