Common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are sentinels of environmental health. Skin lesions may indicate disease and can be used to infer population health. We estimated the prevalence of skin lesions and identified major lesion types on coastal bottlenose dolphins in Roanoke Sound, North Carolina, over a 3‐year period using photo‐identification. Boat‐based surveys were conducted from April 2012 through October 2014. High quality images of distinctive fins were examined for overall prevalence (P) of any skin lesion (n = 169, P = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.42–0.57). Lesion prevalence estimates varied little between years (2012 P = 0.45, 2013 P = 0.56, 2014 P = 0.52) and most lesions were observed in the spring (P = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.57–0.92). Of six lesion types examined, pale lesions were most common (P = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.30–0.52). Annual lesion prevalence estimates for dolphins in Roanoke Sound were comparable to published estimates for T. truncatus in Charleston, South Carolina, Brunswick, Georgia, and Sarasota, Florida (p ≥ .05), although, seasonal differences in lesion occurrence and type were observed (p < .05). Future studies should examine relationships between lesions and environmental variables and use stranded dolphins to investigate skin lesion etiology.

中文翻译：

---

北卡罗莱纳州河口常见宽吻海豚（Tursiops truncatus）的皮肤病变患病率，与其他东海岸研究地点的比较

普通的宽吻海豚（Tursiops truncatus）是环境健康的前哨。皮肤病变可能预示着疾病，可用于推断人群健康。我们使用照片识别技术评估了北卡罗来纳州罗阿诺克桑德地区沿海宽吻海豚在三年内的皮肤病变患病率，并确定了主要病变类型。基于船的调查是从2012年4月至十月进行检查任何皮肤病灶的总患病率（P）（2014年独特的散热片的高品质图像ñ = 169，P = 0.49，95％CI = 0.42-0.57）。病变患病率估计数年间变化不大（2012 P = 0.45，2013 P = 0.56，2014 P = 0.52），并且大多数病变在春季观察到（P = 0.79，95％CI：0.57–0.92）。在检查的六种病变类型中，最常见的是苍白病变（P = 0.41，95％CI：0.30–0.52）。年度病变患病率估计在罗阿诺克声音海豚则相当于对公布的估计数字T.截在查尔斯顿，南卡罗来纳州，布伦瑞克，佐治亚州和佛罗里达州萨拉索塔（p  ≥0.05），虽然观察到病变的发生和类型的季节性差异（p  <.05）。未来的研究应检查病变与环境变量之间的关系，并使用搁浅的海豚调查皮肤病变的病因。