Heavy Metals and Trace Elements in Northwest Atlantic Harbor Seals In 2000, MERI launched Seals As Sentinels: Assessing the Impacts of Toxic Contaminants in Northwest Atlantic Seals
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چکیده
MERI began collaborating with the Northeast Region Marine Mammal Stranding Network in 2001 to respond to stranded marine mammals in the downeast and mid-coast Maine area and to collect tissues for contaminants research. Through this collaboration, MERI initially collected tissues from 34 stranded harbor seals (Phoca vitulina concolor) and 3 gray seals (Halichoerus gryphus), primarily pups and yearlings, that stranded at locations along the coast from eastern Maine to Long Island, New York between 1991 and 2001-2002. Seal blubber, liver, and kidney samples were analyzed for a wide range of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and metals.
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