Acute Lead Toxicosis in a Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina richardsi) Consequent to Ingestion of a Lead Fishing Sinker

Tanja S. Zabka; Martin Haulena; Birgit Puschner; Frances M. D. Gulland; Patricia A. Conrad; L. J. Lowenstine

doi:10.7589/0090-3558-42.3.651

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1 July 2006 Acute Lead Toxicosis in a Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina richardsi) Consequent to Ingestion of a Lead Fishing Sinker

Tanja S. Zabka, Martin Haulena, Birgit Puschner, Frances M. D. Gulland, Patricia A. Conrad, L. J. Lowenstine

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J. of Wildlife Diseases, 42(3):651-657 (2006). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-42.3.651

Abstract

An adult female harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardsi) stranded in northern California on 25 June 2004, exhibited progressive weakness, disorientation, and seizures, and despite therapy, died within 4 days. On pathologic examination, a lead fishing sinker was in the stomach, and changes in the brain, heart, kidney, liver, lymph nodes, and spleen were supportive of acute lead toxicosis. The diagnosis was made on the basis of concentrations of lead in the sinker (90–98% lead), antemortem whole blood (0.66 ppm), and postmortem tissues (84 ppm, wet weight liver). This first documented case of lead toxicosis in a wild marine mammal demonstrates an additional way in which human fishing activities can harm marine mammals.

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Tanja S. Zabka, Martin Haulena, Birgit Puschner, Frances M. D. Gulland, Patricia A. Conrad, and L. J. Lowenstine "Acute Lead Toxicosis in a Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina richardsi) Consequent to Ingestion of a Lead Fishing Sinker," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 42(3), 651-657, (1 July 2006). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-42.3.651

Received: 31 March 2005; Published: 1 July 2006

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