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Whales in San Francisco Bay

Roughly 30 gray whales have been spotted in the Bay this season, many more than is typical. Sadly, there have also been at least 14 deaths this year, which is more than in all of 2024. 

We are investigating to help determine the cause of these deaths. By gaining insights into what is causing these tragedies, we can better understand how to help prevent them.

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Managing Marine Disease Emergencies in an Era of Rapid Change

  • Infectious disease
  • Climate change

Abstract

Infectious marine diseases can decimate populations and are increasing among some taxa due to global change and our increasing reliance on marine environments. Marine diseases become emergencies when significant ecological, economic or social impacts occur. We can prepare for and manage these emergencies through improved surveillance, and the development and iterative refinement of approaches to mitigate disease and its impacts. Improving surveillance requires fast, accurate diagnoses, forecasting disease risk and real-time monitoring of disease-promoting environmental conditions. Diversifying impact mitigation involves increasing host resilience to disease, reducing pathogen abundance and managing environmental factors that facilitate disease. Disease surveillance and mitigation can be adaptive if informed by research advances and catalysed by communication among observers, researchers and decision-makers using information-sharing platforms. Recent increases in the awareness of the threats posed by marine diseases may lead to policy frameworks that facilitate the responses and management that marine disease emergencies require. 


Groner, M.L., Maynard, J., Breyta, R., Carnegie, R.B., Dobson, A., Friedman, C.S., Froelich, B., Garren, M., Gulland, F.M.D., Heron, S.F., Noble, R.T., Revie, C.W., Shields, J.D., Vanderstichel, R., Weil, E., Wyllie-Echeverria, S., Harvell, C.D. 2016. Managing marine disease emergencies in an era of rapid change. Philosophical Transactions Royal Society B. 371: 20150364.

infectious disease
climate change

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