UNDIAGNOSED DIE-OFF, MARINE WILDLIFE - USA: (NEW HAMPSHIRE), REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
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Date: Fri 7 Oct 2011
Source: The Boston Globe [edited]
<http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/10/tuna-joins-ranks-puzzling-wildlife-deaths-new-hampshire-beaches/a66sqafkYGZodhKAVazrxL/index.html>
A dead 8-foot-long bluefin tuna [_Thunnus thynnus_] washed up on a beach in New Hampshire Wednesday [5 Oct 2011], the latest of a number of sea creatures whose bodies have mysteriously washed up on the state's shore.
"All of this together is very concerning," said Ellen Goethel, a marine biologist and vice chair of the Hampton Conservation Commission.
Goethel's 31-year-old son found the tuna when he was walking Plaice Cove Beach in Hampton. Goethel, who went to the beach to observe the fish, said she had seen 5 dead seabirds and 3 dead seals on the beach the week before [week of 25 Sep 2011].
"I don't believe that it was caught and lost. It wasn't injured from fishing," Goethel said.
The New England Aquarium said last week [week of 25 Sep 2011] that a dozen seal pups had washed up on the state's beaches. The aquarium is conducting tests on the creatures to determine if disease could be the cause of death. The tests are not expected back until Thursday [13 Oct 2011], Tony LaCasse, spokesman for the aquarium, said today [7 Oct 2011]. Tests are also being conducted on the dead birds, said Allison McHale, fishery policy analyst with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Goethel is worried about the diseases the marine life may carry, such as hepatitis. She added that many locals walk their dogs on the beach on a daily basis. "My concern was to get the animals off the beach as quickly as possible," she said.
[Byline: Amanda Cedrone]
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Communicated by:
ProMED-mail from HealthMap Alerts
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[The broad range of taxa implicated (birds, mammals, fish) indicates an unspecific cause and potential implications for public health, domestic animal health, and biological conservation. Although the attack rate does not seem to be elevated (1 fish, 5 sea birds, 3 adult seals, and 12 pups), an outbreak investigation would be pertinent.
More information on the results of the investigation would be greatly appreciated.
For a picture of the bluefin tuna see
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thunnus_thynnus.jpg> - Mod.PMB]
[A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of New Hampshire can be seen at <http://healthmap.org/r/1kot>. - Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]
[see also:
Undiagnosed die-off, seal - Canada: (NL) 20110118.0207 Epizootic ulcerative synd., fish - Australia (03): (QL) stingrays
20111003.2974
Epizootic ulcerative synd., fish - Australia (02): (QL) human susp.
20110927.2926
Epizootic ulcerative synd., fish - Australia: (QL) 20110925.2908] .................................................sb/pmb/mj/mpp/ll
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