Paralytic shellfish toxins in Alaskan Arctic food webs during the anomalously warm ocean conditions of 2019 and estimated toxin doses to Pacific walruses and bowhead whales

• Published in: Harmful Algae
• Main Authors: Lefebvre, Kathi A., Fachon, Evangeline, Bowers, Emily K., Kimmel, David G., Snyder, Jonathan A., Stimmelmayr, Raphaela, Grebmeier, Jacqueline M., Kibler, Steve, Hardison, D. Ransom, Anderson, Donald M., Kulis, David M., Murphy, James M., Gann, Jeanette C., Cooper, Daniel W., Eisner, Lisa B., Duffy-Anderson, Janet T., Sheffield, Gay, Pickart, Robert S., Mounsey, Anna, Willis, Maryjean L., Stabeno, Phyllis J., Siddon, Elizabeth
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Elsevier 2022
• Subjects: harmful algal blooms; algal toxins; trophic transfer; saxitoxin; paralytic shellfish poisoning; marine mammals; Arctic; Bowers; Lawrence Island; Pacific; Sheffield; Snyder; Willis; Chukchi; Climate change; Odobenus rosmarus; Phytoplankton; Sea ice; Zooplankton; walrus*
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1912/29118

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Lefebvre, K., Fachon, E., Bowers, E., Kimmel, D., Snyder, J., Stimmelmayr, R., Grebmeier, J., Kibler, S., Hardison, D., Anderson, D., Kulis, D., Murphy, J., Gann, J., Cooper, D., Eisner, L., Duffy-Anderson, J., Sheffield, G., Pickart, R., Mounsey, A., Willis, M. L., Stabeno, P., & Siddon, E. Paralytic shellfish toxins in Alaskan Arctic food webs during the anomalously warm ocean conditions of 2019 and estimated toxin doses to Pacific walruses and bowhead whales. Harmful Algae, 114, (2022): 102205, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2022.102205. Climate change-related ocean warming and reduction in Arctic sea ice extent, duration and thickness increase the risk of toxic blooms of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella in the Alaskan Arctic. This algal species produces neurotoxins that impact marine wildlife health and cause the human illness known as paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). This study reports Paralytic Shellfish Toxin (PST) concentrations quantified in Arctic food web samples that include phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic clams, benthic worms, and pelagic fish collected throughout summer 2019 during anomalously warm ocean conditions. PSTs (saxitoxin equivalents, STX eq.) were detected in all trophic levels with concentrations above the seafood safety regulatory limit (80 μg STX eq. 100 g−1) in benthic clams collected offshore on the continental shelf in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering Seas. Most notably, toxic benthic clams (Macoma calcarea) were found north of Saint Lawrence Island where Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) are known to forage for a variety of benthic species, including Macoma. Additionally, fecal samples collected from 13 walruses harvested for subsistence purposes near Saint Lawrence Island during March to May 2019, all contained detectable levels of STX, with fecal samples from two animals (78 and 72 μg STX eq. 100 g−1) ...