ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on diseases of marine mammals related to stranding and captivity. The US Navy Department, in the 1960s and 1970s provided a substantial amount of information related to physiology, anatomy, and diseases of marine mammals. Some oceanariums have added veterinarians to their staff, and a significant portion of the current knowledge regarding marine mammals is a result of the interaction between these individuals and various government and university laboratories. One major source of disease information is that derived from stranded animals. Any concern of the public about pinniped strandings usually involves someone rescuing a seal and then attempting to nurse it back to health. Recovery is sometimes accomplished with young animals, because the reason for distress is more often malnourishment or abandonment by the mother. In older animals, the success rate is much diminished, because the reason for beaching is more likely an infectious, neoplastic or degenerative condition from which the animal is less likely to survive.
