2026/03/07 by Joanna L. Kershaw, Eva‐Maria S. Bønnelycke, Will De Ruiter +8 · 1 voice
Environmental Science · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Marine animal studies overview #Turtle Biology and Conservation #Cephalopods and Marine Biology
paper · doi:10.1111/2041-210x.70269
Abstract A remotely operated device for use with freely moving pinnipeds was designed and successfully developed for the collection of blood samples and the administration of sedatives via an indwelling, venous catheter. The performance of the sampler, called the ‘Mossquito’, was demonstrated on six wild caught, young‐of‐the‐year grey seals ( Halichoerus grypus ), temporarily housed under managed care. Seals were acclimated to a foraging paradigm to carry out a series of volitional diving trials. Blood sampling and sedative administration occurred at specific times throughout the diving trials, with a 91% success rate in collecting remote blood samples (67/73 attempts), and a 95% success rate in remote delivery of a mass‐specific dose of sedative (59/62 attempts). In all instances, no behavioural responses were observed. No visual signs of localised infection were observed at the site of catheterisation, and no change in total white blood cell counts or evidence of neutrophilia throughout the catheterisation periods (up to 2 weeks) confirmed that there was no evidence of systemic infection or inflammation. We compared circulating blood gases, clinical chemistry and adrenocorticosteroid hormone concentrations between a subset of remotely collected blood samples using the Mossquito while animals were resting ( n = 12), and manually collected samples between 1 and 30 min later ( n = 12) following remote sedation. Of the 10 different metrics investigated here, seven showed significant differences between the two sample types. Specifically, measurements of venous blood gases, lactate, bicarbonate and acid–base status were rapidly affected by short‐term apnoea associated with sedation. Circulating cortisol and cortisone were also significantly higher in the manually collected than in the remotely obtained samples, likely as a result of a stress response associated with the disturbance that accompanies manual sample collection even after remote sedation. This device offers a major advancement in our ability to refine animal experience as part of the 3Rs in animal research—Replacement, Reduction and Refinement—improving experimental procedures by reducing overall impact on animals and enabling the collection of blood samples that are more representative of natural physiological processes in an undisturbed state.