Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 56, Issue 12, Pages 1973-1982Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2008.08.011
Keywords
California sea lion; Pacific harbor seal; Northern elephant seal; Organochlorines; Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; Polychlorinated biphenyls; DDT; PCBs; Southern California Bight; Bioaccumulation
Funding
- CSULB Graduate Research Fellowship
- Boeing-College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Graduate Fellowship
- Richard B. Loomis Award at California State University Long Beach
- SCTC Marine Biology Education Foundation scholarship
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Highly industrialized areas, such as the Southern California Bight, often have high levels of contaminants in marine sediments, which can cause chronic exposure to organisms long after their use has ceased. tDDT and tPCB were analyzed in the blubber of 145 stranded pinnipeds that died at local marine mammal centers between 1994 and 2006. Resident species (California sea lion and Pacific harbor seal) had significantly higher concentrations of tDDT and tPCB than the transient species (northern elephant seal). Adult female California sea lions had significantly lower concentrations of tDDT and tPCB than pups, yearlings, and adult males. Concentrations of both tDDT and tPCB in California sea lions significantly declined over time, but did not change in northern elephant seals. Current concentrations of tDDT and tPCB in California sea lions and harbor seals are among the highest values reported worldwide for marine mammals and exceed those reported to cause adverse health effects. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available