An assessment of contaminant concentrations in toothed whale species of the NW Iberian Peninsula: part I. Persistent organic pollutants.

An assessment of contaminant concentrations in toothed whale species of the NW Iberian Peninsula: part II. Trace element concentrations.

Concentrations of Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, V and Zn were investigated in the liver and kidney of the five most common toothed whales off the Northwest Iberian Peninsula (NWIP), specifically common dolphin, long-finned pilot whale, harbour porpoise, striped dolphin and bottlenose dolphin. Differences were observed in the bioaccumulation of the above elements between the fi...

Ecological niche segregation among five toothed whale species off the NW

This study aims to assess niche segregation among the five main toothed whales 25 that frequent the NW Iberian Peninsula waters: the common dolphin, the harbour porpoise, 26 the bottlenose dolphin, the striped dolphin and the long-finned pilot whale. We used cadmium 27 (Cd) and stable isotope ratios (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) as ecological tracers to assess degree of 28 segregation in diet/trophic lev...

Ecological niche segregation among five toothed whale species off the NW Iberian Peninsula using ecological tracers as multi-approach

Regional patterns of persistent organic pollutants in five Pacific salmon species (Oncorhynchus spp) and their contributions to contaminant levels in northern and southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca)

Previous studies on killer whales (Orcinus orca) have shown that southern residents contain higher concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) than northern residents (Ross et al., 2000; Rayne et al., 2004) and other North Pacific resident killer whale populations (Ylitalo et al., 2001; Herman et al., 2005). Elevated contaminant exposure in southern residents may be attributed to die...

Use of Chemical Tracers to Assess Diet and Persistent Organic Pollutants in Antarctic Type C Killer Whales

Measuring chemical tracers in tissues of marine predators provides insight into the prey consumed and the predator’s contaminant exposure. In this study, samples from Type C killer whales (Orcinus orca) biopsied in Antarctica were analyzed for chemical tracers (i.e., stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen, fatty acids, and persistent organic pollutants [POPs]). Profiles of these individual trac...