Abstract
With the aim of knowing the concentration and distribution of essential and nonessential metals in selected tissues of whales, analysis of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn were carried out in kidney, liver and muscle of the gray whale Eschrichtius robustus and the sperm whale Physeter catodon. Whales were found stranded in the southeast Gulf of California. Individuals were in a juvenile stage; mean length of whales was 9.3 m for E. robustus and 7 m for P. catodon. Sequence of metal concentrations was Fe>Zn>Cu>Mn>Cd>Pb in E. robustus, and Fe>Zn>Cu>Cd>Mn>Pb in P. catodon. In E. robustus, highest concentrations of Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn (17.2, 19.6, 0.9 and 388 μg g −1, respectively) were measured in liver, Cd (5.7 μg g −1) in kidney and Fe (1009 μg g −1) in muscle. In P. catodon, the highest levels of Cu, Fe and Pb (48.6, 5200 and 4.2 μg g −1, respectively) were found in liver, Cd and Zn (94 and 183 μg g −1) in kidney and Mn (8 μg g −1) in muscle. Metal concentrations reported here were not considered to contribute to the stranding of specimens.
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