Gammacoronavirus and Deltacoronavirus are known to circulate among wild birds (Hepojoki et al., 2017;Canuti et al., 2019). [...]a hypothetical transmission of CoVs between wild birds and mammals in the marine environment may occur, as for influenza A virus (Runstadler and Puryear, 2020). Occasional predation of bats has been reported for an aquatic mustelid that can be observed in the sea: the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) (Forman et al., 2004). [...]dolphin morbillivirus reservoirs were recently also detected in Eurasian otters along the Mediterranean Sea coast (Padalino et al., 2019). Every year thousands of MA-BA are stranded on the beaches around the world (Alvarado-Rybak et al., 2020), and these animals are generally studied by different local scientific institutions and agencies. [...]a wide range of molecular and cellular tools for CoV detection is now available, either developed for COVID-19 diagnosis, or for CoVs (Woo et al., 2014). [...]marine interdisciplinary science can contribute to answer questions concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare us for future zoonotic disease epidemics by (1) identifying potential CoV reservoirs in the marine environment, and (2) evaluating CoV transmission from MA-BA to humans, from humans to MA-BA, and between MA-BA.
Placing the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Marine Ecological Context: Potential Risks for Conservation of Marine Air-Breathing Animals and Future Zoonotic Outbreaks