Satellite telemetry informs PCB source apportionment in a mobile, high trophic lemel marine mammal: The ringed seal (Pusa hispida)
Marine mammals are typically poor indicators of point sources of environmental contaminants as a consequence of their often complex feeding ecologies and extensive movements, all of which mask the contributions of specific inputs. The release of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by a military radar s...
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Online Access: | https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/glierpub/362 https://doi.org/10.1021/es504010q |
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ftunivwindsor:oai:scholar.uwindsor.ca:glierpub-1364 2023-06-11T04:16:13+02:00 Satellite telemetry informs PCB source apportionment in a mobile, high trophic lemel marine mammal: The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) Brown, Tanya M. Luque, Sebastian Sjare, Becky Fisk, Aaron T. Helbing, Caren C. Reimer, Ken J. 2014-11-18T08:00:00Z https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/glierpub/362 https://doi.org/10.1021/es504010q unknown Scholarship at UWindsor https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/glierpub/362 doi:10.1021/es504010q https://doi.org/10.1021/es504010q Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research Publications text 2014 ftunivwindsor https://doi.org/10.1021/es504010q 2023-05-06T19:10:50Z Marine mammals are typically poor indicators of point sources of environmental contaminants as a consequence of their often complex feeding ecologies and extensive movements, all of which mask the contributions of specific inputs. The release of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by a military radar station into Saglek Bay, Labrador (Canada) has contaminated marine sediments, bottom-feeding fish, seabirds, and some ringed seals, but attributing the PCBs in the latter highly mobile animals to this source is exceedingly difficult. In addition to the application of such tools as stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) and univariate and multivariate statistical exploration of contaminant patterns and ratios, we used satellite telemetry to track the movements of 13 seals in their transient use of different feeding areas. Reduced size of home range and core area (i.e., areas of concentrated use), as well as increased time in coastal inlets, were important determinants of increased PCB concentrations in seals reflecting the contribution of Saglek Bay. Seals were classified into the same feeding groups using both space use and their contaminant burdens 85% of the time, highlighting the link between feeding ecology and exposure to PCBs. While the PCB source at Saglek provided a strong local signal in a remote environment, this first use of satellite telemetry demonstrates the utility of evaluating space-use strategies to better understand contaminant exposure, and more specifically the contribution of contaminant hotspots to mobile predators. Text Pusa hispida ringed seal University of Windsor, Ontario: Scholarship at UWindsor Canada Saglek Bay ENVELOPE(-62.583,-62.583,58.333,58.333) Environmental Science & Technology 48 22 13110 13119 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Windsor, Ontario: Scholarship at UWindsor |
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ftunivwindsor |
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description |
Marine mammals are typically poor indicators of point sources of environmental contaminants as a consequence of their often complex feeding ecologies and extensive movements, all of which mask the contributions of specific inputs. The release of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by a military radar station into Saglek Bay, Labrador (Canada) has contaminated marine sediments, bottom-feeding fish, seabirds, and some ringed seals, but attributing the PCBs in the latter highly mobile animals to this source is exceedingly difficult. In addition to the application of such tools as stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) and univariate and multivariate statistical exploration of contaminant patterns and ratios, we used satellite telemetry to track the movements of 13 seals in their transient use of different feeding areas. Reduced size of home range and core area (i.e., areas of concentrated use), as well as increased time in coastal inlets, were important determinants of increased PCB concentrations in seals reflecting the contribution of Saglek Bay. Seals were classified into the same feeding groups using both space use and their contaminant burdens 85% of the time, highlighting the link between feeding ecology and exposure to PCBs. While the PCB source at Saglek provided a strong local signal in a remote environment, this first use of satellite telemetry demonstrates the utility of evaluating space-use strategies to better understand contaminant exposure, and more specifically the contribution of contaminant hotspots to mobile predators. |
format |
Text |
author |
Brown, Tanya M. Luque, Sebastian Sjare, Becky Fisk, Aaron T. Helbing, Caren C. Reimer, Ken J. |
spellingShingle |
Brown, Tanya M. Luque, Sebastian Sjare, Becky Fisk, Aaron T. Helbing, Caren C. Reimer, Ken J. Satellite telemetry informs PCB source apportionment in a mobile, high trophic lemel marine mammal: The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) |
author_facet |
Brown, Tanya M. Luque, Sebastian Sjare, Becky Fisk, Aaron T. Helbing, Caren C. Reimer, Ken J. |
author_sort |
Brown, Tanya M. |
title |
Satellite telemetry informs PCB source apportionment in a mobile, high trophic lemel marine mammal: The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) |
title_short |
Satellite telemetry informs PCB source apportionment in a mobile, high trophic lemel marine mammal: The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) |
title_full |
Satellite telemetry informs PCB source apportionment in a mobile, high trophic lemel marine mammal: The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) |
title_fullStr |
Satellite telemetry informs PCB source apportionment in a mobile, high trophic lemel marine mammal: The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Satellite telemetry informs PCB source apportionment in a mobile, high trophic lemel marine mammal: The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) |
title_sort |
satellite telemetry informs pcb source apportionment in a mobile, high trophic lemel marine mammal: the ringed seal (pusa hispida) |
publisher |
Scholarship at UWindsor |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/glierpub/362 https://doi.org/10.1021/es504010q |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.583,-62.583,58.333,58.333) |
geographic |
Canada Saglek Bay |
geographic_facet |
Canada Saglek Bay |
genre |
Pusa hispida ringed seal |
genre_facet |
Pusa hispida ringed seal |
op_source |
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research Publications |
op_relation |
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/glierpub/362 doi:10.1021/es504010q https://doi.org/10.1021/es504010q |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1021/es504010q |
container_title |
Environmental Science & Technology |
container_volume |
48 |
container_issue |
22 |
container_start_page |
13110 |
op_container_end_page |
13119 |
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1768373763023306752 |