Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Environmental Pollution 152 (2008): 205-216, doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2007.05.027.
Description:
A small population of endangered northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus) inhabits “The Gully” Marine Protected Area on the Scotian Shelf, eastern Canada. Amid concerns regarding nearby oil and gas development, we took 36 skin and blubber biopsy samples in 1996-97 (prior to major development) and 2002-03 (five years after development began), and 3 samples from a population in the Davis Strait, Labrador in 2003. These were analysed for cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) protein expression (n=36), and for persistent contaminants (n=23). CYP1A1 showed generally low expression in whales from The Gully, but higher levels during 2003, potentially co-incident with recorded oil spills, and higher levels in Davis Strait whales. A range of PCB congeners and organochlorine compounds were detected, with concentrations similar to other North Atlantic odontocetes. Concentrations were higher in whales from The Gully than from the Davis Strait, with significant increases in 4,4’-DDE and trans-nonachlor in 2002-03 relative to 1996-97.
Description:
Research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, World Wildlife Fund Canada Endangered Species Recovery Fund, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the National Geographic Society, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and two U.K. Royal Society International Collaborative Awards. S.K.H. was supported by a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship and Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship. C.D.M. was awarded a Discovery grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. J.Y.W was supported by an NSERC PGS B fellowship and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Keywords:
Bottlenose whale
;
The Gully
;
PCB
;
DDT
;
Cytochrome P4501A
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
Format:
application/pdf
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