Abstract:
Manatees are exposed to a variety of potential health hazards as they co-exist with humans along Florida's coast, such as periodic red tide outbreaks which are natural environmental perturbations; and sewage effluents, stormwater runoff, and petroleum product contamination, which are human-induced. Mote Marine conducted a study with a goal to determine any adverse effects of these toxins to the immune systems of manatees. During the first two years of the study, sufficient blood samples were obtained from healthy captive manatees to characterize the experimental conditions necessary to elicit lymphocyte proliferation and to define the range of lymphocyte responses expected for healthy manatees. Also begun during the second year were preliminary range-finding experiments to determine threshold levels of red tide toxicity to lymphocytes in culture. The purpose of experimentation during the third year (described in this report), was to expand on the preliminary range-finding toxicity tests to investigate whether levels of red tide toxins could be identified that would impair immune function without affecting the viability of the immune cells in culture.
