SDRP Veternarian is Finalist for Fellowship

from Sarasota Dolphin Research Program by Blair Irvine

Deborah Fauquier, DVM, has been named as a finalist for a prestigious Marine Policy Fellowship offered by the National Sea Grant College Program.

Deb, is already a marine mammal veternarian, and she led the vet team during the 2010 dolphin health assessments in Sarasota Bay. Read more about her life as a marine mammal vet below.

Currently completing her PhD in Ocean Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Deb’s dissertation research investigated the effects of brevetoxin on sea birds in Sarasota Bay, Florida.



The Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship provides a unique educational experience to students by exposing them to national policy decisions affecting ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources.

Sponsored by NOAA, the program matches highly qualified graduate students with hosts in the legislative and the executive branches of government in the Washington, D.C. area. It also provides a one-year paid fellowship.

More about Deb Fauquier:

Why Being a Marine Mammal Veterinarian is Cool

As the 4-wheel truck drove down a steep  access road to a large sandy beach in Santa Cruz on a foggy August 2010 morning to rescue a sick California sea lion, the last thing I thought I would see was a group of 10-15 coastal bottlenose dolphins feeding within 10-20 feet from shore.

My immediate thought was please don’t strand, because I have dealt with live strandings of dolphins during my time working with SDRP in Florida. These are the thoughts that come into your head when you are a marine mammal veterinarian.
You can’t just marvel at the sight of a group of healthy dolphins close to shore. You worry about what diseases they might have, if they ingested some floating plastic debris that morning, or if they have just eaten some fish that might contain an algal toxin.

As a marine mammal veterinarian at the SDRP, not only am I involved in making sure our local bottlenose dolphins are healthy and safe during our dolphin health assessments, but I also work on research investigating causes of mortality in this population.
In general the local Sarasota dolphin population is pretty healthy compared to some other dolphin populations, but we still have mortality including:

• exposure to brevetoxins, which are potent neurotoxins produced by marine algae,
• ingestion of recreational fishing gear including lures and lines,
• contact with, and subsequent migration of sting ray barbs or fish spines that can perforate vital organs,
• diseases and infections.

These causes of mortality are not limited to bottlenose dolphins. They also affect sea turtles, sea birds, and manatees.
In fact my PhD research at the University of California, Santa Cruz is investigating how brevetoxins impact sea birds in Sarasota.

Our initial findings have confirmed that double-crested cormorants are most affected by brevetoxins intoxication and this is linked to how, where, and what they feed upon.
And algal toxins are not confined to Florida or Gulf Coast Waters. They have a worldwide distribution, and a different toxin, domoic acid, is also prominent on the California coast, which brings us back to that sick California sea lion.

The sea lion ended up not being intoxicated with an algal toxin, but was suffering from a bacterial infection that attacks the kidneys called leptospirosis.
Happily, as we drove the sea lion off the beach and back to the hospital for treatment, the dolphins just kept on feeding.