Sea otters living along the central California coast risk higher exposure to disease-causing parasites as a consequence of the food they eat and where they feed, according to a study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Sea otters that eat small marine snails are at a higher risk of exposure to Toxoplasma gondii, a potentially deadly protozoan pathogen, than animals that feed exclusively on other prey. In addition, sea otters living along the coast near San Simeon and Cambria are more at risk than sea otters that live outside this area. Similarly, sea otters that commonly feed on clams and fat innkeeper worms (Urechis caupo) at the southern end of Monterey Bay have a higher exposure risk to another dangerous protozoan pathogen, Sarcocystis neurona. On the other hand, sea otters whose diet includes significant amounts of abalone, a preferred prey species when sufficiently abundant, have a very low risk of infection with either pathogen.
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