Skin disease in endangered killer whales alarm scientists

Scientists researching an endangered population of orcas off the Pacific northwestern coasts of Canada and the United States have discovered a "significant increase" in skin lesions on their bodies. Scientists suspect that it was happening due to their immune systems' declining ability to deal with the disease.

The findings of the research, titled - 'Epidemiology of skin changes in endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca)' - were published inPLOS ONE.

The study mentioned that the researchers examined digital photographs of Southern Resident killer whales in the Salish Sea to characterise skin changes and to determine if they could be an indicator of individual, pod, or population health.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The photographs were obtained by the Center for Whale Research for identification purposes. The images included nearly 20,000 individual whale sightings in the Salish Sea, which provided invaluable data for remotely assessing the health of these endangered animals.

The researchers have observed an increase in the prevalence of highly connected grey patches on the whales' skin from 2004 to 2016. The authors of the study are concerned despite not understanding what is causing the problem.

The researchers surmise the reason behind such skin lesions on the animals' bodies could be because of an infectious agent, as they reject potential environmental factors, such as changes in water temperature or salinity.

The study further mentioned that the situation might represent yet another huge threat to the health of the southern resident killer whale population, which is already dealing with a range of issues.

It is mentioned in the study that the health significance of this is not clear, but the possible relationship between these lesions and decreasing body condition and immunocompetence in an endangered, non-recovering population is a matter of concern.

Researchers have said that understanding the aetiology and pathogenesis of these lesions is important to better understand the health significance of these skin changes that are increasing in prevalence.

Wildlife veterinarian Joseph K Gaydos led the research. He is the science director for the SeaDoc Society, which is a programme of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis.

As quoted by media reports, Gaydos said, "Before we looked at the data, we had no idea that the prevalence of these skin lesions wereincreasing so dramatically. It's worrisome. Now we need to try and isolate the potential infectious agent."

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.