Abstract
Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) caught by hunters from various hamlets in the Arctic differed in the concentrations of organochlorine contaminants in their blubber. By applying Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA) it was possible to separate all seven sampling locations from each other. Over 90% of the samples could be classified back to their landing location based on the data transformations developed by CDA. This analysis suggested that “stock” or management unit for belugas is best described by the culturally transmitted behaviour of their migration route. The analysis also provides evidence that most belugas caught by hunters from Grise Fiord are not the same as belugas caught while migrating along West Greenland; that some belugas caught in Sanikiluaq are not the same as beluga caught in the Nastapoka River estuary; and that the belugas caught in Kimmirut are not the same as belugas caught in Cumberland Sound. There is a need to redefine the stock descriptions of some belugas in Canada and Greenland.
Highlights
It has been recognised since the late 1960’s that most piscivorous marine mammals have high concentrations of lipophilic organochlorine (OC) pollutants in their blubber, and that monitoring these populations could be used to identify geographical and temporal trends in concentrations (Holden 1970, Muir et al 1992, AMAP 1997)
Stern et al (1994) found significant differences in the concentrations of ∑DDTs and ∑PCBs and ratios of summed OC classes among beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) blubber samples collected in West Greenland, Jones Sound, Hudson Bay, Cumberland Sound, the Beaufort Sea and the St
Samples Samples of blubber were obtained from belugas caught by hunters from seven locations in the Canadian Arctic and West Greenland and from biopsies of live-captured belugas near Churchill, Manitoba (Table 1, Fig. 1)
Summary
It has been recognised since the late 1960’s that most piscivorous marine mammals have high concentrations of lipophilic organochlorine (OC) pollutants in their blubber, and that monitoring these populations could be used to identify geographical and temporal trends in concentrations (Holden 1970, Muir et al 1992, AMAP 1997). Stern et al (1994) found significant differences in the concentrations of ∑DDTs and ∑PCBs and ratios of summed OC classes among beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) blubber samples collected in West Greenland, Jones Sound, Hudson Bay, Cumberland Sound, the Beaufort Sea and the St. Lawrence River estuary. While the mean concentration of OCs such as ∑DDTs and ∑PCBs were different, the distributions of any contaminant concentration in beluga blubber from the Canadian Arctic and Greenland overlapped. The large number of OCs identified in modern analyses makes it possible to find univariate differences between sampling locations or sampling times due to statistical chance, to differences in the sex ratio, or to the age of animals taken in the hunt
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