Whale Bowhead, Balaena mysticetus

Characterization of enantiomer composition in the food web demonstrated enantioselective detoxification of POPs, including PCBs, in cetaceans. In the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Sea area, bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus) had nonracemic amounts of some chiral PCBs, while their Calanus zooplankton prey had racemic levels [189]. Given the simpUcity of the bowhead whale food chain, these observations indicate that these cetaceans had biotransformed PCB atropisomers enantioselectively. The EEs of PCB 91 were significantly correlated with body length in males only, while those of PCBs 95 and... 

Hobson KA, Alisauskas RT, Clark RG (1993) Stable-nitrogen isotope emiehment in avian tissnes dne to fasting and nutritional stress implications for isotopic analysis of diet. Condor 95 388-394 Hobson KA, Schell DM (1998) Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope patterns in baleen from eastern Arctie bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55 2601-2607... 

Schell DM, Saupe SM, Haubenstock N (1989) Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) growth and feeding as estimated by d techniques. Mar Biol 103 433-443... 

Similarly, Huhnerfiiss etal. [107, 117] detected PCBs in marine and limnic biota tissues. The authors reported the presence of these xenobiotics in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). Toxaphene pesticide was used in the southeastern US states for cotton and soya bean crops, but was subsequently banned by the EPA in 1986, due to its long persistence. Hoekstra et al. [118] collected blubber and liver samples from the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) in Canada in 1997-8. The authors reported the presence of eight chiral PCB congeners (PCBs 91, 95,135,136,149,174, 176 and 183) in these samples. De Cues et al. [119] reported the presence of toxaphene, produced in large quantities similar to those of polychlorinated biphenyls. 

---