Concentrations of Heavy Metals and Selenium in Tissues and Some Foods of Walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus ) from the Eastern Canadian Arctic and Sub-Arctic, and Associations between Metals, Age, and Gender

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Main Authors: Wagemann, R., Stewart, R. E. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1994
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Arctic; Hudson Bay; Hudson; Igloolik; Foxe Basin; Hall Beach; Inukjuak; Akulivik; Arctic marine mammals; Odobenus rosmarus; Serripes groenlandicus; walrus*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f94-044; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f94-044

Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) harvested at Igloolik and Hall Beach (Foxe Basin) and Inukjuak and Akulivik (eastern coast of Hudson Bay) and clams (Mya truncata) and cockles (Serripes groenlandicus) collected at Igloolik were analyzed for heavy metals and Se. Pb was high in walrus from both Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin compared with other marine mammals, but levels were higher in animals from Hudson Bay than Foxe Basin, showing a geographic trend of increasing concentration from north to south. In some tissues of clams, Pb was also high, up to 3 μg/g (wet weight). Hg levels in walrus were low compared with those in other Arctic marine mammals; in liver, Hg showed a geographic trend similar to Pb. Cd in liver and particularly in kidney of walrus was high compared with other Arctic marine mammals and was higher in those from Foxe Basin than Hudson Bay. Associations among metals and between metals and age were found in walrus that were also reported for other marine mammals, namely between Hg and Se in liver, Hg and Cd in liver, Hg and Cd with age in kidney, Cd with Zn in liver and kidney, and Hg and Se in liver with gender.