Preying on seals pushes killer whales from Norway above pollution effects thresholds
Abstract Killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) are at risk from high levels of biomagnifying pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and mercury (Hg). Previous toxicological risk assessments for the Norwegian killer whale population have assumed fish as the primary prey source, and assessed th...
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2020
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68659-y http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68659-y.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68659-y |
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crspringernat:10.1038/s41598-020-68659-y 2023-05-15T17:03:31+02:00 Preying on seals pushes killer whales from Norway above pollution effects thresholds Andvik, Clare Jourdain, Eve Ruus, Anders Lyche, Jan L. Karoliussen, Richard Borgå, Katrine Sea World and Busch Gardens Conservation fund Sea World and Parks Entertainment 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68659-y http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68659-y.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68659-y en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Scientific Reports volume 10, issue 1 ISSN 2045-2322 Multidisciplinary journal-article 2020 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68659-y 2022-01-04T07:52:34Z Abstract Killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) are at risk from high levels of biomagnifying pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and mercury (Hg). Previous toxicological risk assessments for the Norwegian killer whale population have assumed fish as the primary prey source, and assessed the population as below established effect thresholds. However, some individuals have recently been identified to also feed on seals. This study is the first to quantify levels of pollutants in seal-eating killer whales from northern Norway, and to measure Hg levels in the skin of killer whales worldwide. We found higher levels of all pollutants in seal-eating than fish-eating killer whales, including the emerging brominated flame retardants pentabromoethylbenzene (PBEB), pentabromotoluene (PBT) and hexabromobenzene (HBB). Sum polychlorinated biphenyls (ΣPCBs) in the blubber of seal-eaters ( n = 7, geometric mean = 46 µg/g l.w.) were four times higher than fish-eaters ( n = 24, geometric mean = 11 µg/g l.w.), which pushed all seal-eating individuals above multiple thresholds for health effects. Total Hg levels in skin of seal-eaters ( n = 10, arithmetic mean = 3.7 µg/g d.w.) were twice as high as in fish-eaters ( n = 28, arithmetic mean = 1.8 µg/g d.w.). Our results indicate that by feeding on higher trophic prey, the Norwegian killer whale population is at higher risk of health effects from pollution than previously assumed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Killer Whale Northern Norway Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale Springer Nature (via Crossref) Norway Scientific Reports 10 1 |
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Springer Nature (via Crossref) |
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English |
topic |
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Multidisciplinary Andvik, Clare Jourdain, Eve Ruus, Anders Lyche, Jan L. Karoliussen, Richard Borgå, Katrine Preying on seals pushes killer whales from Norway above pollution effects thresholds |
topic_facet |
Multidisciplinary |
description |
Abstract Killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) are at risk from high levels of biomagnifying pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and mercury (Hg). Previous toxicological risk assessments for the Norwegian killer whale population have assumed fish as the primary prey source, and assessed the population as below established effect thresholds. However, some individuals have recently been identified to also feed on seals. This study is the first to quantify levels of pollutants in seal-eating killer whales from northern Norway, and to measure Hg levels in the skin of killer whales worldwide. We found higher levels of all pollutants in seal-eating than fish-eating killer whales, including the emerging brominated flame retardants pentabromoethylbenzene (PBEB), pentabromotoluene (PBT) and hexabromobenzene (HBB). Sum polychlorinated biphenyls (ΣPCBs) in the blubber of seal-eaters ( n = 7, geometric mean = 46 µg/g l.w.) were four times higher than fish-eaters ( n = 24, geometric mean = 11 µg/g l.w.), which pushed all seal-eating individuals above multiple thresholds for health effects. Total Hg levels in skin of seal-eaters ( n = 10, arithmetic mean = 3.7 µg/g d.w.) were twice as high as in fish-eaters ( n = 28, arithmetic mean = 1.8 µg/g d.w.). Our results indicate that by feeding on higher trophic prey, the Norwegian killer whale population is at higher risk of health effects from pollution than previously assumed. |
author2 |
Sea World and Busch Gardens Conservation fund Sea World and Parks Entertainment |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andvik, Clare Jourdain, Eve Ruus, Anders Lyche, Jan L. Karoliussen, Richard Borgå, Katrine |
author_facet |
Andvik, Clare Jourdain, Eve Ruus, Anders Lyche, Jan L. Karoliussen, Richard Borgå, Katrine |
author_sort |
Andvik, Clare |
title |
Preying on seals pushes killer whales from Norway above pollution effects thresholds |
title_short |
Preying on seals pushes killer whales from Norway above pollution effects thresholds |
title_full |
Preying on seals pushes killer whales from Norway above pollution effects thresholds |
title_fullStr |
Preying on seals pushes killer whales from Norway above pollution effects thresholds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Preying on seals pushes killer whales from Norway above pollution effects thresholds |
title_sort |
preying on seals pushes killer whales from norway above pollution effects thresholds |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68659-y http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68659-y.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68659-y |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Killer Whale Northern Norway Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Killer Whale Northern Norway Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale |
op_source |
Scientific Reports volume 10, issue 1 ISSN 2045-2322 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68659-y |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766057397501034496 |