Pb isotopic compositions of fin whale baleen plates - A clue to unravel individual migrations between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea?

• Published in: Procedia Earth and Planetary Science
• Main Authors: Roubira, Pauline, Bosch, Delphine, Bentaleb, Ilham
• Other Authors: Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Géosciences Montpellier, Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: Mediterranean Sea; Habitat; Migration; Balaenoptera physalus; Baleen plates; Geochemistry; Pb isotopes; Atlantic Ocean; [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Fin whale
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01690857; https://hal.science/hal-01690857/document; https://hal.science/hal-01690857/file/roubira2015.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeps.2015.07.040

To assess Mediterranean fin whale ecology and impacts of environmental changes, Pb content and isotopic composition were measured on baleen plates of fin whales stranded on Mediterranean and Bay of Biscay coasts. Pb contents of fin whale baleen plate reflect that of their diet and thus of the dissolved Pb content of the upper 200 meters of the surface ocean. Using Pb isotopes, baleen plates allow reconstituting the evolution of anthropogenic Pb pollution and showing that stranded Mediterranean fin whales constitute a specific population that is resident of the Mediterranean Sea with occasional migrations to the Atlantic Ocean.