Do Pacific Northwest marine mammals carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria from land animals?
In August 2018 a 30-day fundraising campaign was launched on experiment.com to examine antibiotic resistance in marine mammals of the Salish Sea, and was fully funded.
In this study, our team is collecting swab samples from fresh dead, stranded harbor seals and porpoises throughout the Salish Sea since they are good representatives of the health of this urban marine ecosystem.
The study is ongoing. Preliminary results will be presented at the Wildlife Disease Association Conference in Tahoe City, Nevada in early August 2019
Marine-Med's specialty is the use of quantitative epidemiological techniques for problem solving and disease investigations.
We are marine health detectives; we help individuals and organizations investigate the occurrence of health conditions in marine wildlife.
Together with our clients, we apply epidemiology to the study of infectious and non-infectious health concerns, health monitoring of wild and managed populations, evaluation of diagnostic test characteristics, and risk factor studies for the determinants of disease in marine fauna.
- endeavor-1998-olive-ridley-turtle.jpg
Health assessment of male olive Ridley turtle in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
- gulfstream-2001-bottlenose-dolphin.jpg
Two bottlenose dolphins (female and calf); Gulf Stream; June 2001.
- sealion-necropsy-Bellingham-300.jpg
Dr. Norman performing a necropsy on a stranded sea lion; Bellingham, WA, 2005.
- ghost-shrimp.jpg
ghost shrimp found on Jetty Island, WA; August 2011.
- alaska-2011-water-collection.jpg
Collecting water samples in upper Cook Inlet for fecal pathogen testing.
Our results are used for numerous purposes, such as providing solutions to our clients' questions about the health of marine life in their care, contributing to the body of knowledge on the health and conservation of marine species, dissemination of data to interested researchers and colleagues through peer-reviewed publications, workshop and conference presentations, and educational awareness of diseases and factors impacting marine species.
Dr. Stephanie Norman is a veterinary epidemiologist and wildlife veterinarian...
