Intensive course on marine mammals, seabirds, and pollution of marine systems organized between june 29 to july 2, 1993 1. Geohydrodynamic variability 2. Biological oceanography and marine food webs: role of marine mammals and seabirds 3. Systematics and ecology of seabirds and marine mammals 4. Coastal eutrophication of the Southern Bight of the North Sea: assessment and modelling 5. Problematic and methodological approach of the study of the bioaccumulation of trace elements in delphinids 6. Ecotoxicology of stable pollutants - organochlorines and heavy metals - in seabirds and marine mammals 7. Oil pollution and seabirds 8. Parasitology of marine mammals 9. Parasitology of marine birds 10. Basic concepts of veterinary pathology 11. Pathology of marine mammals 12. Marine bird necropsy findings 13. Virus infections in feral birds, a general review 14. Rehabilitation of seabirds: Improved protocols in the light of continual review and practice ----- The book is divided in 4 sections. A first section (chapters 1 to 3) deals with geohydrodynamics and with the location of marine mammals and seabirds in marine food webs. Oceanographic processes responsible for marine systems dynamics are described, with an emphasis on marine production (Nihoul). Factors that influence marine production in marine food webs, in relation with marine mammals and seabirds are presented (Bouquegneau et al.) and a list of those species, with short indications on ecology, is given (Joiris). In a second section on marine contaminants (chapters 4 to 7), the mechanisms of coastal eutrophication and Phaeocystis blooms is described, using the predicting model of eutrophication in the continental coastal water of the North Sea as a model (Lancelot et al.). Main sources of marine pollution and mechanisms of bioaccumulation along foodwebs are discussed (André) and ecotoxicology of organochlorines and heavy metals in marine mammals and seabirds is presented (Joiris). Composition, input, and impact of oil pollution on seabirds (Seys and Meire) is the last chapter of this section. A third section (chapters 8 to 13) deals with diseases and pathology of target species. Detailed descriptions on classification, biology, host range of marine mammals parasites are given (Raga) and, similarly, a chapter reviews the parasites of marine birds (Borgsteede). General concepts of animal pathology and the potential role of veterinary pathologists in determination of lesions and cause of death in wild species are discussed (Coignoul and Jauniaux) and a state-of-the-art review pathology in marine mammals is presented (García Hartmann). The main causes of death of seabirds in the wild and in rehabilitation centers are assessed as well as a guideline for necropsy (Dorrestein and van der Hage). Viral infections in feral birds are presented (Vindevogel and Duchatel) to conclude the section. A fourth section (chapter 14) on seabirds rehabilitation describes the basic requirements and techniques of oiled seabirds cleaning to allow the release of a highest number of birds. The work done at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is taken as an example of the method (Thomas et al.)