Study links seabird deaths to soap-like foam produced by red-... ( In late 2007 hundreds of dead and st...)

Study links seabird deaths to soap-like foam produced by red-tide algae

Date:2/21/2009

In late 2007, hundreds of dead and stranded seabirds washed up on the shores of Monterey Bay, their feathers saturated with water and coated with an unknown substance. After an intensive investigation, scientists determined that a massive "red tide" bloom of marine algae had produced a foamy soap-like substance that stripped the natural waterproofing from the birds' feathers.

This is the first documented case of its kind, but similar events may have gone undetected in the past, the researchers reported in a paper to be published in the online journal PLoS ONE on Monday, February 23.

"The problems we traditionally associate with harmful algal blooms are caused by toxins produced by the algae. In this case, it was a surfactant that removed the water-repellent properties of the feathers," said Raphael Kudela, professor of ocean sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and corresponding author of the paper.

Although this red tide bloom was nontoxic, it was very harmful to the affected birds, which included grebes, loons, northern fulmars, and surf scoters. Live birds found stranded on beaches around Monterey Bay were starving and severely hypothermic, having lost the insulation normally provided by their waterproof plumage. A total of 550 birds were stranded alive and 207 were found dead during this event.

Kudela teamed up with researchers from the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML)--all members of the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS)--to investigate the mass stranding, which occurred at the same time as the Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco Bay and an ongoing controversy over aerial spraying on the Central Coast to control the light brown apple moth.

"There were a lot of questions at the time about whether the stranding was related to those events, and we w
'/>"/>

Contact: Tim Stephens
stephens@ucsc.edu
831-459-2495
University of California - Santa Cruz
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Childhood obesity indicates greater risk of school absenteeism, Penn study reveals
2. A study by the MUHC and McGill University opens a new door to understanding cancer
3. Study begins to reveal clues to the cause and progression of sepsis
4. Clones on task serve greater good, evolutionary study shows
5. New study warns limited carbon market puts 20 percent of tropical forest at risk
6. New study examines how rearing environment can alter navigation
7. Study links cat disease to flame retardants in furniture and to pet food
8. New continent and species discovered in Atlantic study
9. Study shows link between alcohol consumption and hiv disease progression
10. Feeling hot, hot, hot: New study suggests ways to control fever-induced seizures
11. Study finds environmental tests help predict hospital-acquired Legionnaires disease risk

Post Your Comments:

(Date:2/8/2010)... tobacco smoke that clings to virtually all surfaces ... with the common indoor air pollutant nitrous acid ... hazard was revealed in a multi-institutional study led ... (Berkeley Lab). , "The burning of tobacco releases ... adsorbs strongly onto indoor surfaces, such as walls, ...

(Date:2/8/2010)... Calif.) Advanced maternal age is linked to a ... regardless of the father,s age, according to an exhaustive ... by UC Davis Health System researchers. Advanced paternal age ... father is older and the mother is under 30, ... February issue of the journal Autism Research, ...

(Date:2/7/2010)... the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have found that the ... cancer among women without a personal history of breast ... the risk of developing breast cancer in women who ... of this survey are published in the February issue ... journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. ...

Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Study reveals new details on the dangers of third-hand smoke 2 Study reveals new details on the dangers of third-hand smoke 3 Study reveals new details on the dangers of third-hand smoke 4 UC Davis study confirms link between advanced maternal age and autism 2 UC Davis study confirms link between advanced maternal age and autism 3 UC Davis study confirms link between advanced maternal age and autism 4 Few women take tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer 2 GestureTek Unveils The CUBE V3 Portable Plug and Play Interactive Projection Display System for Advertising and Exhibits 11168 1 GestureTek Unveils The CUBE V3 Portable Plug and Play Interactive Projection Display System for Advertising and Exhibits 11168 2 GestureTek Unveils The CUBE V3 Portable Plug and Play Interactive Projection Display System for Advertising and Exhibits 11168 3 CIC Teams with Docubase Systems to Deliver eSignature Enabled Document Management Solutions 11166 1 CIC Teams with Docubase Systems to Deliver eSignature Enabled Document Management Solutions 11166 2 CIC Teams with Docubase Systems to Deliver eSignature Enabled Document Management Solutions 11166 3 CIC Teams with Docubase Systems to Deliver eSignature Enabled Document Management Solutions 11166 4 IgeaCare Solutions Inc Emerges Under New Leadership and Funding 11164 1 IgeaCare Solutions Inc Emerges Under New Leadership and Funding 11164 2

[0] Study reveals new details on the dangers of third-hand smoke [0] UC Davis study confirms link between advanced maternal age and autism [0] Few women take tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer

... husband and father is not enough to keep an avian ... in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. , ... chick, according to a Wake Forest University study scheduled for ... Biological Sciences June 13. , This is surprising because ...

... of papers that promise to reshape our understanding of ... traditional view of our genetic blueprint as a tidy ... network in which genes, along with regulatory elements and ... for proteins, interact in overlapping ways not yet fully ...

... with brains untouched by a pathological process, however, an ... with the number of different disease processes present in ... was funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), ... at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Rush University ...

Other Biology News:Study investigates 'divorce' among Galapagos seabirds 2 New findings challenge established views on human genome 2 New findings challenge established views on human genome 3 New findings challenge established views on human genome 4 Study finds mix of disease processes at work in brains of most people with dementia 2

Study investigates 'divorce' among Galapagos seabirds New findings challenge established views on human genome Study finds mix of disease processes at work in brains of most people with dementia

(Date:2/9/2010)... /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Tianyin,Pharmaceutical Co., Inc., (NYSE Amex: ... traditional Chinese medicine ("TCM") and Western Pharmaceuticals,based in ... expects operational benefits,from the recently published Guide to ... by the Chinese government. ,, ... Chinese National Development and Reform,Commission, the Ministry of ...

(Date:2/9/2010)... 9 United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: ... release its fourth quarter and annual 2009 financial ... 16, 2010 . ,, United Therapeutics will host ... 2010 , at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time ... with international callers dialing 1-719-325-2204. A rebroadcast of ...

(Date:2/9/2010)... Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- NeoStem, Inc.,(NYSE Amex: ... international,biopharmaceutical company with operations in the U.S. and ... collection network has expanded into the southwestern,region of ... group at Westlake,Orthopaedics Spine & Sports ("Westlake") in ... on,track to achieve its target of 10 collection ...

(Date:2/8/2010)... -- Tianyin,Pharmaceutical Co., Inc., (NYSE Alternext: TPI), a manufacturer ... Chengdu, China ,today announced fiscal results for its ... , -- Q2 2010 Revenue Increased ... 24.8% to $2.6 Million with ... -- Cash and Equivalents of $19.9 Million ...

[0] Tianyin Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. Expects to Benefit from the Recently Published Guide to Pricing Reform for Medicine and Medical Services [0] United Therapeutics Corporation to Announce Fourth Quarter and Annual 2009 Financial Results Before Market Open on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 [0] Busy Southwestern Orthopedic Practice Joins the NeoStem Stem Cell Collection Network [0] Tianyin Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. Announces Record Second Quarter 2010 Financial Results

... DIEGO, Nov. 2 Favrille, Inc. (Nasdaq:,FVRL) announced ... with primarily institutional investors to sell up to ... purchase up to 4,449,910 shares,of its common stock ... placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses, in ...

... N.J., Nov. 2 SyntheMed, Inc. (OTC,Bulletin Board: SYMD), ... anti-adhesion and drug delivery products,announced today that Robert P. ... 9th Annual Healthcare Conference on November 5, 2007 at,5:05 ... New York City. Mr. Hickey,will present a company overview. ...

... Delft University of Technologys Kavli Institute of Nanoscience and ... succeeded in controlling the spin of a single electron ... for a much simpler realization of the building blocks ... publish their work in Science Express on Thursday 1 ...

Other Biology Technology:Favrille Announces $21.1 Million Registered Direct Offering 2 Favrille Announces $21.1 Million Registered Direct Offering 3 Delft University of Technology rotates electron spin with electric field 2

Favrille Announces $21.1 Million Registered Direct Offering SyntheMed to Present at the Acumen BioFin Conference Delft University of Technology rotates electron spin with electric field

...

Request Info...

UNIVERSAL SCORECARD DNA, 1 EA. * Category: Reagents/Consumables....

mitochondrial proteins (human heart) for SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis *2 mg/mL*...

Biology Products:

Mouse MMP-9 (Total) ELISpot Kit from R&D Systems Basement Membrane Extract Reduced Growth Factor from R&D Systems UNIVERSAL SCORECARD DNA from GE Healthcare, formerly Amersham Biosciences mitochondrial proteins (human heart) for SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis from Molecular Probes (Invitrogen)

Study links seabird deaths to soap-like foam produced by red-...( In late 2007 hundreds of dead and st...)