Domoic Acid Poisoning as a Possible Cause of Seasonal Cetacean Mass Stranding Events in Tasmania, Australia

View/ Open
File version
Accepted Manuscript (AM)
Author(s)
Nash, SM Bengtson
Baddock, MC
Takahashi, E
Dawson, A
Cropp, R
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2017
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The periodic trend to cetacean mass stranding events in the Australian island state of Tasmania remains unexplained. This article introduces the hypothesis that domoic acid poisoning may be a causative agent in these events. The hypothesis arises from the previously evidenced role of aeolian dust as a vector of iron input to the Southern Ocean; the role of iron enrichment in Pseudo-nitzschia bloom proliferation and domoic acid production; and importantly, the characteristic toxicosis of domoic acid poisoning in mammalian subjects leading to spatial navigation deficits. As a pre-requisite for quantitative evaluation, the ...
View more >The periodic trend to cetacean mass stranding events in the Australian island state of Tasmania remains unexplained. This article introduces the hypothesis that domoic acid poisoning may be a causative agent in these events. The hypothesis arises from the previously evidenced role of aeolian dust as a vector of iron input to the Southern Ocean; the role of iron enrichment in Pseudo-nitzschia bloom proliferation and domoic acid production; and importantly, the characteristic toxicosis of domoic acid poisoning in mammalian subjects leading to spatial navigation deficits. As a pre-requisite for quantitative evaluation, the plausibility of this hypothesis was considered through correlation analyses between historical monthly stranding event numbers, mean monthly chlorophyll concentration and average monthly atmospheric dust loading. Correlation of these variables, which under the domoic acid stranding scenario would be linked, revealed strong agreement (r = 0.80–0.87). We therefore advocate implementation of strategic quantitative investigation of the role of domoic acid in Tasmanian cetacean mass stranding events.
View less >
View more >The periodic trend to cetacean mass stranding events in the Australian island state of Tasmania remains unexplained. This article introduces the hypothesis that domoic acid poisoning may be a causative agent in these events. The hypothesis arises from the previously evidenced role of aeolian dust as a vector of iron input to the Southern Ocean; the role of iron enrichment in Pseudo-nitzschia bloom proliferation and domoic acid production; and importantly, the characteristic toxicosis of domoic acid poisoning in mammalian subjects leading to spatial navigation deficits. As a pre-requisite for quantitative evaluation, the plausibility of this hypothesis was considered through correlation analyses between historical monthly stranding event numbers, mean monthly chlorophyll concentration and average monthly atmospheric dust loading. Correlation of these variables, which under the domoic acid stranding scenario would be linked, revealed strong agreement (r = 0.80–0.87). We therefore advocate implementation of strategic quantitative investigation of the role of domoic acid in Tasmanian cetacean mass stranding events.
View less >
Journal Title
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
Copyright Statement
© 2017 Springer New York. This is an electronic version of an article published in Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Volume 98, Issue 1, pp 8–13, 2017. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology is available online at: http://link.springer.com/ with the open URL of your article.
Note
This publication has been entered into Griffith Research Online as an Advanced Online Version.
Subject
Chemical sciences
Environmental sciences
Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified