green turtles

The Wildlife Conservation Society
Says Wildlife Facing Cancer Threat

High cancer levels in wildlife should concern humans

“Examining the impact of cancer in wildlife, in particular those instances when industrail activities are identified as the cause, can contribute to more effective conservation and fits within the WCS’s One World–One Health™ approach of reducing threats to both human and animal health,” said Dr. William Karesh, Vice President and Director of WCS’s Global Health program.

To make donations in support of helping save wildlife
and wild places please visit : www.wcs.org/donation

Contact: Stephen Sautner: (718-220-3682; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
John Delaney: (718-220-3275; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

http://www.WCS.org/wildlife-CANCER-should-concern-humans

also see: http://EcoDelMar.org/youth

Wildlife Faces Cancer Threat

ScienceDaily

While cancer touches the lives of many humans, it is also a major threat to wild animal populations as well, according to a recent study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Many species living within polluted aquatic environments suffer high rates of cancerous tumors, and studies strongly suggest links between wildlife cancers and human pollutants. For example, the study cites the case of beluga whales in the St. Lawrence River system. These whales have an extraordinarily high rate of intestinal cancer, which is their second leading cause of death. One type of pollutant in these waters—polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (or PAHs)—is a well-known carcinogen in humans, and PAHs are suspected carcinogens for beluga whales as well. Fish in other industrialized waterways, including brown bullhead catfish and English sole, also exhibit high levels of cancer.

Virus-induced cancers can affect the ability of some wildlife populations to reproduce. Genital tumors in California sea lions on North America's western coast occur at much higher rates than previously documented. Oceanic dolphin species, such as the dusky dolphin and Burmeister's porpoise (both found in the coastal waters of South America), are also showing higher rates of genital carcinomas.

Other virus-induced cancers can affect the feeding ability or eyesight of wildlife. Green sea turtles—a migratory species in oceans across the globe—suffer from fibropapillomatosis, a disease that causes skin and internal organ tumors. A virus is suspected as the cause these tumors, and environmental factors such as human-manufactured carcinogens might exacerbate their severity or prevalence.

http://ScienceDaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624102255.htm

also see: http://EcoDelMar.org/youth

TOXINS IN MARINE MAMMALS
AN IMPENDING GLOBAL CATASTROPHE

Our Shared Fate
~~~~~~~~~~~~
REF: BlueVoice.org

This paper documents some of the locations in which marine mammals have displayed high levels of toxic chemicals or been victims of disease or unusual mortality events. It is clear from both the severity and frequency of such events that marine mammals worldwide face major threats to their health and in some populations decline or extinction.

Scientists have been finding higher and higher levels of man-made chemicals in marine mammals. In recent years marine mammals have been victims of mass mortalities and alarming population declines. These events have caused marine mammal science to expand their studies of the impact of chemically induced immune suppression, which is emerging as a contributing factor in epizootic events, condemning marine mammals to death from viral agents that are common in the environment and normally harmless.

During the late winters of 2007 and 2008 in two separate unusual mortality events (UME) more than two hundred bottlenose dolphins washed ashore near Galveston, Texas.

please see the following "link" for the complete article on BlueVoice.org:

REF: http://BlueVoice.org/sections/ocean/asharedfate.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~