Bayworld Centre for Research and Education (BCRE), Port Elizabeth, South Africa; Medical Virology, Institute of Pathology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Bayworld Centre for Research and Education (BCRE), Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2023 Mar;188:114707. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114707. Epub 2023 Feb 17.
We investigated elemental concentrations in muscle tissue of three species of dolphins incidentally bycaught off the KwaZulu-Natal coastline, South Africa. Thirty-six major, minor and trace elements were analysed in Indian Ocean humpback dolphin Sousa plumbea (n = 36), Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin Tursiops aduncus (n = 32) and the Common dolphin Delphinus delphis (n = 8). Significant differences in concentration between the three species were observed for 11 elements (cadmium, iron, manganese, sodium, platinum, antimony, selenium, strontium, uranium, vanadium and zinc). Mercury concentrations (maximum 29 mg/kg dry mass) were generally higher than those reported for coastal dolphin species found elsewhere. Our results reflect a combination of species differences in habitat, feeding ecology, age, and possibly species physiology and exposure to pollution levels. This study confirms the high organic pollutant concentrations documented previously for these species from the same location, and provides a well-founded case for the need to reduce pollutant sources.
我们偶然在南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省海岸外捕获的三种海豚的肌肉组织中调查了元素浓度。在印度洋瓶鼻海豚 Sousa plumbea（n=36）、印太瓶鼻海豚 Tursiops aduncus（n=32）和宽吻海豚 Delphinus delphis（n=8）中分析了 36 种主要、次要和痕量元素。三种物种之间的浓度存在 11 种元素的显著差异（镉、铁、锰、钠、铂、锑、硒、锶、铀、钒和锌）。汞浓度（最高 29mg/kg 干重）通常高于其他地方沿海海豚物种的报道。我们的结果反映了物种在栖息地、觅食生态、年龄以及可能的物种生理学和暴露于污染水平方面的差异。这项研究证实了之前在同一地点记录的这些物种的高有机污染物浓度，并为减少污染来源提供了充分的理由。
