First assessment of pollutant exposure in two balaenopterid whale populations sampled in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway
Pollutant concentrations are poorly known for the largest animals on Earth, blue whales Balaenoptera musculus and fin whales Balaenoptera physalus. In this study, concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were determined in blubber biopsies and stable isotope values for nitrogen (δ15N)...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2656008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137327 |
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ftnilu:oai:nilu.brage.unit.no:11250/2656008 2023-07-30T03:56:41+02:00 First assessment of pollutant exposure in two balaenopterid whale populations sampled in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway Tartu, Sabrina Fisk, Aaron T. Götsch, Arntraut Kovacs, Kit M. Lydersen, Christian Routti, Heli Anna Irmeli 2020 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2656008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137327 eng eng Norges forskningsråd: 244488 Framsenteret: 602018 NILU - Norsk institutt for luftforskning: 116115 NILU - Norsk institutt for luftforskning: 117110 Science of the Total Environment. 2020, 718, 1-11. urn:issn:0048-9697 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2656008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137327 cristin:1800820 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. 1-11 718 Science of the Total Environment Finnhval Fin whale Miljøgifter marin Environmental contaminants marine Arktis Arctic Svalbard Peer reviewed Journal article 2020 ftnilu https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137327 2023-07-08T19:54:00Z Pollutant concentrations are poorly known for the largest animals on Earth, blue whales Balaenoptera musculus and fin whales Balaenoptera physalus. In this study, concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were determined in blubber biopsies and stable isotope values for nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) were measured using skin biopsies for 18 blue whales and 12 fin whales sampled in waters surrounding the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. The samples were collected in summer during the period 2014–2018. POPs were dominated by DDTs, PCBs and toxaphenes, with median concentrations in blue/fin whales being 208/341, 127/275 and 133/233 ng/g lipid weight, respectively. Linear models indicated that pollutant concentrations were 1.6–3 times higher in fin whales than in blue whales, which is likely related to the higher trophic positions of fin whales, as indicated by their higher δ15N. Lower δ13C in fin whales suggests that they feed at higher latitudes than blue whales; these values were not correlated with pollutant concentrations. Pollutant levels were approximately twice as high in males compared to females (intraspecifically), which indicates that females of these species offload pollutants to their offspring during gestation and lactation, similar to many other mammalian species. Pollutant concentrations in balaenopterid whales from Svalbard waters were generally much lower than in conspecific whales from the Mediterranean Sea or the Gulf of California, but higher than those in conspecifics from the Antarctic Peninsula. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Arctic Arktis Arktis* Balaenoptera musculus Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale Finnhval Svalbard NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research: NILU Brage Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Arctic Norway Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago The Antarctic Science of The Total Environment 718 137327 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research: NILU Brage |
op_collection_id |
ftnilu |
language |
English |
topic |
Finnhval Fin whale Miljøgifter marin Environmental contaminants marine Arktis Arctic Svalbard |
spellingShingle |
Finnhval Fin whale Miljøgifter marin Environmental contaminants marine Arktis Arctic Svalbard Tartu, Sabrina Fisk, Aaron T. Götsch, Arntraut Kovacs, Kit M. Lydersen, Christian Routti, Heli Anna Irmeli First assessment of pollutant exposure in two balaenopterid whale populations sampled in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway |
topic_facet |
Finnhval Fin whale Miljøgifter marin Environmental contaminants marine Arktis Arctic Svalbard |
description |
Pollutant concentrations are poorly known for the largest animals on Earth, blue whales Balaenoptera musculus and fin whales Balaenoptera physalus. In this study, concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were determined in blubber biopsies and stable isotope values for nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) were measured using skin biopsies for 18 blue whales and 12 fin whales sampled in waters surrounding the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. The samples were collected in summer during the period 2014–2018. POPs were dominated by DDTs, PCBs and toxaphenes, with median concentrations in blue/fin whales being 208/341, 127/275 and 133/233 ng/g lipid weight, respectively. Linear models indicated that pollutant concentrations were 1.6–3 times higher in fin whales than in blue whales, which is likely related to the higher trophic positions of fin whales, as indicated by their higher δ15N. Lower δ13C in fin whales suggests that they feed at higher latitudes than blue whales; these values were not correlated with pollutant concentrations. Pollutant levels were approximately twice as high in males compared to females (intraspecifically), which indicates that females of these species offload pollutants to their offspring during gestation and lactation, similar to many other mammalian species. Pollutant concentrations in balaenopterid whales from Svalbard waters were generally much lower than in conspecific whales from the Mediterranean Sea or the Gulf of California, but higher than those in conspecifics from the Antarctic Peninsula. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tartu, Sabrina Fisk, Aaron T. Götsch, Arntraut Kovacs, Kit M. Lydersen, Christian Routti, Heli Anna Irmeli |
author_facet |
Tartu, Sabrina Fisk, Aaron T. Götsch, Arntraut Kovacs, Kit M. Lydersen, Christian Routti, Heli Anna Irmeli |
author_sort |
Tartu, Sabrina |
title |
First assessment of pollutant exposure in two balaenopterid whale populations sampled in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway |
title_short |
First assessment of pollutant exposure in two balaenopterid whale populations sampled in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway |
title_full |
First assessment of pollutant exposure in two balaenopterid whale populations sampled in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway |
title_fullStr |
First assessment of pollutant exposure in two balaenopterid whale populations sampled in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
First assessment of pollutant exposure in two balaenopterid whale populations sampled in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway |
title_sort |
first assessment of pollutant exposure in two balaenopterid whale populations sampled in the svalbard archipelago, norway |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2656008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137327 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Arctic Norway Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Arctic Norway Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Arctic Arktis Arktis* Balaenoptera musculus Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale Finnhval Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Arctic Arktis Arktis* Balaenoptera musculus Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale Finnhval Svalbard |
op_source |
1-11 718 Science of the Total Environment |
op_relation |
Norges forskningsråd: 244488 Framsenteret: 602018 NILU - Norsk institutt for luftforskning: 116115 NILU - Norsk institutt for luftforskning: 117110 Science of the Total Environment. 2020, 718, 1-11. urn:issn:0048-9697 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2656008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137327 cristin:1800820 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137327 |
container_title |
Science of The Total Environment |
container_volume |
718 |
container_start_page |
137327 |
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1772814174857986048 |