From Marine Med: A team of marine mammal veterinarians, biologists, and conservationists from Orca Network, Marine-Med, World Vets, Cascadia Research Collective, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Whale Museum, and the Whatcom County Marine Mammal Stranding Network is going to document the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in marine mammals of the Salish Sea (Puget Sound) in Washington State. In an effort to learn more, the researchers are turning to crowdfunding platform Experiment to fund the research.

We are going to test for the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in two species of marine mammals, harbor seals and harbor porpoises. They are considered 'residents' of the Salish Sea, so will serve as good sentinels or "canaries in the coal mine" to describe the geographical and species extent of resistance present in our urban marine ecosystem. The results will help bring to light any resistance patterns and if they might pose a threat to other marine mammal health, including that of the endangered southern resident killer whales (orcas). Study results will also inform local human and veterinary health officials, as well as raise public awareness of drug resistance.

This is a project almost all of us can relate to since many of us (or our companion and farm animals) have taken antibiotics or will at some point during our life time, says project leader Dr. Norman. In using Experiment to help raise the funds, Dr. Norman and her team are sharing reports of crowdfunding progress in real-time. In return for backing the project, donors will also be recognized when the results published open-access.

If fully funded, the project's findings would have implications for the study of antibiotic resistance. For example, are these resistant bacteria somehow related to sources of resistance in humans or terrestrial animals? The findings will also help inform how we as humans can better prescribe, use, and dispose of antibiotics to minimize transfer of resistance to our environment as well as to each other. The project has 21 days remaining to meet a funding target of $ 7000. As of today, 29 backers have contributed to help it to reach 63% of its goal.

The platform, Experiment, recently surpassed $1,500,000 in total funding raised. Scientists using the platform have been featured in The Economist, Forbes, Nature, and The New York Times.