- Dikshita Kaul
We, humans, have been the superior species for almost 2 million years now and we are still the governing factor in the food chain of life. Other than our mistakes and indifferent attitude towards nature, we are also responsible for hundreds of alterations in the environment. One being the drastic climate change happening around the globe. We have come in contact with case studies in which our species experiences skin diseases due to long UV light exposure or direct sunlight exposure. The animals aren’t any different and experience the same problems with changing environments but at a higher pain scale.
Climate change has not only disturbed the niche diversity of places but also affected animals on an individual level. One such animal in the focus of this article is dolphins, particularly the bottlenose dolphins.
It came to light that dolphins are developing a skin disease, specifically ulcerative dermatitis, which when covered their body, proved to be lethal.
The skin disease is identified by patchy skin and skin lesions which cover almost 70% of their body. Due to the infection and rotting regions, it attracts bacteria, fungi, and algae to colonize causing orange, yellow and green discoloration in that region. The manifestation causes physiological stress and impaired immunological function. More problems contributing to their deteriorating health include anthropogenic noises and vessel leaks or traffic in the water bodies to name a few.
Between the year 2007 - 2008, dead dolphins were observed by people along the coastlines. They all had one thing in common, they had a skin infection found in different severity on their skins. One case observed the dolphin die from asphyxiation as her blowhole was completely submerged because she didn’t have any strength to keep herself mobile. Another case observed a severe manifestation where thick crusts were developed on the eyelids, obscuring the eyes and taking away the sight altogether. The entire hypodermis, flippers, neck, abdomen had noticeable ulcers. Some just had discoloration while some had deep wounds and had blood oozing out of the dead bodies.
Even though the scientific community had to wait for a long time to put a label on the cause behind this horrifying problem, now it can be confirmed that it is the decrease in the salinity of the water bodies for a prolonged time, longer than predicted or longer than their bodies were built to tolerate. In a broader sense, the reason is climate change, Definitely not the only but the most responsible factor. These creatures are used to small changes in the water salinity but drastic changes that turn the coastal water to almost freshwater have taken a toll on them. As this study was first put into the throttle in the United States and Australia, the studies show the rising deaths since 2005 hurricane Katrina, continued by the mysterious skin disease found in dolphins in Australian waters.
The shift to a freshwater condition is due to the strong hurricanes and cyclones and also heavy rains which throw the natural pattern away and creates an imbalance in the marine water.
All these problems are caused by natural phenomena but also anthropogenic interferences we observe regularly. Just because it isn’t directly hurting humans, doesn’t mean it’s not important. Studies have been conducted to calculate and observe gross and histopathologic skin lesions in free-ranging bottlenose dolphins to find more appropriate data. But with whatever information or data scientists have collected so far, it is one hundred percent sure, that steps have to be taken as soon as possible because reducing the effect of climate change or reducing climate change all together won’t be a day’s work. And we can’t let these beautiful creatures sacrifice their lives because all their fault was to be below us in the food chain!
For more , visit - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-78858-2
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