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Use of chemical tracers to assess diet and persistent organic pollutants in Antarctic Type C killer whales
Author(s) -
Krahn Margaret M.,
Pitman Robert L.,
Burrows Douglas G.,
Herman David P.,
Pearce Ronald W.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
marine mammal science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.723
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1748-7692
pISSN - 0824-0469
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2008.00213.x
Subject(s) - whale , δ15n , trophic level , δ13c , cetacea , biology , predation , population , isotope analysis , stable isotope ratio , ecology , apex predator , marine mammal , environmental chemistry , chemistry , physics , demography , quantum mechanics , sociology
Measuring chemical tracers in tissues of marine predators provides insight into the prey consumed and the predator's contaminant exposure. In this study, samples from Type C killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) biopsied in Antarctica were analyzed for chemical tracers ( i.e. , stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen, fatty acids, and persistent organic pollutants [POPs]). Profiles of these individual tracers were very different from those of killer whale populations that have been studied in the eastern North and eastern Tropical Pacific. For example, δ 13 C and δ 15 N stable isotope values and most POP concentrations were significantly lower in the Antarctic population. In addition, multivariate statistical analyses of both fatty acid and POP profiles found distinctly different patterns for Antarctic Type C whales compared to those from whales in the other populations. Similar assays were conducted on four species of Antarctic marine fish considered potential prey for Type C killer whales. Results were consistent with a diet of fish for Type C whales, but other species ( e.g. , low trophic‐level marine mammals or penguins) could not be eliminated as supplemental prey.