Lena Measures, Ph.D.
Research Scientist (retired)
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Maurice Lamontagne Institute
39 rue de la paiz
Morin Heights, Qc J0R 1H0
Tel: (450) 226-8067
Email: Lena.Measures@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Research interests:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is responsible for the management, protection and conservation of marine mammals and their habitats. The Canadian harp seal hunt depends on developing domestic and international markets for various seal products. Subsistence hunting by aboriginal peoples is still important in Labrador, Nunavik, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories as a source of country food. There are concerns about the quality and safety of marine mammal products for consumers, hunters, the public and DFO personnel working with marine mammals. The recovery of marine mammal species at risk is a significant priority within DFO and the role of disease in the health of marine mammal populations has been of management and research interest since the early 1980s. Zoonotic food-borne parasites of concern include Anisakis simplex s.l., Pseudoterranova decipiens s.l., Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia intestinalis, and Trichinella nativa. The lungworms, Otostrongylus circumlitius, Parafilaroides spp., various pseudaliids and the heartworm, Acanthocheilonema spirocauda, can have significant pathologic effects on pinnipeds and cetaceans. Field and laboratory data on these parasites are used in developing management and protective measures for human and animal health and in conservation of healthy and productive marine ecosystems. Bacteria and viruses of concern are also subject to research.
Keywords: zoonoses, marine mammals, fish, nematodes.
Publications:
Truchon, M-H., L. Measures, J-C. Brêthes, É. Albert and R. Michaud. in press. Influence of anthropogenic activities on marine mammal strandings in the Estuary and Northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec, Canada, 1994-2008. Journal of Cetacean Research Management.
Measures. L.N. in press. Helminths and parasitic arthropods. Chapter 21. IN CRC Handbook of Marine Mammal Medicine. Third Edition. Edited by F.M.D. Gulland and L.A. Dierauf. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Andersen-Ranberg, E., K. Lehnert, P.S. Leifsson, R. Dietz, S. Andersen, U. Siebert, L. Measures, and C. Sonne. 2018. Morphometric, molecular and histopathologic description of hepatic infection by Orthosplanchnus arcticus (Trematoda: Digenea: Brachycladiidae) in ringed seals (Pusa hispida) from Northwest Greenland. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/s00300-017-2245-6
Measures, L.N., F. Moravec, S. Douglas and S. Lair. 2017. Philometra rubra (Nematoda: Philometridae) - first description of the male from striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and implications for the re-introduction of an extirpated population. Canadian Journal of Zoology 95:345-352.
Starr, M., S. Lair, S. Michaud, M. Scarratt, M. Quilliam, D. Lefaivre, M. Robert, A. Wotherspoon, R. Michaud, N. Ménard, G. Sauvé, S. Lessard, P. Béland and L. Measures. 2017. Multispecies mass mortality of marine fauna linked to a toxic dinoflagellate bloom. PLOS ONE 12(5):e0176299.
Lair, S., L.N. Measures and D. Martineau. 2016. Pathologic findings and trends in mortality in the beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) population of the St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec, Canada, from 1983 to 2012. Veterinary Pathology 53:22-36.
Burek-Huntington, K.A., J.L. Dushane, C.E.C. Goertz, L.N. Measures, C.H. Romero, and S.A. Raverty. 2015. Morbidity and mortality in stranded Cook Inlet beluga (Delphinapterus leucas). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 114:45-60.
Mosnier, A., T. Doniol-Valcroze, J.-F. Gosselin, V. Lesage, L.N. Measures and M.O. Hammill. 2015. Insights into processes of population decline using an integrated population model: the case of the St. Lawrence Estuary beluga (Delphinapterus leucas). Ecological Modelling 314:15-31.