Environmental contamination and marine mammals in coastal waters from Argentina: an overview

Environmental contamination become an increasing global problem. Different scientific strategies have been developed in order to assess the impact of pollutants on marine ecosystems. The distribution of toxic contaminants in tissues of different marine mammal species--both cetaceans and pinnipeds--has been studied in many ecosystems, as well as several related ecological processes, like pollutant accumulation or transfer through the food web. A research program directed towards evaluating the occurrence of pollutants in marine mammals from the coastal waters of Argentina (southwestern Atlantic Ocean) has been developed since 1985, and includes the study of heavy metal contents in stranded or incidentally caught animals. The marine mammal species studied during this period were: the seals Otaria flavescens and Arctocephalus australis, and small cetaceans Tursiops gephyreus, Pontoporia blainvillei, Kogia breviceps and Ziphius cavirostris. In most of the cases, high contents of heavy metals (total mercury, cadmium, zinc, and copper) have been recorded. Moreover, liver showed the maximum capability for accumulation of heavy metals in all studied species. The biological and ecological characteristics of each species of the above-mentioned marine mammals (feeding habits, age, migratory pathways, or sex) contributed to the understanding of the metal sources. Considering the results as obtained during the study period it can be assumed that: (1) The global distribution of toxic contaminants also affects the southwestern Atlantic Ocean ecosystems, and (2) Marine mammals could be appropriate bioindicator species in order to assess this kind of environmental problem.