Abstract

The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program has been caring for common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) for more than 60 years. Navy animals spend a portion of their time swimming freely in the open ocean, as part of operational training plans and in support of the animals’ health and welfare. When the animals are not at sea, they are cared for in open ocean enclosures, which are located in bays, sounds, and estuaries and co-inhabited by local marine life. Caring for the animals in this way has allowed veterinarians and scientists to continuously monitor animal health and behavior in a controlled, natural environment that closely mimics the living conditions of their wild counterparts. More than 1200 publications have resulted from the Navy’s program, ranging from discoveries regarding basic physiologic, acoustic, and anatomic adaptations to the ocean environment, to advanced diagnostic techniques for marine mammal healthcare. Much of the knowledge gained can be directly applied to the conservation of vulnerable, threatened, and endangered marine mammals. This has led to a rich history of translating Navy medicine into conservation tools, techniques, and strategies for wild marine mammals, facilitated through partnerships with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, private institutions, and universities. Over the years, direct applications have included conservation planning for endangered cetaceans such as the Yangtze river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) in China; medical database development for wild marine mammal populations such as the southern resident killer whale (Orcinus orca) in the U.S. Pacific Northwest; advancement of diagnostic techniques for application to field assessments of small cetaceans; health assessments of at-risk cetaceans including those impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico; and the development of minimally invasive aging techniques to inform population assessments of marine mammals.^1-10 We continue the tradition today, through our efforts to constantly improve the care provided to the Navy’s marine mammals and to apply the knowledge gained toward the conservation of at-risk marine mammals.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the veterinarians, technicians, medical records experts, and animal care and training teams that have contributed to the life-long care of the Navy’s animals over the past six decades. From our current collaborative team, we give special thanks to Mark Baird, Mark Beeler, Darin Bickel, Erin Brodie, Veronica Cendejas, Lisa Clowers, Risa Daniels, Randall Dear, Jennifer Dunham, Jammy Eichman, Jay Ferreri, Chris Hammell, Dorian Houser, Brittany Jones, Brittany Novick, Celeste Parry, Elaine Reiter, Jessica Sportelli, Sacha Stevenson, Ryan Takeshita, and Melissa Zirkle of the National Marine Mammal Foundation; MAJ Kyle Ross and MAJ Natalie Erker of the U.S. Army; and Braden Duryee, Jim Finneran, Christian Harris, Eric Jensen, Carolina LeBert, Betsy Lutmerding, and Mark Xitco of the U.S. Navy.

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