Mercury pollution and the Saimaa ringed seal (phoca hispida saimensis)

Hyvärinen, Heikki; Sipilä, Tero; Kunnasranta, Mervi; Koskela, Jouni

doi:10.1016/s0025-326x(98)90037-6

Cited by 28 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Hyva¨rinen and Sipila¨1984;Helle et al 1985;Sipilaë t al. 1990;Ranta et al 1996;Hyva¨rinen et al 1998Hyva¨rinen et al , 1999Kokko et al 1998Kokko et al , 1999. During the last 10 years the population of Saimaa seal has slowly increased due to active conservation measures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intestinal helminths of a landlocked ringed seal ( Phoca hispida saimensis ) population in eastern Finland

Sinisalo

Kunnasranta

Valtonen

2003

Parasitology Research

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A small, landlocked, endangered ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) population lives as a postglacial relict in Lake Saimaa in eastern Finland. In this study, the intestinal metazoans were examined from a total of 61 Saimaa seals found dead from 1981 to 2001. The helminth fauna was very depauperate. Only one acanthocephalan species, Corynosoma magdaleni, has been able to survive during isolation in the freshwater environment. In addition, only two cestode species were found: Diphyllobothrium ditretum and Schistocephalus sp. However, neither of these larvae developed in the ringed seals. As the newborn pups of Saimaa seals are nursed for about 2 months only one of them was infected by C. magdaleni. At 2-5 months the pups harboured worms; however, the mean intensity did not rise distinctively until the seals were adults. C. magdaleni infection increased with increasing age and the abundances were significantly different between the age groups. There was no correlation between the number of parasites and the adult seal body weight; however, seals weighing 36 kg or more carried the majority of the worms. The distribution of the parasites was aggregated; six seals carried 65% (n=1,182) of all worms (total n=1,809) and 26 seals were uninfected. Variation in the number of worms in individual seals may indicate differences in feeding behaviour and in the diet of seals, and/or variation in the immune status of the seals.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intestinal helminths of a landlocked ringed seal ( Phoca hispida saimensis ) population in eastern Finland

Sinisalo

Kunnasranta

Valtonen

2003

Parasitology Research

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“…Since then, these isolated ringed seal populations have diverged so much that they differ from each other morphologically [3]. The Saimaa seal is one of the most endangered seal populations, with a population size of only about 200 animals [4]. The Arctic ringed seal, which lives in the White Sea, occurs throughout the Arctic Ocean.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Organochlorine Compounds and Extractable Organic Halogen in Three Subspecies of Ringed Seal From Northeast Europe

Kostamo

Медведев

Pellinen³

et al. 2000

Environ Toxicol Chem

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Abstract-Organochlorine compounds in blubber samples of the ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis, P. h. ladogensis, and P. h. hispida) were analyzed in order to estimate the state of pollution in three different water areas in Northeast Europe, namely, Lake Saimaa in Finland, Lake Ladoga, and the White Sea in Russia. Geographic differences in concentrations and in relative concentrations of tri-and tetrachlorocymenes, hexachlorobenzene, ␣-HCH, ␤-HCH, ␥-HCH (Lindane), seven polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, and p,pЈ-DDT and its metabolites in ringed seals were compared. Concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons varied between the water areas. The highest concentrations were found in Saimaa ringed seals, followed by Ladoga ringed seals, and the lowest concentrations were detected in ringed seals from the White Sea. Extractable organic halogen (EOX) concentrations in blubber were also analyzed. The concentrations showed a geographic trend similar to those for the individual compounds identified. In Lakes Ladoga and Saimaa, the concentrations of EOX and chlorinated hydrocarbons in the blubber were dependent on the age and sex of the seals, but no such relationship was observed in samples from the White Sea.

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“…The EOXs were analyzed from the lipid extracts with a Dohrmann DX-20B halogen analyzer (Dohrmann, Santa Clara, CA, USA), which was calibrated with HCB standards. For Hg analysis, samples of fish muscle were extracted in a microwave oven with a mixture of HNO 3 and H 2 O 2 (4:1, v/v), and analyzed with a gold-film mercury analyzer (Jerome Model 511, Jerome Instrument, Jerome, AZ, USA) according to the method of Hyvärinen et al [15].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT and its metabolites, and Hg were at levels believed to have caused adverse effects on the health of the seals in the 1970s [10][11][12][13]. Since their ban, the concentrations of DDT and Hg, in particular, have decreased markedly in fish and marine animals from northern waters [5,6,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], including Lake Saimaa. The results of a previous study showed that in Lake Haukivesi, the OCl concentrations in sediment were low, but near the Varkaus pulp and paper mill the frequency of deformities in larvae of Chironomus riparius was increased, indicating the adverse effects of some pollutants in the sediment [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The aims of this study were to determine the present concentrations of OCls and EOX in different fish species and in the blubber of ringed seal, to ascertain the degree of change in concentrations of pollutants and EOX in blubber during the last 20 years in Lake Haukivesi, to calculate biomagnification factors (BMFs) for some compounds from prey fish to pike (Esox lucius) and to a freshwater mammal to determine how much these compounds are transferred from one trophic level to another, and to analyze concentrations of Hg in fish and compare these to previously found concentrations in fish and in the Saimaa seal. [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Organochlorine concentrations in the saimaa ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) from Lake Haukivesi, Finland, 1981 to 2000, and in its diet today

Kostamo

Hyvärinen

Pellinen³

et al. 2002

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Organochlorine and mercury (Hg) pollution has been one possible reason for a decline in the size of the population of the Saimaa ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) in Lake Haukivesi, Finland. In this study, we analyzed changes in the concentrations of organochlorine compounds (OCls) and extractable organic halogen (EOX) in the blubber of Saimaa ringed seals that died from 1981 to 2000. In addition, the present concentrations and biomagnification factors of OCls and Hg from the main prey fish of ringed seal and pike (Esox lucius) were determined. Concentrations of pollutants in bream (Abramis brama) also were analyzed. The decline in the OCl concentrations in blubber was, on average, 25% during the two decades since polychlorinated biphenyls and DDT compounds were banned. Today, concentrations in blubber of Saimaa ringed seals are similar of those in ringed seals from the Arctic. Correspondingly in fish, the OCl and Hg concentrations were, on average, similar to those found in other studies on Finnish and Arctic areas. The low diet concentrations and metabolism of OCls also reflect the lower age correlation of OCls in the male ringed seals in the 1990s than in the 1980s. Biomagnification was considerably higher from fish to the ringed seal than from prey fish to pike because of higher feeding rate of ringed seals and differences in the metabolisms of these animals.

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Mercury pollution and the Saimaa ringed seal (phoca hispida saimensis)

Cited by 28 publications

References 10 publications

Intestinal helminths of a landlocked ringed seal ( Phoca hispida saimensis ) population in eastern Finland

Intestinal helminths of a landlocked ringed seal ( Phoca hispida saimensis ) population in eastern Finland

Analysis of Organochlorine Compounds and Extractable Organic Halogen in Three Subspecies of Ringed Seal From Northeast Europe

Organochlorine concentrations in the saimaa ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) from Lake Haukivesi, Finland, 1981 to 2000, and in its diet today

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