16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals Workshop Announcement:

Health Assessment of Bottlenose Dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida and Charleston, South Carolina
Chairs: Drs. Gregory D. Bossart and Patricia A. Fair

Symposium Coordinator: Dr. Juli D. Goldstein
E-mail: jgoldstein@hboi.edu
Day/Date: Sunday December 11
Time: 9:00-5:00pm

Location: Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego: Conference room TBD.

Cost: Free to all conference registrants

Summary: The Bottlenose Dolphin Health and Risk Assessment (HERA) Project was initiated in 2003 by researchers at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Ocean Service. The HERA Dolphin Project is a comprehensive, integrated, multi-disciplinary research program designed to assess overall dolphin health and environmental and anthropogenic stressors that may affect health and long-term viability. Standardized and comprehensive protocols are being used to understand dolphin health, the top-predator of coastal ecosystems in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), FL and Charleston (CHS), SC. This study is focusing on developing tools and techniques to better assess the health of bottlenose dolphins and to identify health threats and develop linkages to possible environmental stressors. This symposium will highlight studies by multiple HERA investigators who will report on their findings from a wide range of disciplines such as emerging disease, pathology, biomarkers, contaminants, and immunology.

Tentative Agenda and List of Speakers

9:00-9:10 am Welcome/Introductions

Dr. Gregory D. Bossart, Dr. Patricia A. Fair, Dr. Juli D. Goldstein

9:10-9:25 am Overview of Dolphin Health Assessments

Dr. Teri Rowles, National Marine Fisheries

9:25-9:40 am Overview, Goal, and Objectives of HERA Dolphin Project

Dr. Patricia Fair and Dr. Gregory D. Bossart, National Ocean Service, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Charleston, SC/Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution

9:40-9:55 am Integrating Bottlenose Dolphin Health and Photo-Identification Data

Jeffrey D. Adams, National Ocean Service, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Charleston, SC

9:55-10:10 am Spatial Aspects of Bottlenose Dolphin Occurrence Near Charleston, SC and in the Indian River Lagoon, FL

Dr. R.H Defran, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution & National Ocean Service, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Charleston, SC

10:10-10:25 am Hematologic, Serum Biochemistry and Cytologic Findings From Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin Inhabiting the Indian River Lagoon, Florida

Dr. Juli D. Goldstein, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution

10:25-10:40 am Evaluation of a portable clinical analyzer of the critical care blood gases and electrolytes in Atlantic bottlenose dolphins

Dr. Rene A Varela, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution

10:40-10:55 am COFFEE BREAK

10:55-11:10 am Lobomycosis in Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) From the Indian River Lagoon, Florida

11:10-11:25 am New Viral Findings and the Development of Seroepidemiological Screening Tests and the Corresponding Vaccines

Dr. Manuela Rehtanz and Dr. Gregory D. Bossart, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Brown Cancer Center

11:25-11:40 am Antibiotic Resistant Escherichia coli Found in Florida and South Carolina Wild Bottlenose Dolphins

Barbara Lyon, National Ocean Service, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Charleston, SC

11:40-11:55 pm Orogenital Neoplasia in Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)

Dr. Gregory D. Bossart, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution

11:55-1:00 pm LUNCH BREAK

1:00-1:15 pm Feeding Habits of Indian River Lagoon bottlenose dolphins assessed using stable isotope and fatty acid signature analysis

Dr. Graham Worthy, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida

1:15-1:30 pm Emerging contaminants in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Charleston Harbor, SC and the Indian River Lagoon, Fl

Magali Houde, Environmental Biology University of Guelph/National Water Research Institute, Burlington, Ontario

1:30-1:45 pm Comparisons of trace metal contamination in bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) populations along the southeast Atlantic coast

Hui-Chen Wang, National Ocean Service, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Charleston, SC

1:45-2:00 pm Changes in Gene Expression in the Skin-Blubber Biopsy as Measures of Chemical Exposure and Effect in the Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus

Eric Montie, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

2:00-2:15 pm Establishment of Epidermal Cell Lines Derived from the Skin of the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus

Blake C. Ellis, Department of Neurosciences and Neuroscience Institute/Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Sciences Center, Charleston, SC

2:15-2:45 pm COFFEE BREAK

2:45-3:00 pm Genetic structure of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida

Christine Politz, Harbor Brach Oceanographic Institution

3:00-3:15 pm Development of a Dolphin cDNA Microarray

Dr. Annalaura Mancia, Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Sciences Center, Medical University of South Carolina

3:15-3:30 pm DNA Strand Breaks as Determined by the Comet Assay in Blood Samples from Dolphins Collected from Charleston Harbor(SC) and Indian River Lagoon (FL)

Dr. Richard Lee, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography

3:30-5:00 pm PANEL DISCUSSION/CLOSING REMARKS

Juli D. Goldstein, D.V.M.

Post-Doctoral Fellow  

Division of Marine Mammal Research and Conservation

Harbor Branch Oceanographic

5600 US 1 North

Ft. Pierce, Fl 34946

772-465-2400 ext. 434