Paralytic shellfish toxins associated with Arctic Tern mortalities in Alaska.

ABSTRACT: Harmful algal blooms produce biotoxins that can injure or kill fish, wildlife, and humans. These blooms occur naturally but have intensified in many locations globally due to recent climatic changes, including ocean warming. Such changes are especially pronounced in northern regions, where the effects of paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) on marine wildlife are of growing concern. In Alaska, seabird mortality events have increased in frequency, magnitude, and duration since 2015 alongside anomalously high ocean temperatures. Although starvation has been implicated as the apparent cause of death in many of these die-offs, saxitoxin (STX) and other PSTs have been identified as possible contributing factors. Here, we describe a mortality event at a nesting colony of Arctic Terns (Sterna paradi

SUBMITTER: Van Hemert C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10237520 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature