ABSTRACT
The understanding of stress physiology in marine mammals has been reviewed recently by Fair and Becker (2000) and Atkinson et al. (2015). In addition, the National Academies of Sciences (NAS 2016) undertook the task of exploring frameworks to better understand the cumulative effects of stressors in marine mammals. This area of research is currently receiving much attention, and thus, the knowledge base is rapidly expanding. However, when it comes to the medical treatment of stress, this area of science is anything but complete. In large part, this is due to (1) the natural biological variability that organisms express, even within the same species, sex, or cohort; (2) the duration or intensity of exposure to the stressor, which may or may not be known; and (3) the internal and external milieu of the animal, which may be optimal in every way, or may be subject to multiple stressors that have synergetic effects on the physiology of the organism. Especially in free-ranging mammals, these factors are often unknown, so when animals present with odd behaviors or conditions, the puzzle to be solved is complex without the benefit of understanding all the pieces.
