SeaBird

Common tern tissues previously used for examining status and trends in mercuiy include feathers, eggs, and internal tissues. Common terns are migratory in most areas, requiring that information on time of arrival on the breeding grounds. Birds 

Ecosystem Responses to Mercury Contamination Indicators of Change 

The coast supports hundreds of different species of birds, many of which spend the majority of their lives on or near the shoreline. Some members of this gigantic group are waders that walk about the edge of the ocean looking for food, while others fly from one location to the other, rarely getting their feet wet. 

It is not unusual to see flocks of shorebirds using their long bills to explore the soil along the water s edge. Many of the different types of birds on beaches and in intertidal zones feed on the same kinds of prey—worms and insect larvae—but 

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Birds. In avian populations, organochlorine-associated suppression of T-cell mediated immune response has been found in herring gull and Caspian tern colonies adjacent to the Great Lakes in Northern America.In the most severe cases, immune response was suppressed by up to 50%. Similarly, seabirds exposed to petrochemicals from oil spills have been found to have suppressed immune function. " ... 

The major routes of uptake of xenobiotics by animals and plants are discussed in Chapter 4, Section 4.1. With animals, there is an important distinction between terrestrial species, on the one hand, and aquatic invertebrates and fish on the other. The latter readily absorb many xenobiotics directly from ambient water or sediment across permeable respiratory surfaces (e.g., gills). Some amphibia (e.g., frogs) readily absorb such compounds across permeable skin. By contrast, many aquatic vertebrates, such as whales and seabirds, absorb little by this route. In lung-breathing organisms, direct absorption from water across exposed respiratory membranes is not an important route of uptake. 

The enrichment index, which is PCB congener as a percentage of total PCB in seabird depot fat/PCB as a percentage of total PCB in Aroclor 1260. 

One widely reported incident was a large seabird wreck that occurred in the Irish Sea in the autumn of 1969 (Natural Environment Research Council Publication... 

Borga, K., Hop, H., and Skaare, J.U. et al. (2007). Selective bioaccumulation of chlorinated pesticides and metabohtes in Arctic seabirds. Environmental Pollution 145, 545-553. 

Howald, G.R., Minean, R, Elhott, J.E., and Cheng, K.M. (1999). Brodifacoum poisoning of avian scavengers during rat control at a seabird colony. Ecotoxicology 8, 431 37. 

Walker, C.H. (1990a). Persistent pollutants in fish-eating seabirds—bioaccumulation, metabolism and effects. Aquatic Toxicology 17, 293-324. 

Monteiro LR, Furness RW. 1997. Accelerated increase in mercury contamination in North Atlantic mesopelagic food chains as indicated by time series of seabird feathers. Environ Toxicol Chem 16 2489-2493. 

Burger J, Gochfeld M. 2002. Effects of chemicals and pollution on seabirds. In Schreiber EA, Burger J, editors, Biology of marine birds. Boca Raton (FL) CRC Press. 

Burgess NM, Brarme BM. 2002. Increasing trends in mercury concentrations in Atlantic and Arctic seabird eggs in Canada. SETAC poster. 

Christopher SJ, Vander Pol SS, Pugh RS, Day RD, Becker PR. 2002. Determination of mercury in the eggs of Common Murres Uria Aalge) for the Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project. J Anal Atomic Spectrom 17 780-785. 

Crfuentes JM, Becker PH, Sommer U, Pacheco P, Schlatter R. 2003. Seabird eggs as bioin-dicators of chemical contamination in Chile. Environ Pollut 126 123-137. 

Furness RW, Camphuysen K. 1997. Seabirds as monitors of the marine environment. Ices J Mar Sci 54 726-737. 

Kim EY, Murakami T, Saeki K, Tatsukawa R. 1996. Mercury levels and its chemical form in tissues and organs of seabirds. Arch Environ Contamin Toxicol 30 259-266. 

Monteiro LR, Furness RW. 1995. Seabirds as monitors of mercury in the marine environment. Water Air Soil Pollut 80 851-870. 

Monteiro LR, Granadeiro JP, Furness RW. 1998. Relationship between mercury levels and diet in Azores seabirds. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 166 259-265. 

Nicholson JK, Osborn D. 1983. Kidney lesions in pelagic seabirds with high tissue levels of cadmium and mercury. J Zool London 200 99-118. 

Thompson DR, Furness RW. 1989a. The chemical form of mercury stored in South Atlantic seabirds. Environ PoUut 60 305-318. 

Thompson DR, Furness RW. 1989b. Comparison of the levels of total and organic mercury in seabird feathers. Mar PoUut Bull 20 557-579. 

Thompson DR, Furness RW, Walsh PM. 1992. Historical changes in mercury concentrations in the marine ecosystem of the north and northeast Atlantic Ocean as indicated by seabird feathers. J Appl Ecol 29 79-84. 

Walsh PM. 1990. The use of seabirds as monitors of heavy metals in the marine environment. In Furness RW, Rainbow PS, editors. Heavy metals in the marine environment. Boca Raton (FL) CRC Press. 

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