Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce publication of our paper comparing the
accumulation of organic contaminantsin Southern California marine mammals.
Cossaboon, J. M., N. G. Dodder, S. J. Chivers, D. W. Weller, K. Danil,
K. A. Maruya, and E. Hoh. 2019. Apex marine predators and ocean health:
proactive screening of halogenated organic contaminants reveal ecosystem
indicator species. Chemosphere. DOI: 0.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.01.050.
Abstract
Despite decades-long bans on the production and use of certain
chemicals, many halogenated organic compounds (HOCs) are persistent and
can bioaccumulate in the marine environment with the potential to cause
physiological harm to marine fauna. Highly lipid-rich tissue (e.g.,
marine mammal blubber) functions as a reservoir for HOCs, and selecting
ideal indicator species is a priority for retrospective and proactive
screening efforts. We selected five marine mammal species as possible
indicators for the Southern California Bight (SCB) and applied a
non-targeted analytical method paired with an automated data reduction
strategy to catalog a broad range of known, known but unexpected, and
unknown compounds in their blubber. A total of 194 HOCs were detected
across the study species (n = 25 individuals), 81% of which are not
routinely monitored, including 30 halogenated natural products and 45
compounds of unknown structure and origin. The cetacean species
(long-beaked common dolphin, short-beaked common dolphin, and Risso's
dolphin) averaged 128 HOCs, whereas pinnipeds (California sea lion and
Pacific harbor seal) averaged 47 HOCs. We suspect this disparity can be
attributed to differences in life history, foraging strategies, and/or
enzyme-mediated metabolism. Our results support proposing (1) the long-
and short-beaked common dolphin as apex marine predator sentinels for
future and retrospective biomonitoring of the SCB ecosystem and (2) the
use of non-targeted contaminant analyses to identify and prioritize
emerging contaminants. The use of a sentinel marine species together
with the non-targeted analytical approach will enable a proactive
approach to environmental contaminant monitoring.
The article can be found at:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653519300505?via%3Dihub
Regards,
Susan Chivers and co-authors
--
Susan J. Chivers, Ph.D.
Marine Mammal and Turtle Division
Southwest Fisheries Science Center
National Marine Fisheries Service
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Phone: 858-945-0759
Email: [email protected]
https://swfsc.noaa.gov/MMTD-PhotoLH/
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