Marine mammals and human health in the Eastern Bering Sea : using an ecosystem-based food web model to track PCBs ...

• Main Author: Coombs, Andrea Pauline.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2009
• Subjects: Bering Sea
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0074886; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0074886

The comprehensive changes that have occurred in the Bering Sea over the last 30 years have prompted a wide range of studies to better understand the ecosystem as a whole. One set of studies has used the Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) modelling software to synthesise existing biological data and gain insight into how the ecosystem was before and after the system-wide changes. This modelling framework provides a means for tracing contaminants through the ecosystem, and evaluating the role that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) may have played in the changing dynamics of the eastern Bering Sea. Using the EwE software, the likely pathways of PCB flow within the eastern Bering Sea were identified and health implications of contaminant exposure for Steller sea lions, other species of marine mammals, and humans were evaluated. The base EwE model was refined from existing models and validated with traditional stock assessment data. Ecotracer (a component of the EwE software) tracked the bioaccumulation of contaminants ...