were multiple stressors a ‘perfect storm’ for northern gulf of mexico bottlenose dolphins (tursiops truncatus) in 2011是多个因素的u201c完美风暴u201d墨西哥湾北部宽吻海豚(语truncatus)在2011年.pdfVIP

Were Multiple Stressors a ‘Perfect Storm’ for Northern Gulf of Mexico Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus ) in 2011? 1,2 1,2¤ 1,2 4 3 Ruth H. Carmichael *, William M. Graham , Allen Aven , Graham Worthy , Stephan Howden 1 University Programs, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, Alabama, United States of America, 2 Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, United States of America, 3 Department of Marine Science, University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, United States of America, 4 Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, United States of America Abstract An unusual number of near term and neonatal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) mortalities occurred in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) in 2011, during the first calving season after two well documented environmental perturbations; sustained cold weather in 2010 and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS). Preceding the stranding event, large volumes of cold freshwater entered the nGOM due to unusually large snowmelt on the adjacent watershed, providing a third potential stressor. We consider the possibility that this extreme cold and freshwater event contributed to the pattern of perinatal dolphin strandings along the nGOM coast. During the 4-month period starting January 2011, 186 bottlenose dolphins, including 46% perinatal calves (nearly double the percentage for the same time period from 2003–2010) washed ashore from Louisiana to western Florida. Comparison of the frequency distribution of strandings to flow rates and water temperature at a monitoring buoy outside Mobile Bay, Alabama (the