ABSTRACT
The occurrence of these toxins has likely co-evolved along with host defense systems in the canonical evolutionary chemical arms race that has been described in a number of species and ecosystems, and perhaps has contributed to their overt toxicity (Dawkins 1987). Despite an undoubtedly long history of exposure to marine biotoxins, the interaction
between toxin-producing organisms and marine mammals cannot be said to exist in static isolation; rather, the spatial, temporal, and geographic range of both these groups of organisms are inuenced by environmental conditions and are constantly shifting. With climate change altering the seasonal and geographic ranges of (among others) biotoxin-producing harmful algal blooms (HABs), climate variability is an important consideration in the poison exposure paradigm (Moore et al. 2008).
