Feb 20, 2021 07:55 AM EST
Research printed in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has found out that the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico has long-term impacts on the immune function of bottlenose dolphins. As part of health assessment programs, bottlenose dolphins from a place that received lengthened and heavy oiling were temporarily captured, tested, and freed. The animals were compared with dolphins from a geographical area where no oil was seen.
(Photo : Joe Boyne)
Immunological Alterations
Researchers recorded immunological alterations in bottlenose dolphins sampled up to a decade as a result of the oil spill that was similar in nature to those immediately following the spill. The impacts were seen even in dolphins given birth after the spill. The nature of the immunological impacts examined in dolphins was also related to those in mice analytically exposed to oil in the laboratory.