Abstract
Ecological and physiological factors lead to different contamination patterns in individual marine mammals. The objective of the present study was to assess whether variations in contamination profiles are indicative of social structures of young male sperm whales as they might reflect a variation in feeding preferences and/or in utilized feeding grounds. We used a total of 61 variables associated with organic compounds and trace element concentrations measured in muscle, liver, kidney and blubber gained from 24 sperm whales that stranded in the North Sea in January and February 2016. Combining contaminant and genetic data, there is evidence for at least two cohorts with different origin among these stranded sperm whales; one from the Canary Island region and one from the northern part of the Atlantic. While genetic data unravel relatedness and kinship, contamination data integrate over areas, where animals occured during their lifetime. Especially in long-lived animals with a large migratory potential, as sperm whales, contamination data may carry highly relevant information about aggregation through time and space.
Highlights
Ecological and physiological factors lead to different contamination patterns in individual marine mammals
We used a total of 61 variables associated with organic compound and trace element concentrations measured in muscle, liver, kidney and/or blubber from 24 sperm whales that stranded in the North Sea in January and February 2016
A total of 61 variables associated with organic compound and element concentrations in muscle, liver, kidney and blubber were analysed when possible for all 24 necropsied sperm whales in order to characterize their contamination profile
Summary
Ecological and physiological factors lead to different contamination patterns in individual marine mammals. A variation in prey preference and/or feeding location will result in varying tissue concentrations and patterns of organic compound and trace elements among different individuals of the same whale species[19] In this context, the objective of the present study was to assess whether variations of contamination profiles are indicative of social structures of young male sperm. These findings will be analysed in the context of genetic relationship and kinship To meet these objectives, we used a total of 61 variables associated with organic compound and trace element concentrations measured in muscle, liver, kidney and/or blubber from 24 sperm whales that stranded in the North Sea in January and February 2016
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