Albatross Species Demonstrate Regional Differences In North Pacific Marine Contamination

Abstract

Recent concern about negative effects on human health from elevated organochlorine and mercury concentrations in marine foods has highlighted the need to understand temporal and spatial patterns of marine pollution. Seabirds, long-lived pelagic predators with wide foraging ranges, can be used as indicators of regional contaminant patterns across large temporal and spatial scales. Here we evaluate contaminant levels, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios, and satellite telemetry data from two sympatrically breeding North Pacific albatross species to demonstrate that (1) organochlorine and mercury contaminant levels are significantly higher in the California Current compared to levels in the high-latitude North Pacific and (2) levels of organochlorine contaminants in the North Pacific are increasing over time. Black-footed Albatrosses (Phoebastria nigripes) had 370-460% higher organochlorine (polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs], dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes [DDTs]) and mercury body burdens than a closely related species, the Laysan Albatross (P. immutabilis), primarily due to regional segregation of their North Pacific foraging areas. PCBs (the sum of the individual PCB congeners analyzed) and DDE concentrations in both albatross species were 130-360% higher than concentrations measured a decade ago. Our results demonstrate dramatically high and increasing contaminant concentrations in the eastern North Pacific Ocean, a finding relevant to other marine predators, including humans.

Temporal increase in organic mercury in an endangered pelagic seabird assessed by century-old museum specimens

“…Rapid, basin-wide rises in Hg levels are predicted if current Asian emissions are sustained. Given the existing elevated MeHg loads among black-footed albatrosses and the vulnerability of these birds to several other toxic marine contaminants (43), concerns are raised for more serious future population impacts.…”

Resource partitioning within a tropical seabird community: new information from stable isotopes

“…First, it focuses on a community of tropical seabirds for which, except for albatrosses (Finkelstein et al 2006, Awkerman et al 2007), almost nothing is known about their δ 13 C and δ 15 N values. Second, while isotopic signature of several tissues (liver, muscle, bone) to infer seabird diet at different temporal scales was previously investigated (Hobson 1993), the present work is the first using δ 13 C and δ 15 N values of adult blood and feathers (Bearhop et al 2000) to study trophic structure of a community during the breeding and non-breeding periods, respectively.…”

“…This work was conducted as part of a larger investigation on the food and feeding ecology of the seabird community from Europa Island in austral winter (August and September 2003) in relation to the tropical marine environment using complementary methodologies (observations at sea, dietary analysis, electronic devices and stable isotopes) (Weimerskirch et al 2004, 2005a,b, 2006, Jaquemet et al 2005.…”

“…To our knowledge, however, no comparable information is available either on tropical species (except albatrosses, Finkelstein et al 2006, Awkerman et al 2007 or over the non-breeding period. The primary goal of the present study was therefore to measure the isotopic niche (Newsome et al 2007) of tropical seabirds and to use this tool to investigate the trophic structure of their community on an oceanic island.…”

Evaluation of Noninvasive Approach for Monitoring PCB Pollution of Seabirds Using Preen Gland Oil

“…Finkelstein et al (10) measured PCBs in blood of seabirds sampled in Hawaii. Blood sampling, however, requires trained technical skill, without which the birds, especially small ones, suffer severe stress during sample collection.…”