Anthropic Pressure on Cetaceans Stranded Along the Ligurian Coast Within the Pelagos Sanctuary: A Case Series
Data collected by C. Re. Di. Ma over a 3-year period (2020-2022) were considered to assess anthropic pressure on cetaceans living in the Ligurian sea. Out of a total of 37 stranded cetaceans, a complete <i>post mortem</i> examination was performed on 23 cases. Of these, 14 were further selected considering at least one of these conditions: (i) confirmed, probable, or suspected interaction with fishing activities through the application of a standardized diagnostic framework (7/14; 50%), (ii) toxicological stress through the evaluation of OCs hazardous levels (14/14; 100%), and (iii) terrestrial pathogen-associated disease (systemic infection and/or associated lesions) (7/14; 50%). For 9 animals out of a total of 14 selected, the cause of death was classified as natural (6/14; 42,8%), anthropic (3/14; 21,4%), or not determined (5/14; 35,7%) based on gross and histological pathology and ancillary testing. These findings extend our knowledge of the anthropic pressure to which cetaceans stranded along the Ligurian coastline are subjected from a multidisciplinary point of view.
Authors
- Cristina Casalone
- Maria Goria (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8908-4447)
- María Cristina Fossi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0836-4020)
- Federica Giorda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9906-3954)
- Guido Pietroluongo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8578-6038)
- Matteo Baini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2237-7688)
- Fulvio Garibaldi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3421-7182)
- Elena Fontanesi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1804-6245)
- Camilla Testori (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8839-3544)
- Matteo Galli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7735-7938)
- Guia Consales (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6210-584X)
- Virginia Mattioda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7492-7285)
- Katia Varello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0486-2121)
- Maria Ines Crescio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6761-3528)
- Valerio Carta
- Sandro Mazzariol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4756-1871)
- F. Brunelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3159-051X)
- Carla Grattarola (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4627-4157)
- Laura Serracca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9270-8174)
- Letizia Marsili (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2474-4587)
- Simona Zoppi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9236-5933)
Institutions
- University of Siena (IT)
- University of Padua (IT)
- Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona (IT)
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte Liguria e Valle d'Aosta (IT)
- University of Genoa (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Animals
- Published
- 2024-11-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14223207
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Marine animal studies overview
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.38