New research published in Scientific Reports reveals morbillivirus—a disease related to human measles and smallpox that has killed off large numbers of cetaceans — whales, dolphins and porpoises — around the world has claimed the life of another dolphin. Cetacean morbillivirus is an airborne virus that can spread rapidly between very social species like whales and dolphins. It can also travel between different whale and dolphin species and between a pregnant mother and her calf.
"This finding identifies an important threat to Fraser's dolphins and to the approximately 20 other species of cetaceans that call Hawaii home," study lead author and University of Hawaii at Mānoa's Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology associate researcher Kristi West told EcoWatch in an email.
