Trace metal variations in tissues of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) stranded along Southern North Sea coasts

During the last decade, recurrent epizootics have affected harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) populations in the North Sea. The trace metal levels of the harbour seal in the Southern North Sea are poorly known. In this study, trace metal concentrations (Zn, Cu, Fe, Cd, Hg and Se) were measured in tissues...

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Main Authors: Drouguet, Olivier, Jauniaux, Thierry, Holsbeek, Ludo, Reijnders, Peter, Siebert, Ursula, Das, Krishna
Format: Conference Object
Language:English
Published: 2004
Subjects:
Online Access:https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/72648
id ftorbi:oai:orbi.ulg.ac.be:2268/72648
record_format openpolar
spelling ftorbi:oai:orbi.ulg.ac.be:2268/72648 2024-04-21T08:04:13+00:00 Trace metal variations in tissues of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) stranded along Southern North Sea coasts Drouguet, Olivier Jauniaux, Thierry Holsbeek, Ludo Reijnders, Peter Siebert, Ursula Das, Krishna 2004 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/72648 en eng https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/72648 info:hdl:2268/72648 11th Benelux Congress of Zoology, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium [BE], 5-7th May 2004 marine mammals pollutants trace elements harbour seals Phoca vitulina Life sciences Aquatic sciences & oceanology Environmental sciences & ecology Sciences du vivant Sciences aquatiques & océanologie Sciences de l’environnement & écologie conference poster not in proceedings http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_18co info:eu-repo/semantics/conferencePoster 2004 ftorbi 2024-03-27T14:43:21Z During the last decade, recurrent epizootics have affected harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) populations in the North Sea. The trace metal levels of the harbour seal in the Southern North Sea are poorly known. In this study, trace metal concentrations (Zn, Cu, Fe, Cd, Hg and Se) were measured in tissues (liver, kidney and muscle) of 72 harbour seals collected along the coasts of France, Belgium and Netherlands between 1994 and 2004. Hg levels were significantly higher in seals from the Southern North Sea than in seals from Norwegian waters (1) probably due to the amount of anthropogenic inputs in the North Sea. Hepatic Hg was positively correlated to hepatic Se, both increasing with the length of the seals. Such a relationship reflects an age accumulation process coupled to a detoxication mechanism involving antagonism between Hg and Se in the liver. Increasing Zn and Hg hepatic levels were observed with degrading body condition of the harbour seals, which is reflected by decreasing blubber thickness and high hepatic to total body mass ratio. Body condition was particularly poor in seals which died from infectious diseases. These observations tend to indicate a global redistribution of trace metals from muscle and blubber to liver, as a result of protein and lipid catabolism linked to disease and starvation. Conference Object harbour seal Phoca vitulina University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography)
institution Open Polar
collection University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography)
op_collection_id ftorbi
language English
topic marine mammals
pollutants
trace elements
harbour seals
Phoca vitulina
Life sciences
Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Environmental sciences & ecology
Sciences du vivant
Sciences aquatiques & océanologie
Sciences de l’environnement & écologie
spellingShingle marine mammals
pollutants
trace elements
harbour seals
Phoca vitulina
Life sciences
Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Environmental sciences & ecology
Sciences du vivant
Sciences aquatiques & océanologie
Sciences de l’environnement & écologie
Drouguet, Olivier
Jauniaux, Thierry
Holsbeek, Ludo
Reijnders, Peter
Siebert, Ursula
Das, Krishna
Trace metal variations in tissues of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) stranded along Southern North Sea coasts
topic_facet marine mammals
pollutants
trace elements
harbour seals
Phoca vitulina
Life sciences
Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Environmental sciences & ecology
Sciences du vivant
Sciences aquatiques & océanologie
Sciences de l’environnement & écologie
description During the last decade, recurrent epizootics have affected harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) populations in the North Sea. The trace metal levels of the harbour seal in the Southern North Sea are poorly known. In this study, trace metal concentrations (Zn, Cu, Fe, Cd, Hg and Se) were measured in tissues (liver, kidney and muscle) of 72 harbour seals collected along the coasts of France, Belgium and Netherlands between 1994 and 2004. Hg levels were significantly higher in seals from the Southern North Sea than in seals from Norwegian waters (1) probably due to the amount of anthropogenic inputs in the North Sea. Hepatic Hg was positively correlated to hepatic Se, both increasing with the length of the seals. Such a relationship reflects an age accumulation process coupled to a detoxication mechanism involving antagonism between Hg and Se in the liver. Increasing Zn and Hg hepatic levels were observed with degrading body condition of the harbour seals, which is reflected by decreasing blubber thickness and high hepatic to total body mass ratio. Body condition was particularly poor in seals which died from infectious diseases. These observations tend to indicate a global redistribution of trace metals from muscle and blubber to liver, as a result of protein and lipid catabolism linked to disease and starvation.
format Conference Object
author Drouguet, Olivier
Jauniaux, Thierry
Holsbeek, Ludo
Reijnders, Peter
Siebert, Ursula
Das, Krishna
author_facet Drouguet, Olivier
Jauniaux, Thierry
Holsbeek, Ludo
Reijnders, Peter
Siebert, Ursula
Das, Krishna
author_sort Drouguet, Olivier
title Trace metal variations in tissues of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) stranded along Southern North Sea coasts
title_short Trace metal variations in tissues of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) stranded along Southern North Sea coasts
title_full Trace metal variations in tissues of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) stranded along Southern North Sea coasts
title_fullStr Trace metal variations in tissues of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) stranded along Southern North Sea coasts
title_full_unstemmed Trace metal variations in tissues of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) stranded along Southern North Sea coasts
title_sort trace metal variations in tissues of harbour seals (phoca vitulina) stranded along southern north sea coasts
publishDate 2004
url https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/72648
genre harbour seal
Phoca vitulina
genre_facet harbour seal
Phoca vitulina
op_source 11th Benelux Congress of Zoology, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium [BE], 5-7th May 2004
op_relation https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/72648
info:hdl:2268/72648
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