A modelling-based perspective on the past, present, and future polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of the St. Lawrence beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas) population
Individual- and population-based models are presented that provide quantitative assessments of the accumulation of persistent organic pollutants over the lifetime of the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) and consider all aspects of its life history. The models are used to examine the history of p...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
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2000
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f99-242 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f99-242 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/f99-242 2024-06-23T07:51:41+00:00 A modelling-based perspective on the past, present, and future polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of the St. Lawrence beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas) population Hickie, Brendan E Kingsley, Michael CS Hodson, Peter V Muir, Derek CG Béland, Pierre Mackay, Donald 2000 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f99-242 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f99-242 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences volume 57, issue S1, page 101-112 ISSN 0706-652X 1205-7533 journal-article 2000 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/f99-242 2024-06-06T04:11:16Z Individual- and population-based models are presented that provide quantitative assessments of the accumulation of persistent organic pollutants over the lifetime of the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) and consider all aspects of its life history. The models are used to examine the history of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) accumulation by the endangered St. Lawrence beluga population from 1950 to the present and to predict future trends based on likely contaminant loading scenarios. The hypothesis that migrating American eels (Anguilla rostrata) are a significant source of contaminants to the population is examined. The history of PCB exposure via the diet is reconstructed from existing data and from PCB profiles in dated sediment cores. The models adequately describe the effects of age, growth, sex, and reproductive activity on PCB concentrations in the beluga, and results show good agreement with observed concentrations when eels are included as 3% of the annual diet. PCB levels in the population appear to have peaked between 1967 and 1972. The model agrees with recent studies that have shown that PCB concentrations in the population are declining slowly. Article in Journal/Newspaper Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 57 S1 101 112 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Individual- and population-based models are presented that provide quantitative assessments of the accumulation of persistent organic pollutants over the lifetime of the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) and consider all aspects of its life history. The models are used to examine the history of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) accumulation by the endangered St. Lawrence beluga population from 1950 to the present and to predict future trends based on likely contaminant loading scenarios. The hypothesis that migrating American eels (Anguilla rostrata) are a significant source of contaminants to the population is examined. The history of PCB exposure via the diet is reconstructed from existing data and from PCB profiles in dated sediment cores. The models adequately describe the effects of age, growth, sex, and reproductive activity on PCB concentrations in the beluga, and results show good agreement with observed concentrations when eels are included as 3% of the annual diet. PCB levels in the population appear to have peaked between 1967 and 1972. The model agrees with recent studies that have shown that PCB concentrations in the population are declining slowly. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hickie, Brendan E Kingsley, Michael CS Hodson, Peter V Muir, Derek CG Béland, Pierre Mackay, Donald |
spellingShingle |
Hickie, Brendan E Kingsley, Michael CS Hodson, Peter V Muir, Derek CG Béland, Pierre Mackay, Donald A modelling-based perspective on the past, present, and future polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of the St. Lawrence beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas) population |
author_facet |
Hickie, Brendan E Kingsley, Michael CS Hodson, Peter V Muir, Derek CG Béland, Pierre Mackay, Donald |
author_sort |
Hickie, Brendan E |
title |
A modelling-based perspective on the past, present, and future polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of the St. Lawrence beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas) population |
title_short |
A modelling-based perspective on the past, present, and future polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of the St. Lawrence beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas) population |
title_full |
A modelling-based perspective on the past, present, and future polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of the St. Lawrence beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas) population |
title_fullStr |
A modelling-based perspective on the past, present, and future polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of the St. Lawrence beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas) population |
title_full_unstemmed |
A modelling-based perspective on the past, present, and future polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of the St. Lawrence beluga whale ( Delphinapterus leucas) population |
title_sort |
modelling-based perspective on the past, present, and future polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of the st. lawrence beluga whale ( delphinapterus leucas) population |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f99-242 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f99-242 |
genre |
Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas |
genre_facet |
Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences volume 57, issue S1, page 101-112 ISSN 0706-652X 1205-7533 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/f99-242 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
container_volume |
57 |
container_issue |
S1 |
container_start_page |
101 |
op_container_end_page |
112 |
_version_ |
1802642807773462528 |