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Full-Text Articles in Marine Biology

Sympatric Otariids Increase Trophic Segregation In Response To Warming Ocean Conditions In Peruvian Humboldt Current System, Susana Cardenas-Alayza, Michael Adkesson, Mickie Rae Edwards, Amy C. Hirons, Dimitri Gutierrez, Yann Tremblay Aug 2022

Sympatric Otariids Increase Trophic Segregation In Response To Warming Ocean Conditions In Peruvian Humboldt Current System, Susana Cardenas-Alayza, Michael Adkesson, Mickie Rae Edwards, Amy C. Hirons, Dimitri Gutierrez, Yann Tremblay

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Determining trophic habits of predator communities is essential to measure interspecific interactions and response to environmental fluctuations. South American fur seals, Arctocephalus australis (SAFS) and sea lions Otaria byronia (SASL), coexist along the coasts of Peru. Recently, ocean warming events (2014–2017) that can decrease and impoverish prey biomass have occurred in the Peruvian Humboldt Current System. In this context, our aim was to assess the effect of warming events on long-term inter- and intra-specific niche segregation. We collected whisker from SAFS (55 females and 21 males) and SASL (14 females and 22 males) in Punta San Juan, Peru. We used …


Polychlorinated Organic Contaminants In Baleen From North Pacific Ocean Whales, Briana R. Coulter Jun 2022

Polychlorinated Organic Contaminants In Baleen From North Pacific Ocean Whales, Briana R. Coulter

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Persistent organic pollutants (POP) have been detected and analyzed in various baleen whale tissues (blubber, muscles, liver, etc.) This study concentrated on detecting 7 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and 14 organochlorine pesticides from baleen, a baleen whale tissue never before analyzed for POPs. These data were used to investigate temporal and geographic trends by sampling at every 1 cm interval along the length of the baleen plate. Four species of baleen whales stranded in the North Pacific Ocean were included in this study: gray (n=2), humpback (n=2), minke (n=1), and blue (n=1) whales. Organic contaminant concentrations were analyzed with respect to …


Element Contamination In Port Everglades – Preparing For Ecological Impacts, Laura White Dec 2021

Element Contamination In Port Everglades – Preparing For Ecological Impacts, Laura White

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Port dredging is of economic importance worldwide but its impacts to the marine environment through the remobilization of elemental contaminants are not well understood. A massive deepening and widening of Port Everglades, Florida, will begin in 2023. Contaminated sediment disturbed during the dredging process could be released and prove to be harmful to three coral reef tracks located beginning 1.5 miles away from the port. This study focused on identifying and quantifying 14 different trace elements: arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), tin (Sn), …


Peruvian Fur Seals As Archivists Of El Niño Southern Oscillation Effects, Mickie Rae Edwards, Susana Cardenas-Alayza, Michael Adkesson, Mya Daniels-Abdulahad, Amy Hirons Nov 2021

Peruvian Fur Seals As Archivists Of El Niño Southern Oscillation Effects, Mickie Rae Edwards, Susana Cardenas-Alayza, Michael Adkesson, Mya Daniels-Abdulahad, Amy Hirons

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Peru’s coastal waters are characterized by significant environmental fluctuation due to periodic El Niño- La Niña- Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. This variability results in ecosystem-wide food web changes which are reflected in the tissues of the Peruvian fur seal (Arctocephalus australis). Stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) in Peruvian fur seal vibrissae (whiskers) are used to infer temporal primary production and dietary variations in individuals. Sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) recordings from the Niño 1+2 Index region captured corresponding ENSO conditions. Fluctuations in δ15N values were correlated to SSTA records, indicating that …


Temporal Baseline Of Essential And Non-Essential Elements Recorded In Baleen Of Western Arctic Bowhead Whale (Balaena Mysticetus), Samantha Shore, Dimitri Giarikos, Lawrence K. Duffy, Mickie Rae Edwards, Amy Hirons Nov 2021

Temporal Baseline Of Essential And Non-Essential Elements Recorded In Baleen Of Western Arctic Bowhead Whale (Balaena Mysticetus), Samantha Shore, Dimitri Giarikos, Lawrence K. Duffy, Mickie Rae Edwards, Amy Hirons

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

This study established the first baseline of changing elemental concentrations in bowhead whale baleen over time (1958–1999). From previously published stable isotope data, year, season (summer or winter), and location (Beaufort or Bering/Chukchi seas) were attributed to each sample. Thirteen elements (Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, V, Zn) in baleen from nine subsistence-harvested bowhead whales (n = 138) were detected. Al, Cu, and Fe were the highest concentrations while Cd and V were among the lowest. Our data supports absorption as the main route of exposure to environmental elements rather than biomagnification due to …