Mote welcomes new Manatee Research Program scientist
Mote Marine Laboratory is pleased to welcome Dr. Nicola Erdsack who has studied heat regulation strategies of pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses) for the last 8 years.
While at Mote, Erdsack, who recently moved from Germany to Sarasota, Florida, will study Florida manatee thermoregulation — their ability to maintain core body temperature independent of the surrounding temperature.
Endangered Florida manatees often encounter low water temperatures during the winter months. Manatees cope with cold-weather conditions by migrating to warm water spots, including natural warm freshwater springs or warm-water discharges from power plants, when water temperature decreases below approximately 68 F.
Erdsack will be working closely with Mote's Manatee Research Program, which is led by Dr. John Reynolds. He and his staff have documented increased use of some warm-water discharges by manatees in recent years, with a single-day high count of more than 1,100 manatees at Florida Power & Light Company’s newly modernized Cape Canaveral Next Generation Clean Energy Center.
Erdsack's research will focus on how to identify indicators for early recognition of cold stress syndrome (CSS) in a manatee prior to the appearance of life-threatening symptoms, to identify different parameters influencing the susceptibility to thermal stress in Florida manatees and to generate well substantiated hypotheses on the physiological causation of CSS in manatees.
Erdsack earned her doctorate in Zoology at the University of Rostock, Germany in 2013. She joined Mote and began her Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, which is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) in May 2016.
Q&A with Dr. Nicola Erdsack
Welcome to the Sunshine State! Where are you from and are you enjoying the Suncoast?
I am from Bonn, Germany, but for the past eight years I’ve lived in Rostock, Germany, because it is one of the few places in Germany where you can study marine biology. It is right by the Baltic Sea. Rostock is home to one of the oldest universities in the world, the University of Rostock, where I earned my doctorate in zoology. It is also home to the largest pinniped research facility in Europe.
So far, I love Florida. It is like living in paradise.
What marine mammals have you studied, and why do they interest you?
I’ve spent the last 8 years studying thermal biology in pinnipeds, primarily in harbor seals, California sea lions and South African fur seals. It wasn’t until I was on vacation in Florida in 2004 when I had my first encounter with manatees, and I fell in love immediately. During my Ph.D. thesis, I learned that thermal stress is such an important issue for the conservation of Florida manatees, so it was destiny. I met Dr. John Reynolds at the marine mammal conference in 2011 when I was still in the middle of my Ph.D. thesis.
It was then that I applied to the German Research Foundation (DFG), which is the largest independent research funding organization in Germany. It promotes the advancement of science and the humanities by funding research projects, research centers and networks, and facilitating cooperation among researchers.
And now, thanks to the DFG’s generous funding, I am here at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota Florida to study thermoregulation in manatees.
How will you study the Florida manatee?
I will use measurements in cold stressed animals in the winter receiving rehab at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo and conduct comparative measurements in the two healthy manatees here at Mote, Hugh and Buffett, as well as in wild manatees during annual health assessments.
How do you investigate thermoregulation in manatees?
I’ve worked a lot with infrared thermography in pinnipeds and other mammals and that’s a cool method, because you don’t need direct contact with animals and you can use it from a distance. It is a camera that measures heat radiation and creates an image so you can identify warmer areas and colder areas of the animal. I had the idea that maybe you could recognize incipient cold stress in a manatee by changes in skin temperature of body parts above the water surface. So we would be able recognize that before they get so sick they may die or have to go through rehab in human care.
What is cold stress syndrome and how does it affect manatees?
Cold stress syndrome is one of the major causes of deaths in Florida manatees, just below watercraft collisions. Depending on the temperatures and especially during the winters, cold stress can be the second largest cause of death to the Florida manatee.
Symptoms include immune suppression, lesions of heart, skin and other organs, serous fat atrophy, fat store and lymphoid depletion, finally leading to death. Current knowledge about the basic causes behind CSS, the severe cold-sensitivity of the Florida manatee and about their thermoregulation in general is scarce, which is why that is my focus.
It is important to improve our understanding of the consequences of cold stress on manatees so we can learn how to better conserve this species.
How will this research apply to conservation efforts?
The goal is to create an early indication of CSS in animals, because this could help decrease the number of cold related deaths in manatees. Our findings could also help and support efforts to maintain the availability of warm-water refuges for manatees in winter. At the same time, it is to create a way to understanding thermoregulation in manatees without stressing the animals.
If we’re able to identify incipient cold stress in an animal, we know we need to monitor and possibly rehabilitate that manatee, because it may be in danger.
I hope that results of this research will provide useful insights into management and conservation plans for the manatees. With the correct management plan in place, manatees and humans can coexist together in a shared environment.
What about manatees fascinates you?
Manatees are totally different from any other mammal in many aspects, which is exciting. I think it is awesome that these huge animals are the only plant eaters among the marine mammals. I also like the kindness of them. They really are gentle giants and I just love them. I hope that my research here can show people just how loveable and great these animals are, and hopefully people will want to do as much as possible to help conserve them for future generations to enjoy manatees in the wild.
Seeing wild manatees can be amazing, but please remember to keep your distance from these animals and never feed, provide water or interact with them. Here are wildlife friendly tips.