Bad news for Arctic Orcas

[divebunnie]

A good friend of mine just gave me the following link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4520104.stm

A cheery thought for Monday morning… the day after we burn millions of gallons of oil and petrol creating a dirty great cloud of filth. We are made brutally aware of the fact that all this junk ends up at the top of the food chain.. in our deep sea giants...

Apparently the Orca has overtaken the polar bear and is now the most polluted animal in the world and they have found pesticides, flame retardants and PCBs in the blubber of these incredible creatures.

Anyway, not wanting to depress you any further.. enjoy your Monday.

[Adrian Kelland]

Originally Posted by divebunnie

A good friend of mine just gave me the following link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4520104.stm

A cheery thought for Monday morning… the day after we burn millions of gallons of oil and petrol creating a dirty great cloud of filth. We are made brutally aware of the fact that all this junk ends up at the top of the food chain.. in our deep sea giants...

Apparently the Orca has overtaken the polar bear and is now the most polluted animal in the world and they have found pesticides, flame retardants and PCBs in the blubber of these incredible creatures.

Anyway, not wanting to depress you any further.. enjoy your Monday.

Sad news, but as we are the top of just about every food chain, I would expect us to be the most polluted animal in the world, especially if you factor in smoking and drinking.

Flame retardent in blubber is possibly a good idea, whale oil that won't burn?

Adrian

[Turtleburp]

It is a worry thats for sure.

There are efforts being made to quantify the pollants etc. by scientists in Ontario. Theyre nice, (read depressing) reports that are pretty accessible.

http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~wania/downloads3.html

Crazy thing is that many of the pollutants such as the PCBs havent been made for wide spread use for years and its old chemicals making their way to the arctic.

Just have to keep the orcas fat!! Whilst the chemicals are stored as blubber theyre not being metabolised.

[recurve]

The BBC article does say that they are the most poluted creature in the arctic.

Man may still have the 'privilege' of being the most poluted worldwide.

[wilbo]

"Norwegian scientists have found that killer whales - or orcas, as they are sometimes known - have overtaken polar bears at the head of the toxic table."

Accurate reporting again.. The Orca - real name Killer Whale..