Acronym CETSENTI
Category
Fisheries
Title Cetaceans as sentinel organisms for the health of the marine environment Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Catarina Eira Coordinator email NA
Coordinator institution
NA
Institutions involved
CEMMA - Coordinator for the Study of Mariño Mammals (Spain) ,
SPVS - Portuguese Wildlife Society (Portugal) ,
UTL - Technical University of Lisbon (Portugal) ,
UMinho - University of Minho (Portugal) ,
Start year 2013 End year 2015 Funding (€) € 497,948 Website https://www.cesam-la.pt/projetos/cetsenti-cetaceos-como-organismos-sentinelas-da-saude-do-meio-marinho/ Summary "Marine mammals are a key group as sentinels of disturbance of the marine environment, representing the general and sanitary status of other species of lower trophic levels. Long-term studies of these long-lived apex predators yield information on xenobiotic exposure and effects on the ecosystem. In the case of bottlenose dolphins and porpoises, both species are included in Annex II of the Habitats Directive and thus both Spain and Portugal are obliged to define and implement conservation measures for these species, which is hampered by the lack of scientific data.
Several emerging diseases, some with epizootic and zoonotic potential, have complex pathogenesis involving several cofactors (body condition, contaminant level, genetics, and immune dysfunction). In these types of studies it has never been possible to propose a typical experimental design, because we cannot estimate the number of samples to be analysed or define control and treated populations, choose the exposure dose or pathogen, or control environmental parameters.
This project will be the first systematic effort to assess the state of the population in terms of health, not only to monitor the risks of the populations themselves but also to be able to use them as sentinels of the health of the marine ecosystems of the Atlantic basin of the Iberian Peninsula. The methodological approach, based on Conservation Medicine, is innovative since the sampling of marine mammals will be based on the application of the classical method of treated organism versus control, in an attempt to validate the use of the epidemiological method to determine levels of potential effects on marine fauna populations."
Keywords
Disease;
Dolphins;
Pollution;
Genetic;
Animal welfare;
Microbiome;
Impacts;
Cetaceans;
Marine Region
38
Portuguese Waters (27.IXa,27.IXb)
1
Marine Region Map
