Some scientists now suggest that the frequent morbillivirus outbreaks may result from immune suppression that is linked to coastal pollution. Fla. Scientists in many parts of the industrialized world are compiling strong evidence linking environmental contaminants to marine mammals' health problems. The first documented case was with reproductive failure among seals in the North Sea - a body of water where pollution takes a long time to flush away. We need to wake up and realize this. Organochlorines have been found to damage dolphins' immune systems at very low levels, but as with organotins, scientists aren't sure just how much is too much.
Researchers usually see only animals that die.
What we're interested in is being able to track problems earlier before they cause death. The bank lets researchers study past die-offs to detect trends. The Georgia team tested tissues from nine male and 10 female bottlenose dolphins as well as two Atlantic spotted dolphins and three pygmy sperm whales. They found higher butyltin levels in bottlenose dolphins, a coastal species, than in the others, which live in offshore waters. That suggests exposures from coastal shipping and painting, they said.