Veritas, Vol. 39, No. 02, October 1996

              Pyramid Photographies
VERITAS
For the Faculty and Staff of the University of Miami
October 1996 Volume 39 Number 2
University researchers discover cause of manatee deaths
When it comes to endangered animals, the chances for preserving the species increases with each individual that thrives. That’s why the Florida manatees, beleaguered survivors caught between the gradual disappearance of their habitat and the menace of power boat propellers, could ill afford the
Daniel Baden
tragedy that struck them last spring. More than 300 manatees died last year, many of them robust adults that perished from unexplained causes.
This was the highest annual total for manatee deaths on record, a blow to a species that numbers no more than 2,600. And an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Miami, with expertise in both marine mammals and marine toxins, proved to be the one group in the world capable of
unraveling the mystery.
When the manatees started dying, researchers for the State of Florida checked out the likely culprits: viruses, bacteria, man-made pollutants. Eventually, they ruled out virtually every possibility but one: Florida red tide, a highly toxic algae.
That’s when the state turned to Daniel Baden, director of the Rosenstiel School’s Marine and Freshwater Biomedical Sciences Center, an NIH-funded center dedicated to keeping seafood safe. Since the early 1970s, Baden has pioneered research into Florida red tide and the destructive toxins it produces, known as brevetoxins.
Using tests developed in his laboratories to protect humans from seafood toxins, Baden’s team determined that animals from areas where red tide had bloomed had brevetoxin levels 50 to 100 times higher than normal. His team concluded that a particularly virulent outbreak of red tide had killed 158 of the animals.
In conjunction, Gregory Bossart, a marine mammal vet-erinian and professor in the medical school’s Department of Pathology, has been investigating exactly what kind of physical damage the manatees suffered. “We found interesting lesions of three different kinds,” he says, “inflammation in the brain, acute inflamation of the upper respiratory tract, and the breaking down of red blood cells,” says Bossart, who also works with marine mammals at the Miami Seaquarium.
In order to establish whether brevetoxin caused these lesions, Bossart has employed a method known as
Jazzy picnic planned to celebrate 70th
Get ready to swing October 17 at the Concert on the Green, an evening of big band music celebrating the University of Miami’s 70th anniversary. The concert features School of Music alumnae vocalists Dawnn Lewis and Lisanne Lyons, who will perform with the UM Concert Jazz Band starting at 7 p.m. in front of the Otto G. Richter Library. Pack a picnic dinner; DAKA will feature a limited selection of foods. The concert is free and open to the public
In addition to the musical fare, the tribute continues with a “Promenade of Excellence, ” a senes of booths showcasing recent achievements by the various colleges and schools that comprise the University. A cake in the shape of the Cardboard College, large enough to feed the entire University community, will cap off the celebration.
immunoperoxidase staining. This technique, which is typically used to diagnose human tumors, involves antibodies that attach to the toxins and turn them brown, making them visible under a microscope.
Baden and Bossart hope this staining method will yield answers about how the manatees took the toxins into their bodies—by ingesting them, perhaps, or by breathing them in sea spray, or both.
Since brevetoxin tends to gather in the blood cells known as lymphocytes, Baden predicts that one day we will have blood tests to check for brevetox-
in exposure in manatees. He adds that we may be able to cure manatees of red tide poisoning with intravenous infusions of a sugar known as mannitol. “It works for humans,” he says. “Will it work for manatees? I don’t know.” Baden insists, however, we can best protect the manatees from red tide by finding ways to treat the animals individually. “We aren’t going to eliminate red tide, because it’s nature at work. That’s just not going to happen.”
—Laura Shefler
Graduation symbolizes hope for at-risk toddlers
M* *
Few beings bom on earth are as vulnerable as the human child. Infants and toddlers must receive intense physical and emotional care in order to grow and develop as they should. Unfortunately, a range of problems, from poor prenatal conditions to the upheavals of poverty to parental drug addiction can put some children at risk for developmental disabilities.
Recently, 21 such at-risk toddlers graduated from an experimental program at the University of Miami’s Linda Ray Intervention Center. Their success in the program offers hope that even children bom under overwhelmingly challenging conditions can develop normally.
“Our idea with
this project has been to take on the most difficult, high risk inner city group of children and show that we could do well with them,” says Keith Scott, professor of psychology and director of the Linda Ray Center.
Although all of the children in the program were exposed to cocaine in the womb. Scott cautions. “We don't
think that there are any substantial deficits simply from cocaine. Instead, cocaine is a marker for a high-risk caregiving environment. These children are often bom into very poor environments, where violence is endemic,
mm
\


?\
Silvia Alvarez-McBnde (left) and center founder Linda Ray (right) present a diploma to three-year-old Cajuana Bethel at a special graduation ceremony.
where they have multiple care-givers in the first year of life.”
Built on the site of a former crack house, the center is in its fourth year of providing support for 120 children and their families. Some children receive care at the center, while others
continued on page 2
Tony Savlno