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Eight bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that stranded in Cornwall, south-west England, between June 2004 and December 2007 were examined using standardised postmortem examination and bacteriological methods. Evidence of Brucella species infection was found in four of these dolphins on culture. In addition, of the eight dolphins, four were positive and two were weakly positive for antibodies to Brucella species on serological analyses of pericardial and other fluids using a competitive ELISA and two indirect ELISAs. High or very high levels of the sum of 25 individual chlorobiphenyl congeners (∑25CBs) were also determined in blubber samples from two of the dolphins (45.5 and 446.6 mg/kg lipid weight). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports of violent interactions between bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in the coastal waters of the UK are well documented. Examination of stranded cetaceans by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network and the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme has indicated that seven animals, of four other species, found stranded in south-west England, had pathology consistent with bottlenose dolphin interaction, including two juvenile and two adult common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), one juvenile pilot whale (Globicephala melas), one juvenile Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) and one adult striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba). Although recorded traumatic lesions were often not as severe as those found in harbour porpoises, it is probable that the interactions did contribute to stranding and/ or death in all four of the juvenile animals examined. Furthermore, analysis of photographs taken before establishment of the Marine Strandings Network revealed rake (teeth) marks consistent with bottlenose dolphin interaction on one stranded common dolphin in 1992. A number of causes have been suggested for these interactions in harbour porpoises stranded in the UK and it is possible that any combination of these factors may also be implicated in the cases described in this report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of the diseases detectable in 141 grey seals stranded on the coasts of England and Wales away from breeding colonies was carried out between mid-1989 and early 1997. The most common fatal conditions in pups less than three weeks of age were trauma (24 per cent of deaths) and dystocia (12 per cent); in pups more than three weeks of age they were starvation (22 per cent) and pneumonia (22 per cent); in juveniles they were drowning in fishing gear (30 per cent) and starvation (19 per cent), and in adults a variety of respiratory diseases were the most common causes of death (45 per cent). Many other diseases, both fatal and non-fatal, were recorded. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Between August 1990 and September 1995 the carcases of 422 cetaceans of 12 species that had died around the coasts of England and Wales were examined. There were 234 harbour porpoises (), 138 common dolphins (), and 50 individuals of 10 other species of dolphins and whales. The cause of death was diagnosed in 320 (76 per cent) of them. The most frequent cause of death in the harbour porpoises and common dolphins was entanglement in fishing gear (bycatch). Of the cases in which the cause of death was established, 66 (38 per cent) of 176 harbour porpoises, 86 (80 per cent) of 108 common dolphins, and six (19 per cent) of 31 individuals of other species had been bycaught. Neonatal starvation, pneumonia and generalised infections accounted for a further 31 per cent of the diagnosed causes of death in harbour porpoises. The proportion of stranded common dolphins that had been bycaught was consistently high except during 1995, but the proportion of stranded harbour porpoises which had been bycaught increased in each successive year. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A monophasic group B Salmonella enterica 4,12:a:-- was first isolated in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in Scotland in 1991. This paper reports the isolation of the same group B S enterica from harbour porpoise carcases found stranded along the Cornwall and Devon coastlines. Between 1991 and 2002, 80 harbour porpoises were submitted for postmortem examination and subjected to bacteriological examination under the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme. A total of 28 Salmonella isolates were recovered and subjected to several tests, including biochemical, molecular and serological analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a case of Brucella species-associated meningoencephalitis in a dolphin found at Gwithian in Cornwall, England. The animal underwent postmortem examination. Results have shown that the dolphin has several plerocercoid cysts known as Phyllobothrium delphini and larger plerocercoid cysts identified as Monorygma grimaldii. It is also found that there are histopathological changes in its central nervous system associated with the isolation of Brucella species from the brain.

The article reports on the investigation of the unusual cetacean mortality rate along the coast of Taiwan from July 19 to august 13 2005. The investigation states that cetacean stranding involved 13 dwarf sperm whales, 2 longman's beaked whales, 2 pygmy sperm whales, two striped dolphins, a pantropical spotted dolphin, and a short-finned pilot whale. It also mentions that the mortality event is suspected to be caused by high-intensity acoustic energy from naval activities.

Following the isolation of previously unrecognised species of from stranded seals and cetaceans in Scotland and northern England, a serological survey was carried out to investigate the range of marine mammal species which may have been exposed to species around the coasts of England and Wales, the prevalence of infection and the temporal and geographical distribution of seropositive animals. Serum collected from 153 stranded marine mammals from the coasts of England and Wales between 1989 and 1995 were tested by competitive and indirect ELISA. Positive titres were recorded for six of 62 (10 per cent) grey seals (), one of 12 (8 per cent) common seals (), 11 of 35 (31 per cent) harbour porpoises () and nine of 29 (31 per cent) common dolphins () tested. Positive titres were also found in a striped dolphin (), a bottlenose dolphin (), a killer whale () and a pilot whale (). The seropositive animals were from all around the coasts of England and Wales and the first seropositive sample was from a common dolphin in 1990. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]