Review
doi: 10.1038/s44185-024-00055-5.Marine mammals as indicators of Anthropocene Ocean Health
S Plön 1 2 3, K Andra 4, L Auditore 4, C Gegout 5, P J Hale 6 7, O Hampe 8 9, M Ramilo-Henry 4, P Burkhardt-Holm 10, A M Jaigirdar 4, L Klein 11 12, M K Maewashe 13, J Müssig 14, N Ramsarup 13, N Roussouw 15, R Sabin 16, T C Shongwe 4, P Tuddenham 17
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- PMID:39256530
- PMCID: PMC11387633
- DOI: 10.1038/s44185-024-00055-5
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Review
Marine mammals as indicators of Anthropocene Ocean Health
S Plön et al. NPJ Biodivers..
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Abstract
The current state of marine mammal populations reflects increasing anthropogenic impacts on the global Ocean. Adopting a holistic approach towards marine mammal health, incorporating healthy individuals and healthy populations, these taxa present indicators of the health of the overall Ocean system. Their present deterioration at the animal, population and ecosystem level has implications for human health and the global system. In the Anthropocene, multiple planetary boundaries have already been exceeded, and quiet tipping points in the Ocean may present further uncertainties. Long and short-term monitoring of marine mammal health in the holistic sense is urgently required to assist in evaluating and reversing the impact on Ocean Health and aid in climate change mitigation.
© 2024. The Author(s).
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no competing interests.
Figures
One of the multiple areas of human-wildlife conflict in the Ocean:breaching humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and ship. Photocredit: Brigitte Melly/Stephanie Plön.
a shows the multitude of anthropogenic factors andb highlights their interaction factors, showing the overall complexity of the problem and highlighting its urgency. Orange boxes indicate impacts that require verification through laboratory analyses; dashed arrows show how the various anthropogenic factors impact either the habitat and/or the health of the animals. 1. Ingestion of plastic blocks the digestive tract, causing starvation, and vulnerability to pathogens and disease. Microplastics accumulate in prey species, causing illness due to bacteria/viruses and pollutants. 2. Plastic waste causes entanglements, leading to drag and resulting in higher energy expenditure and/or drowning and starvation, and physical trauma with amputation and infection. 3. 40–80% of oceanic marine debris is made up of plastic, affecting marine mammals in various ways (see 1 and 2 in the diagram). 4. Many chemical pollutants cause immunosuppression, increasing susceptibility to pathogenic infections and diseases–. 5. Overfishing increases the probability of bycatch and results in a drop in population numbers. 6. Marine debris leads to entanglement and entrapment. 7. Climate change causes Ocean warming, resulting in new and dangerous pathogens & diseases, while intensifying the effects of present ones, plus resulting in changed and/or lower prey availability, causing starvation and susceptibility to pathogens & disease, and thus a decline in marine mammal populations. 8. Decrease in available habitat causes populations/animals to cluster in smaller spaces, increasing the probability of pathogen and disease transfer. 9. Agricultural chemicals contaminate rivers that flow into bays and estuaries, causing accumulation of toxins in coastal and near-shore species and eutrophication of coastal zones, with detrimental health effects. 10. Increased shipping causes a decrease in marine mammal habitat and likely a higher probability of shipwrecks, further destroying habitat, for example, via resulting oil pollution. 11. Melting Ocean ice cover increases available space for industrial activities, like shipping and oil drilling, increasing noise pollution in the Ocean. 12. Increased shipping causes more Ocean noise, interfering with marine mammal hearing, communication, foraging and navigation. 13. Climate change affects prey distribution and alters/destroys habitat. 14. Increasing temperatures cause melting of polar ice caps, resulting in more shipping areas, particularly in the northern polar regions, increasing the likelihood of ship strikes.
Combining Fig. 2a and b highlights the complexity of multiple, cumulative anthropogenic impacts and their interaction factors on marine mammals.
Marine mammals as indicators of Ocean Health using a holistic approach to health.
The role of cetaceans as ocean engineers (reproduced with permission-https://www.grida.no/resources/12675 ; credit: Rob Barnes/Steven Lutz).
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