Lesion, and haematologic and serum characteristics of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) sampled in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

We examined and collected biomedical samples from Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) during studies of post-breeding-season foraging behaviour of adults and movements of weaned pups as a complement to ongoing studies on the ecology and population dynamics of the McMurdo seals (Stewart et al. 2000, 2003). Here we report on Weddell seal health assessments conducted during the 1996/97, 1997/98 and 1998/99 breeding seasons at the Delbridge Islands (77.68°S, 166.50°E), McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Our objectives were to compile baseline biomedical data for Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, and to identify infectious and non-infectious diseases affecting the population. Development of such a database, including information on normal background morbidity and mortality, is an important first step in evaluating natural versus anthropogenic impacts on population health (Geraci et al. 1999; Reddy et al. 2001). These data will be integral to international studies of southern ocean pinnipeds that seek to evaluate the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on the ecology of these apex predators.

Performance data of the coral Pocillopora verrucosa and environmental conditions along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast as assessed during 3 expeditions in the years 2011 and 2012

Large scale patterns of ecologically relevant traits may help identify drivers of their variability and conditions beneficial or adverse to the expression of these traits. Antimicrofouling defenses in scleractinian corals regulate the establishment of the associated biofilm as well as the risks of infection. The Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast features a pronounced thermal and nutritional gradient including regions and seasons with potentially stressful conditions to corals. Assessing the patterns of antimicrofouling defenses across the Red Sea may hint at the susceptibility of corals to global change. We investigated microfouling pressure as well as the relative strength of 2 alternative antimicrofouling defenses (chemical antisettlement activity, mucus release) along the pronounced environmental gradient along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast in 2 successive years. Microfouling pressure was exceptionally low along most of the coast but sharply increased at the southernmost sites. Mucus release correlated with temperature. Chemical defense tended to anti-correlate with mucus release. As a result, the combined action of mucus release and chemical antimicrofouling defense seemed to warrant sufficient defense against microbes along the entire coast. In the future, however, we expect enhanced energetic strain on corals when warming and/or eutrophication lead to higher bacterial fouling pressure and a shift towards putatively more costly defense by mucus release.

(Table 3) Boron and chlorine in atmospheric moisture and rain water collected on the shore of the Golubaya Bay in 1970

Boron and chlorine were determined in rain water and in atmospheric moisture condensed in a "Saratov" refrigerator. Ocean is the main source of boron on the earth surface. Boron evaporates from the ocean and enriches atmospheric precipitation: B/Cl ratio of ocean water (0.00024) increases by factor of 10-15. Assuming that the average Cl content in global river runoff is 7.8 mg/l and boron content 0.013 mgl, B/Cl ratio in this runoff is 0.0017. The average B/Cl ratio in rain water of the Golubaya (Blue) Bay (Gelendzhik, Black Sea region) is 0.0026 and in condensates of atmospheric moisture during onshore and offshore winds in the same region it averages from 0.0029 to 0.0033. The maximum boron content in the condensates of this region during onshore winds was 0.032 mg/l and the minimum during offshore winds, 0.004 mg/l. /Cl ratio in sea water over the Atlantic Ocean and in the Gelendzhik area of the Black Sea varied within narrow range, mostly from 0.0025 to 0.0035. Similar B/Cl ratio (0.0024) was found for atmospheric precipitation on the slope of the Terskei Ala-Tau near the Issyk-Kul Lake in 1969. Thus, although chemistries of boron and chlorine (in chlorides) are very different, the B/Cl ratio in the atmosphere is fairly constant. This can be taken as a confirmation of an assumption that salt composition of sea water passes into the atmosphere in molecularly dispersed state. Supposing that the ocean-atmosphere system is in equilibrium as regards to the boron budget, it can be assumed that the same amount of boron passes from the ocean into bottom sediments and from lithosphere rocks and soils into the hydrosphere.