Microbiology of captive white‐beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) with comments on epizootics

Abstract

AbstractIn March 1983 six female white‐beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) were rescued from an ice‐clogged bay in Newfoundland, Canada, and transported to Mystic Marinelife Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut. Anal and blowhole samples (swabs) were collected at frequent intervals for bacteriological analysis. One dolphin died of neurogenic shock syndrome in transit. The others died at intervals of 1–101 days during the period of captivity. Staphylococci were implicated in the deaths of three of the five dolphins that remained alive after capture. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae probably caused the death of the fourth, and infection by unidentified Gram‐negative bacteria was responsible for death of the fifth dolphin. Bacteriophage typing of several Staphylococcus isolates showed three separate strains. Bacteria recovered from anal and blowhole samples before the white‐beaked dolphins were introduced into the aquarium water system included enterobacteria (Edwardsiella, Escherichia, Klebsiella), Plesiomonas, Aeromonas, Citrobacter, Pseudomonas, and Staphylococcus. The two dolphins that survived the longest (44 and 101 days) showed a predominance of species of Proteus, Morganella, and Pseudomonas. Several genera of potential significance to humans also were found (e.g., Vibrio alginolyticus, V. fluvialis, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae).