Topic
Blubber
About: Blubber is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 933 publications have been published within this topic receiving 33564 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
1 / 2
Papers
TL;DR: The southern resident and transient killer whales of British Columbia can now be considered among the most contaminated cetaceans in the world.
432 citations
TL;DR: The results show higher concentration of MEHP in the muscle of basking shark in comparison to fin whale blubber, and these species can be proposed as indicators of microplastics in the pelagic environment in the implementation of Descriptor 8 and 10 of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).
423 citations
Zoological Society of London1, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science2, University of Barcelona3, Scotland's Rural College4, University of Exeter5, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology6, Uppsala University7, University of Primorska8, Spanish National Research Council9, Coordinadora Mercantil S.A10, Natural History Museum11, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria12
TL;DR: It is shown that several cetacean species have very high mean blubber PCB concentrations likely to cause population declines and suppress population recovery, and some locations are global PCB “hotspots” for marine mammals.
Abstract: Organochlorine (OC) pesticides and the more persistent polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have well-established dose-dependent toxicities to birds, fish and mammals in experimental studies, but the actual impact of OC pollutants on European marine top predators remains unknown. Here we show that several cetacean species have very high mean blubber PCB concentrations likely to cause population declines and suppress population recovery. In a large pan-European meta-analysis of stranded (n = 929) or biopsied (n = 152) cetaceans, three out of four species:- striped dolphins (SDs), bottlenose dolphins (BNDs) and killer whales (KWs) had mean PCB levels that markedly exceeded all known marine mammal PCB toxicity thresholds. Some locations (e.g. western Mediterranean Sea, south-west Iberian Peninsula) are global PCB “hotspots” for marine mammals. Blubber PCB concentrations initially declined following a mid-1980s EU ban, but have since stabilised in UK harbour porpoises and SDs in the western Mediterranean Sea. Some small or declining populations of BNDs and KWs in the NE Atlantic were associated with low recruitment, consistent with PCB-induced reproductive toxicity. Despite regulations and mitigation measures to reduce PCB pollution, their biomagnification in marine food webs continues to cause severe impacts among cetacean top predators in European seas.
385 citations
TL;DR: A spatial trend of higher MeHg levels in western compared to eastern Arctic belugas and ringed seals was found which followed a similar trend observed for total mercury, and factors which could explain this trend are discussed.
254 citations
TL;DR: A strong correlation between these ratios and time is found in both groups, which demonstrates that such an index can be tentatively used when one assesses the chronology of pollutant input into the ecosystem.
Abstract: The DDE/ΣDDT (ΣDDT = DDT + DDE + DDD) ratios in the blubber of North Atlantic pinnipeds and odontocete cetaceans, as determined by several scientists and surveys, are compiled to obtain a biannual ...
250 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 15 |
| 2024 | 27 |
| 2023 | 53 |
| 2022 | 82 |
| 2021 | 34 |
| 2020 | 43 |