Marine mammal cell cultures: To obtain, to apply, and to preserve

•Marine mammal cell culture replaces the use of entire animals in experiments.•Cell line of marine mammal is hard to obtain and is easy to cultivate and store.•Marine mammal cell cultures helped to elucidate the persistent pollutant toxicities.•Conservation of biological material from each specimen of a marine mammal is crucial.

The world's oceans today have become a place for the disposal of toxic waste, which leads to the degradation of marine mammal habitats and populations. Marine mammal cell cultures have proven to be a multifunctional tool for studying the peculiarities of the cell physiology and biochemistry of these animals as well as the destructive effects of anthropogenic and natural toxicants. This review describes the sources of marine mammal live tissues and the methods required for establishing cell cultures, their use, and long-term storage. Approaches to conserving rare animal species by applying cell biology methodologies are also discussed.