Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in South Atlantic Cetaceans over a Decade of Surveillance

This decade-long surveillance study (2016–2025) investigates the acquisition of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria in South Atlantic cetaceans to evaluate how ecological niches modulate exposure to biological pollution. Analyzing clinical isolates from stranded cetacean carcasses (n = 346), we used Generalized Linear Mixed-Effects Models (GLMMs) to mitigate multi-center analytical biases and compare resistance profiles across coastal and oceanic species. We observed a significant, progressive upward trend in the overall MDR probability over the decade. Although raw MDR was higher in the demersal-feeding Pontoporia blainvillei (58.2%) than in the sympatric, water-column-foraging Sotalia guianensis (22.0%), multivariate modeling revealed that this difference was primarily driven by the geographic stranding location rather than by intrinsic foraging ecology. High gastrointestinal MDR (73.9%) suggests dietary intake as a primary biological gateway. Demographic modeling revealed a significant sex-based association in P. blainvillei, with females facing a higher risk (p = 0.009), although the specific ecological or physiological mechanisms underlying this difference remain unknown. High MDR rates in deep-diving Lagenodelphis hosei (70.8%) and Kogia breviceps (67.9%) suggest that resistant pathogens may reach bathypelagic food webs, potentially via vertical trophic pathways. These findings suggest that spatial environmental contamination, alongside foraging and reproductive ecologies, is a key driver of exposure to the anthropogenic resistome. Because carcass-based sampling inherently targets a diseased or senescent fraction, these high prevalences may overestimate the resistome burden of healthy free-ranging populations. The detection of human pathogens across coastal and offshore habitats indicates persistent deficiencies in terrestrial effluent management, reinforcing cetaceans as One Health sentinels.