Inter-Annual Variation of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) in an Antarctic Top Predator Arctocephalus gazella

Abstract

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), contaminants that may bioaccumulate in upper trophic level organisms, were detected in the milk of a top predator, the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella). Multiparous females had significantly lower concentrations of certain POPs (trans-nonachlor, p,p'-DDE, and several PCBs) in their milk than primiparous females, likely due to the annual lactational transfer of the POP burden from mother to pup. Furthermore, there were significant interannual differences in POP concentrations in multiparous females' milk from five breeding seasons between 2000 and 2011. Decreasing trends in concentrations of certain POPs over the recent decade coincide with declining global emissions, yet atmospheric concentrations in the Antarctic are not always consistent with global trends, suggesting that additional factors may contribute to temporal trends of POPs in fur seals. Climate shifts and corresponding availability of krill over the past decade were not consistent with trends observed in POP concentrations in fur seal milk, suggesting that climate may not be a key factor. Additional mechanisms, such as variability in the geographic ranges of individual seals during overwintering migrations are discussed and should be explored further.

Spatial distribution of the persistent organic pollutants across the Tibetan Plateau and its linkage with the climate systems: a 5-year air monitoring study

“…Especially for the remote region like the TP, POP fingerprints obtained by the PAS would certainly help to understand the realistic synoptic atmospheric patterns. So far, researchers have paid attention to how climate change is affecting POP cycling (Bustnes et al, 2010;Dalla Valle et al, 2007). However, the opposite way of thinking allows us to use POP fingerprints as possible chemical tracers to track the climate dynamics and global pollution diffusion events.…”

“…Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are classified and regulated as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention (Patterson et al, 2009). Although the extensive usage of these pollutants has been forbidden for several decades, they are still ubiquitous in the global environment and the atmosphere plays a vital role in their global dispersal (Cabrerizo et al, 2011a;Brault et al, 2013;Bogdal et al, 2014).…”

Factors affecting the atmospheric occurrence and deposition of polychlorinated biphenyls in the Southern Ocean

“…The fate, transport and sinks of PCBs in different global regions and environments have received considerable attention during the last decades (see for example Lohmann et al, 2007). The occurrence of PCBs have also been reported in remote regions such as Antarctica and the Southern Ocean atmosphere (Tanabe et al, 1983;Iwata et al, 1993;Kallenborn et al, 1998;Fuoco et al, 1996;Montone et al, 2003Montone et al, , 2005Gambaro et al, 2005), seawater (Tanabe et al, 1983;Galbán-Malagón et al, 2013), soils (Cabrerizo et al, 2012;Kang et al, 2012) and biota (Larsson et al, 1992;BengtsonNash et al, 2008;Galbán-Malagón et al, 2013a;Cabrerizo et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2013;Brault et al, 2013). The atmospheric long-range transport of PCBs occurs through successive steps of volatilization and deposition (hops) and PCBs can reach eventually Polar Regions like the Arctic and Antarctica (Wania and Mackay, 1996;Jurado and Dachs, 2008).…”

Temporal shift in the isotopic niche of female Antarctic fur seals from Bouvetøya

“…Interestingly, in spite of a possible strong shift in isotopic niche from 1997 to 2015, female AFS at Bouvetøya did not switch to a completely distinct fish/cephalopod diet; rather, they expanded their trophic niche to include more prey at high trophic levels, while still eating significant quantities of krill. Relatively few studies have addressed the diet of AFS using stable isotopes, and those that do exist have been focused mainly on two areas: the Antarctic Peninsula (Polito & Goebel 2010;Huang et al 2011;Brault et al 2013) and the southern Indian Ocean (Cherel et al 2007;Kernaléguen et al 2012;Kernaléguen et al 2015). The trophic system of Bouvetøya*a remote, little-studied location that hosts the planet's second largest breeding population of AFS*is particularly important to study.…”