- The Perfect Prey is meant to be used as an introduction to the importance of Pacific sand lance for many creatures in Alaska.
- To understand its importance and its role in Alaska’s ecosystem look at Sand Lance A Review of Biology and Predator Relations and Annotated Bibliography in this book is the statement: “On the negative side, however, sand lance are not only subject to paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP or red tide) and other such toxins (e.g., Adams and others 1968, Longbottom 1968; see Burkholder 1998 for a general review), but they also can transmit them to at least some of their predators (Clifford and others 1993, Falandysz and others 1996, Nisbet 1983 and refs. therein, Potts and others 1980). Deaths of large numbers of common murres, shags, great cormorants, fulmars, herring gulls, loons, and terns have been associated with PSP; mortality in common terns was greatest in females of certain age classes and breeding condition (Nisbet 1983). In addition, sand lance, along with other fishes (e.g., Hunter 1998), may carry toxic pollutants and be capable of passing them on to their predators”. Under the influence of global warming this could be increasing now and into the future. The current decline of the Kittlitz’s Murrelet in Alaska has been attributed, in part, to paralytic shellfish poisoning transmitted by Pacific sand lance (Fatal Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning in Kittlitz’s Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) Nestlings, Alaska.)
- There is now a lab in Sitka that will test for PSP here is an article about them Alaska tribe establishes Sitka lab to test shellfish for biotoxins
- Also look at The Perfect Prey, Sand Lance by Bob Armstrong and Marge Hermans
