Wandering Albatrosses Document Latitudinal Variations in the Transfer of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Mercury to Southern Ocean Predators

• Published in: Environmental Science & Technology
• Main Authors: Carravieri, Alice, Bustamante, Paco, Tartu, Sabrina, Meillere, Alizée, Labadie, Pierre, Budzinski, Hélène, Peluhet, Laurent, Barbraud, Christophe, Weimerskirch, Henri, Chastel, Olivier, Cherel, Yves
• Other Authors: LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Physico -& Toxico Chimie des systèmes naturels (LPTC), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ANR-10-CESA-0016,POLARTOP,Contaminants chez les prédateurs supérieurs polaires: niveaux et effets des polluants organiques et métaux lourds sur la physiologie du stress et le devenir des oiseaux marins des Terres Australes Françaises (TAAF)(2010)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: Procellariiformes; POPs; Mercury; Cadmium; Antarctica; Stable isotopes; [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology; Antarc*; Crozet Islands; Diomedea exulans; Southern Ocean; Wandering Albatross
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02334596; https://hal.science/hal-02334596/document; https://hal.science/hal-02334596/file/Carravieri%20et%20al%202014%20EST.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1021/es504601m

International audience Top marine predators are effective tools to monitor bioaccumulative contaminants in remote oceanic environments. Here, we used the wide-ranging wandering albatross Diomedea exulans to investigate potential geographical variations of contaminant transfer to predators in the Southern Ocean. Blood concentrations of 19 persistent organic pollutants and 14 trace elements were measured in a large number of individuals (N = 180) of known age, sex and breeding status from the subantarctic Crozet Islands. Wandering albatrosses were exposed to a wide range of contaminants, with notably high blood mercury concentrations. Contaminant burden was markedly influenced by latitudinal foraging habitats (inferred from blood δ13C values), with individuals feeding in warmer subtropical waters having lower concentrations of pesticides, but higher concentrations of mercury, than those feeding in colder subantarctic waters. Sexual differences in contaminant burden seemed to be driven by gender specialization in feeding habitats, rather than physiological characteristics, with females foraging further north than males. Other individual traits, such as adult age and reproductive status, had little effect on blood contaminant concentrations. Our study provides further evidence of the critical role of global distillation on organic contaminant exposure to Southern Ocean avian predators. In addition, we document an unexpected high transfer of mercury to predators in subtropical waters, which merits further investigation.