Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine (saltwater) ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses), sirenians (manatees and dugongs), sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reliance on marine environments for feeding and survival. Marine mammals were first hunted by aboriginal peoples for food and other resources. Many were also the target for commercial industry, leading to a sharp decline in all populations of exploited species, such as whales and seals. Other than being hunted, marine mammals can be killed as bycatch from fisheries, where for example they can become entangled in nets and drown or starve. Increased ocean traffic causes collisions between fast ocean vessels and large marine mammals. Habitat degradation also threatens marine mammals and their ability to find and catch food. Noise pollution, for example, may adversely affect echolocating mammals, and the ongoing effects of global warming degrade Arctic environments.
Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine (saltwater) ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses), sirenians (manatees and dugongs), sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reliance on marine environments for feeding and survival. Marine mammals were first hunted by aboriginal peoples for food and other resources. Many were also the target for commercial industry, leading to a sharp decline in all populations of exploited species, such as whales and seals. Other than being hunted, marine mammals can be killed as bycatch from fisheries, where for example they can become entangled in nets and drown or starve. Increased ocean traffic causes collisions between fast ocean vessels and large marine mammals. Habitat degradation also threatens marine mammals and their ability to find and catch food. Noise pollution, for example, may adversely affect echolocating mammals, and the ongoing effects of global warming degrade Arctic environments.
The constantly evolving impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on the health and conservation of wildlife in Canada have made apparent now more than ever before the need for systematic health monitoring of wildlife species. Canada needs a surveillance program focused on the health of marine mammals specifically in order to ensure conservation of these species both now and in the future. A comprehensive marine mammal (particularly cetacean) health surveillance program is dependent upon four main pillars including: 1) Stranding response and/or carcass retrieval, 2) necropsy investigation, 3) research sampling, and 4) data archiving. The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) has been conducting wildlife health surveillance for 30 consecutive years and embodies multiple essential qualities of these four pillars that make it both a natural leader as well as an enthusiastic collaborator with the many stakeholders across Canada involved in marine mammal health and stranding response.
Le RCSF a mis en place deux nouveaux groupes de travail dont il supervise le fonctionnement, à savoir un groupe de travail stratégique sur les cochons sauvages invasifs et un groupe de travail opérationnel. Chacun de ces groupes réunit des représentants des ministères fédéraux, provinciaux et territoriaux de l’Environnement et de l’Agriculture ainsi que des chercheurs et des intervenants. Le RCSF collabore actuellement avec ses partenaires, entre autres avec ECCC, pour tenter d’obtenir la participation de groupes autochtones. Les groupes de travail ont identifié des buts et priorités nationaux conjoints en collaboration avec les principaux spécialistes en la matière. Des travaux sont en cours pour orienter le processus de décision entourant la gestion des cochons sauvages invasifs au Canada.
Ce projet vise essentiellement à définir et mettre en œuvre un plan d’action pour la prévention et l’atténuation des dommages sociaux et écologiques pouvant résulter de l’invasion des cochons sauvages et des sangliers au Canada.
Cryptococcus gattii in stranded marine mammalsCryptococcus gattii in stranded marine mammals
Host-parasite relationships in marine mammals: a fragile and sometimes fatal balance
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Adrenal tumour (pheochromocytoma) in a harbour porpoise
Tumeur de la glande surrénale (phéochromocytome) chez un marsouin commun
Bottlenose Whale Stranding Event
Colla’beer’ation and Conservation!
Evidence of predation of a grey seal by a shark in the Magdalen islands
Update on the North Atlantic right whale mortalities
Mortalité de baleines noires de l’Atlantique Nord
Workshop on the management of marine mammal strandings
Atelier sur la gestion des échouages de mammifères marins
2nd International Workshop on Beluga Whale Research & Conservation
Toxoplasma gondii: A Cat Parasite in St. Lawrence Beluga Whales
Toxoplasma gondii un parasite du chat chez les bélugas du Saint-Laurent