Mercury concentrations in primary feathers reflect pollutant exposure in discrete non-breeding grounds used by Short-tailed Shearwaters

• Published in: Journal of Ornithology
• Main Authors: Watanuki, Yutaka, Yamamoto, Takashi, Yamashita, Ai, Ishii, Chihiro, Ikenaka, Yoshinori, Nakayama, Shouta M. M., Ishizuka, Mayumi, Suzuki, Yuya, Niizuma, Yasuaki, Meathrel, C. E., Phillips, R. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer
• Subjects: Geolocator; Trophic level; Northern North Pacific; Monitoring; 660; Bering Sea; Okhotsk; Pacific; Puffinus tenuirostris
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2115/62327; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1205-6

We measured mercury concentrations ([Hg]) and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (delta N-15) in the primary feathers of Short-tailed Shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris) that were tracked year-round. The [Hg] were highest in 14 birds that used the Okhotsk and northern Japan Seas during the non-breeding period (2.5 +/- A 1.4 mu g/g), lowest in nine birds that used the eastern Bering Sea (0.8 +/- A 0.2 mu g/g), and intermediate in five birds that used both regions (1.0 +/- A 0.5 mu g/g), with no effects of delta N-15. The results illustrate that samples from seabirds can provide a useful means of monitoring pollution at a large spatial scale.