_Condition Update: Pygmy killer whales
The condition of the pygmy killer whales brought to Mote’s Dolphin and
Whale
Hospital on June 16 after stranding near Boca Grande continues to improve, though both are still considered to be in critical condition. One of the whales, nicknamed “Pete” after the boat captain who found him, underwent a CT scan Thursday evening at Axcess Diagnostics in
Sarasota.
The CT scan – read by neuroradiologist Dr. Paul Macchi of Axcess Diagnostics ‑ showed no abnormalities in the animal’s brain, but it did indicate there were lesions on the animal’s lungs, said Mote veterinarian Dr. Charles Manire. “The CT scan helped confirm what we believed: that there were lesions – possibly from parasites ‑ in the animal’s lungs,” Manire said. “This information will help us provide a better treatment plan for the animals.” A CT, or computer tomography, scan combines a sophisticated X-ray system with a high-speed computer to give a diagnosing physician an unobstructed look at organs and other structures that cannot be seen in traditional X-rays. Thursday’s CT scan on Pete followed a June 18 MRI on
Dallas .
Manire chose to do a CT scan this time because he thought it would offer better results in this situation. “An MRI provides the best images of the brain,” Manire said. “But you have to be very still. Dolphins and small whales breathe two or three times per minute and they move their heads when they do so, so it’s very difficult to keep them still. A CT scan, on the other hand, takes only a few seconds to complete, so movement isn’t as much of an issue. I just can’t thank Dr. Miley and his staff enough for providing this tool and their expertise to help us treat Dallas and Pete.”
Axcess Diagnostics, owned by Dr. Stephen Miley, CEO, donated staff time and the use of the CT equipment to Mote.
_Red Tide News: Mote Scientist Receives National Appointment
The manager of Mote’s Environmental Health Program, Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick, has been appointed to the National Harmful Algal Bloom Committee. The Committee was established to facilitate coordination and communication of activities that relate to harmful algal blooms in the
U.S. The group provides a collective voice for the academic, management and stakeholder communities interested in national HAB issues.
Among other duties, the group is charged with implementing the national plan for algal toxins and harmful algal blooms that was created in 2005 and described in HARRNESS, Harmful Algal Research and Response National Environmental Science Strategy 2005-2015. The plan describes current research and management and prioritizes the approaches for dealing with harmful algal blooms, including its impacts on the economy, food supply and public health.
Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick is a senior scientist and program manager for the Environmental Health Program in Mote’s Center for Ecotoxicology. She is one of the lead researchers in a widely collaborative National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences-funded study that was the first to consider the human health effects of
Florida ’s red tide. The study is ongoing and entering its eighth year. Dr. Kirkpatrick also created the innovative Beach Conditions Report™ that provides
Gulf
Coast beach goers with information on the conditions at their local beaches. The daily reports – available online at www.mote.org/beaches ‑ include information about whether red tide is affecting beaches. The reports are also now available via e-mail for those who register to receive the twice-daily updates, and by phone at 941-BEACHES.
Dr. Kirkpatrick is also a member of the executive board for Solutions to Avoid Red Tide (START). Prior to joining Mote Marine Laboratory in 1999, Kirkpatrick was an assistant professor of respiratory care at
Manatee
Community College .
_The Polyp Post/International Year of the Reef
2008 is the International Year of the Reef, designated to help raise public awareness about the importance of coral reefs to the world’s oceans. Each week, Mote is highlighting reef facts and/or information about current research programs to get the word out about reefs – especially the one here in
Florida ’s backyard. For more information, or to develop story ideas that your readers and viewers would be interested in, please contact Nadine Slimak at nadines@mote.org.
The Polyp Post
The 2008 International Coral Reef Symposium wraps up today in
Fort Lauderdale . The Symposium is the world’s largest conference devoted to coral reef science, and more than 2,500 international scientists, policy makers, managers and conservationists ‑ including researchers from Mote ‑ attended. The conference focused on the challenges that climate change, ocean acidification, coastal development, overfishing and pollution pose to the world’s coral reefs.
At the conference, leading coral scientists announced that one third of all reef-building coral species face extinction and a new NOAA report states that nearly half of
U.S. coral reef ecosystems are considered to be in "poor" or "fair" condition.
For more information and the daily press briefings, go to http://www.nova.edu/ncri/11icrs/media_pressreleases.html#071008
One way
Florida residents can do their part to help corals is by purchasing a “Protect Our Reefs” specialty license plate. Funds generated by the sale of the plate support coral reef research, education and conservation. Go to www.mote.org/4reef for more information.
